The beginning and the ending of a poem often create a frame or a thematic circle that highlights key contrasts or continuity. Based on the findings from several analyses:
- At the beginning of the poem, the setting or subject is usually described as calm and silent, like a peaceful or untouched state.
- By the ending, this state often changes to something motionless, empty, or silent again, but this ending silence might carry a different emotional weight—such as emptiness or aftermath of activity or loss.
- In some poems like "The End and the Beginning" by Wisława Szymborska, the beginning starts with the end of a war and the necessity to clean up. The ending reflects on the ongoing consequences and cyclical nature of destruction and reconstruction after the war.
- The beginning and ending serve to highlight contrasts such as life and death, calm and aftermath, silence and emptiness or the cyclical continuity between end and new beginnings.
Thus, generally, the beginning sets a scene of quiet or a fresh start, while the ending reflects a state that might echo silence but loaded with meaning — either emptiness or the burden of what followed. This creates a poetic symmetry or contrast that deepens the impact of the poem’s message.
