| Having created his own unique style in the contemporary American poetry by the use of simple and succinct style and eccentric Surrealistic image, Mark Strand is a Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the fourth Poet of Laureate in the United States. The Continuous Life is a collection of Mark Strand's poems published after a decade-long break. In this collection, the poet seeks for the relationship between Self and life through exploring "death", which is an eternal motif in poetry creation. He hopes to arouse the meditation of the meaning for Self-existence and the continuity of life. Eventually, after having been experiencing the unstopped contradiction and reconcilement in self-alienation, Mark Strand realized that only if one reads the book of death, can he obtain the dignity of death and the freedom of life, and the epiphany of the true meaning for Self-existence endowed by the continuity of life as manifest in his poems. Accordingly, this research is intended to explore the death theme arid its enlightenment scattered throughout Mark Strand's poetry collection The Continuous Life in the hope of gaining new insight into the poet in particular and human existence in general.The thesis consists of five parts. Chapter One defines the motifs and characteristics of images in Mark Strand's poetic creation, arguing that critics home -and aboard discuss Mark Strand's poetry are mainly around the motif of self-alienation. However, the thesis returns to the basic themes of "life" and "death", exploring the meaning of death omnipresent in The Continuous Life by way of decoding the meditative, haunting and surreal images within. It is believed by the author that the understanding of death equals to the understanding of Self-existence and the continuity of life, which provides a new perspective to the study of Mark Strand's poetry. This exploration is guided both by the poet and the author of this paper to suc1j?jl sequence as encountering, questioning and appreciating death. The following the discussion in detailIn the second chanter, the thesis first explains mystery of death in the traditional literary creation, and next enumerates and analyzes various death metaphors in The Continuous Life, which has presented "darkness" and "equality" of death. The poet considers that encountering death, which leads people to tend to reconsider the meaning for their life and Self-existence with different degree of certainty, which provides a basis for further contemplation.Therefore, in Chapter Three, Strand is found gradually engaged in the continuous fight with Self and contemplating the relationship between Self and others. Under the motifs of self-alienation, fantasy and reality, loneliness and bleakness and the fleeting time, the poet has sought a magic balance which makes him understand that the relationship between human beings and that between humanity and nature are originated from the same source. Actually, the development of humanity is a continuous process of negation to Self, and death is usually regarded as an ultimate negation. This is the paradox of death.In Chapter Four, the poet is found facing the fate of being-to-death, again, leading humanity to re-examining Self and life. In The Continuous Life, Mark Strand does not indulge into the self-alienation world nor walk towards the shadow-land. Instead, he puts up a struggle between death and illusion. Although self-negation is the source of poet's sorrow, it is also the starting point of the whole new life. Death is equal to every one; thanks to the.escape, we can see the fear of death; thanks to confrontment, we can see the beauty of death. Such kind of beauty has ended the uncertainty of Self in the alienated world. Because of love, people achieve the freedom to live and the freedom to die, appreciating the true meaning of Self existence.What is difference between The Continuous Life and other poems concerned with death is that this collection provides a tiny speck of daylight to people. When Mark Strand is prying the darkness and fear of death, at the same time, he comes close to nature to answer the definite death. The poet uses its pen to write about the beauty of ordinary things, and understand the possibilities of happiness, including that which everyone can experience in a continuous life—death. Finally, this thesis is concluded with preaching people to stop all their fantasy, to learn "death" and live withenrichment, so as to enter his or her afterlife, to achieve the dignity of death and Self-existence, and eventually, to appreciate the truly continuous life.
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