“Wild Iris” by Louise Elisabeth Gluck connects the experience of the cyclical process of death with the natural life cycle of a wild flower. Gluck begins the poem with the end of “suffering” and then refers to death (1). The wild iris dies after being “buried in the dark earth,” but blooms again the following spring. Gluck links this process to human suffering and death to suggest that humans should not anguish over the natural, yet beautiful, process of death and rebirth. People fear death, but Gluck comforts the reader by connecting death to nature, a powerful and inexhaustible force. The poem is written from the first-person point of view, but it should not be assumed that Louise Gluck herself is speaking about the poem. The speaker of the poem could be the wildflower as he talks about being “buried in the dark earth” (11). The poem ends with the promise that the wild iris will speak a universal language. Once you find that unique voice, suffering will end and joy will flow from the center of life like a fountain. Through Gluck's poem, “Wild Iris,” the agony of death and suffering is reassured by relating the process to the life cycle of a wild flower. Gluck's underlying vision of death is exposed through the themes of suffering, voice and transformation. The theme of suffering is expressed throughout the poem. Although the first line of Gluck's poem gives the reader hope that suffering will end, the speaker emphasizes that suffering is inevitable. The speaker of the poem never defines suffering, but through the context of the poem one can conclude that it is physical and emotional discomfort and long-term agony. In line 8, Gluck says that “it is terrible to survive.” Suffering leads to desperation and sometimes to that burden… middle of paper… k, Louise. "The wild iris." The English Review 15.4 (2005): 42. Literature Resource Centre. Network. April 6, 2014."Iris." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica online. Encyclopædia Britannica 6Inc., 2014. Web. 06 April 2014. "Louise Gluck." Poetry Foundation. Foundation for Poetry, 2010. Web. April 6, 2014. Schneider, Jessica. "These old poems." Cosmoethics. Schneider, August 29, 2002. Web. April 6, 2014. Upton, Lee. "Good Luck, Louise 1943...." American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, Supplement 5. Ed. Jay Parini. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 2000. 77-94. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Network. April 6, 2014. Vendler, Helen. "The power of flowers". The New Republic 208.21 (24 May 1993): 35-38. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper and Jeffrey Chapman. vol. 81. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Network. April 6. 2014.