After the Attack

I think this poem is about a boy who is fighting death but lets go in the end. His perspective of death also changes when he looks at the painting unlike before when he had his backed turned to it. It tells how the boy is sick and still. "The bandage around his jaw reminds one of an embalming" which is a way to treat a corpse with preservatives to prevent decay. Also his spectacles are thick as a diver's which could symbolize being buried and going under the surface. These two statements show that he is on the verge of dieing and knows it.

But when he looks at the wheat field painting he feels the peacefulness of death. Wheat is a symbol of life and resurrection. When he sees the man in the field but can not see his face may be saying that he boy does not want to look death in the face. The picture begins to grow on the boy and have deeper meaning to him. He lets go and sees the light. The idea of the wheat head throwing off light as if to wake him up could symbolize resurrection because when the boy sees the light he has died but when they wake him back up he is resurrected. "He comes nearer" the man is coming closer to the boy meaning the boy is about to pass.