Poetry :: Poem to a friend

To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to die hard     In the numbers "To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to ecstasy", Anne sacristan alludes to the flight of Icarus and Daedalus and to "To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to zipper" to convey a message to a friend. I think this song was written to reassure a friend that what she did was the right thing. Perhaps a father figure of the friend advised her to do something and she defied him, making herself sprightliness worried that she did the wrong thing.      William Butler Yeats once wrote a poem call "To a Friend Whose Work has Come to Nothing". It was a poem believed to be written to reassure a friend that what she ended up doing was a noble thing even though in existence she failed her original task. The title of Sextons poem is an obvious allusion to Yeats poem. Sexton changed "Nothing" to " gaiety" in her title. Sextons friend must have been a fellow poe t to be able to catch the allusion to Yeats poem. I believe she wanted her friend to fill out that what she did was the right thing. Perhaps she compared her friend to Yeats friend. Sexton wrote "Think of the exit it do" referring to Icarus flight. She might have wanted her friend to realize a difference her defying her father made.     The final line of the poem has a comparably incompatible tone than the first 13 lines. The last line, "See him acclaiming the sun and cope plunging down while his sensible daddy goes straight into town.", seems more galling of Daedalus flight. It seems that Sexton feels that Daedalus flight was a wasted chance and was in no way adventurous. She might also be comparing her friend to Icarus, see as he too failed his initial task moreover cultivated something greater on a global scale. I believe Sexton thought that Icarus flight was not foolish or a failure, but adventurous and a great personal success, even though his pleasure and personal glory was short-lived.