I just read the last sentence at the end of Chapter 17. An internet search revealed that it is from the same poem which Didion quotes in Chapter 6, "Calmly We Walk through This April’s Day" by Delmore Schwartz.
Quote:
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Time is the school in which we learn.
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I found a copy of the poem on the Poetry Foundation's website. It struck me that the structure of the poem is also very similar to what I like about the book. There are repeating words/images/events/themes, but when they reappear they are sometimes varied slightly in the telling or phrasing. This technique to me builds an increasing emotional response in the reader. It's familiar enough to link the chapters/passages together but doesn't become too repetitious. It re-emphasizes the key themes of the narrative at the same time that your own thoughts about the subject of grief and mourning have been building while reading.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poe...his-aprils-day