Death Is Nothing By Henry Scott-Holland - Analysis

Death is nothing at all. 
It does not count. 
I have only slipped away into the next room. 
Nothing has happened. 

Everything remains exactly as it was. 
I am I, and you are you, 
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. 
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. 

Call me by the old familiar name. 
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. 
Put no difference into your tone. 
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. 

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. 
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. 
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. 

Life means all that it ever meant. 
It is the same as it ever was. 
There is absolute and unbroken continuity. 
What is this death but a negligible accident? 

Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? 
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, 
somewhere very near, 
just round the corner. 

All is well. 
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. 
One brief moment and all will be as it was before. 
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Parallelism
Allusion

   In "Death Is Nothing" by Henry Scott-Holland, the author mainly uses parallelism to console and comfort a grieving friend or family member. The poem is narrated from the perspective of the deceased person, giving the poem an unusual point of view. 
  The narrator asks the friend in mourning to speak of him normally, without sorrow. He says that nothing has changed, as "I am I, and you are you." He also says "Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost." The narrator further tries to comfort his friend by telling him to smile and think of him. 
  The use of parallelism adds to the poetic syntax and conveys a heartwarming message of sorts. The ghostly narrator claims that death is not the end, he has simply gone away to another place. He says that he will be waiting faithfully for his friend, "just around the corner" in his words. Then when they are together again, they can resume where they left off. 
   Although parallelism was the most common rhetorical device found, there was a small allusion towards the end of the poem. The narrator says "Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?" alluding to the old proverb "out of sight, out of mind." While readers may have gotten an "aha!" moment when they figured it out, it is not only there as an allusion. The proverb means that we will soon forget about something if we no longer see it. This ties into the ghost's wishes to not be forgotten by his friend, so he repeatedly asks to be remembered by saying that nothing has changed, and nothing should change.