The Night of the Iguana Group

Question:

linkit
linkit
Student
College - Senior

What is the importance of the poem that's written during Night of the Iguana?

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Posted by linkit on Thursday February 22, 2007 at 11:05 AM and tagged with plot, poem, the night of the iguana.

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  1. podunc Teacher
    College - Sophomore

    eNotes Editor

    The play ends with Jonathan Coffin, Hannah's elderly grandfather or "nonno", completing one last poem before he dies. The last two stanzas are: 

    And still the ripe fruit and the branch
    Observe the sky begin to blanch
    Without a cry, without a prayer,
    With no betrayal of despair.

    Oh, Courage, could you not as well
    Select a second  place to dwell,
    Not only in that golden tree
    But in the frightened heart of me?

    At ninety-two years old, the poem is a breakthrough for Coffin, who has not been able to write for some time. In a way, it sums up his life, which has been haunted by fear.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/night-iguana/

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    Posted by podunc on Friday May 2, 2008 at 2:33 PM