Although “Sympathy for the Devil” is a poem about Hell, it also offers a glimpse into the afterlife. The poem starts with the speaker’s sympathy for the devil, but it quickly becomes clear that the speaker is not wholeheartedly sympathetic. The poem reflects on the idea that while Hell is a bad place, it is also a place where people can learn from their mistakes. The poem ends with the speaker urging the reader to think about their own actions and how they will affect their afterlives.
The poem “Sympathy for the Devil” by Neil Gaiman is about Hell and the Afterlife. The Devil’s perspective is used in the poem, which depicts Hell as a place where sinners are tormented for an eternity.
The poem begins with the Devil explaining how he came to be in Hell. He was once an angel, but he fell from grace after he rebelled against God. He was cast into Hell as punishment, and he has been there ever since.
The poem goes on to describe the various tortures that the damned suffer in Hell. They are chained to walls, burned alive, and eaten alive by demons. The poem also describes how the Devil himself is tortured by the screams of the damned.
Despite all of the suffering that he sees, the Devil still takes pity on the damned. He knows that they are there because they have sinned, and he feels sympathy for them. In the end, the poem is a plea for understanding and sympathy for those who are condemned to Hell.
The speaker in Sympathy for the Devil uses a number of historical allusions and understatements to elicit compassion from the audience. The poem’s Devil is attempting to make it appear as though he has no choice but to be present during all of the death and suffering so that you might feel sorry for him.
The poem is very well written and makes the Devil seem almost sympathetic. The poem begins with the speaker talking about how he was around when Jesus Christ was crucified. He talks about how he was there to watch as Jesus died on the cross and how he heard his final words. The speaker then goes on to talk about how he has been around for many other historical events, such as the French Revolution and World War II. In each instance, the speaker paints himself as an innocent bystander who is just witnessing all of the death and destruction.
The poem ends with the speaker saying that he will be around for many more years to come and that he will always be there to witness the death and destruction that goes on in the world. The poem leaves the reader with a feeling of sympathy for the Devil, even though he is responsible for so much death and destruction.
To illustrate his ancientness, he employs the phrase “I was around when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and agony,” implying that he has been alive for a long time and that he has witnessed some of history’s most tragic deaths. The speaker tries to elicit pity from the reader by telling him how much death he has seen.
He then talks about all the different forms of death that he has seen such as, “I’ve seen your birth and I will be present at your death.” He is trying to say that he is always there for people, even when they don’t know it.
The poem takes on a more serious tone when the speaker talks about how he was responsible for some of the greatest tragedies in history. He talks about how he was the one who “encouraged Alexander the Great to cross that river Rubicon” and how he “made Judas kiss those bloody lips.” He is saying that he was responsible for some of the most evil deeds in history. Even though he was responsible for these things, he still tries to make the reader feel sympathy for him.
The poem ends with the speaker saying that he will be there for the end of the world. He says that he will be “standing on the air” and that he will be “watching while you tear yourself apart.” He is saying that he will be there to see the world come to an end.
He makes this point over and over again, as in the lines “Yet I did not kill nor cause any of these deaths” (ll. 17-19). He does so by using the understatements “I was about when” and “I observed.” These understatements demonstrate that he was not responsible for the fatalities even though he was there at the time, implying that he should not be held accountable; nevertheless, he asks for remorse.
It almost seems as if he wants people to feel bad for him and have sympathy for him because he was not the one that caused these deaths, yet he was still there when they happened.
He also tries to make a case that people should not judge him because they do not know what it is like to be in his shoes and have lived his life. He says “I’ve lived a life that’s full” which means that he has experienced a lot of things in his lifetime, both good and bad.
He then goes on to say “I’ve traveled each and every highway” which could be interpreted as him saying that he has literally been everywhere and seen everything. This is important because it helps to show that he is not just some random person, he is someone who has lived and seen a lot of things.
The poem is also significant because it shows how the speaker feels about himself. He talks about how he “cried when Rome fell” which could be interpreted as him feeling sad for the fall of an empire. He then goes on to say “I laughed when the Beatles broke up” which could be interpreted as him not caring about something that other people might have found to be tragic. This shows that he is not like other people and that he does not feel the same things that they do.