Now in order for me to accurately display this poems relevance, you’d first need a little bit of background on this piece of work. After all, how can you respect or admire something you aren’t familiar with? Now to start off, The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard poem was written by Thomas Gray, and was finished in 1750 and eventually published in 1751. The sole reason for its being created is unknown, but it is, in part, inspired by Gray’s thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742. In the beginning it was called Stanza's Wrote in a Country Churchyard. The poem was completed near St Giles' parish church at Stoke Poges. Thomas sent it to his friend Horace Walpole, who helped the poem gain a lot of attention in London. Gray eventually published the poem on February 15th, because a magazine publisher was going to print a copy of the poem without a license. Now in order to prove that the Elegy is one of the greatest, we must analyze it to show its true worth. However to perform a good analysis there is lots background information to cover, we’ll start with the era that it was written in. The Elegy was written in the Age of Enlightenment, a time characterized by a widespread movement of intellectual musings in 17th-century Europe. The thought of this era emphasized the importance of reason and individualism instead of the typical traditions practiced at the time. The People wanted to change their society with reason, to challenge ideas that stemmed from age-old tradition and faith, and to make the common person rely on science, as opposed to what everyone elses ideas were. For the most part, these so called “Enlightened Thinkers” opposed superstition and religion, Viewing them as primitive and unintelligent. ... ... middle of paper ... ...o make it more natural and tame. When compared with most other “Graveyard poets”, such as Robert Blair who wrote The Grave, he fails to emphasize much of the regular imagery seen in poems of the type. When he describes the moon, birds, and trees, he chooses not to make an attempt to scare or disgust readers like some other poems would and also shies away from the word "grave", instead using euphemisms. Lots of people point out how the poem effortlessly states what people have always felt. Its thought on fame, ambition, and destiny tend to sound as if they arose straight from the readers mind. Gray’s Elegy is the perfect example of what every human has thought or pondered upon in regards to death and life. It is a Universal work of art relatable to people from all walks of life. And that is why it is still one of the Greatest and adored poems in the English language.
My initial response to the poem was a deep sense of empathy. This indicated to me the way the man’s body was treated after he had passed. I felt sorry for him as the poet created the strong feeling that he had a lonely life. It told us how his body became a part of the land and how he added something to the land around him after he died.
The tone of Brendan Galvin’s poem “An Evel Knievel Elegy” is quickly established by the writer’s use of the word elegy. Elegy is defined to be a sad lyrical poem or song that expresses sorrow for someone who is dead. In this poem the writer chooses to reflect on some of the public events in the life of motorcycle stuntman, Evel Knievel. This free verse poem has no stanzas or rhyme scheme and there is no set rhythm. The poet’s use of the word “We” in the first line implies the speaker and the poet are one in the same.
In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.
Part I is particularly anecdotal, with many of the poems relating to the death of Trethewey’s mother. The first part begins with an epitaph from the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, which introduces the movement of the soul after death, and the journey towards the ‘home’ beyond. In “Graveyard Blues”, Trethewey examines the definition of “home” as a place of lament, in contrast to the comforting meaning in the epitaph beginning Part I, and the significance of the soul’s movement after death. The ‘home’ described in the epitaph is a place of comfort and familiarity, where the speaker returns to their mother. In contrast, Trethewey describes the ‘home’ she returns to after her mother’s death as a hollow place, the journey back to which is incredibly
While reviewing "The Funeral" the first thing that became apparent was the title. A funeral is ceremony held in connection with the burial of a dead person. So already just by looking at the title we become aware that we are dealing with a dead body. Death, in some cultures, is the separation of the body from the soul. The soul continues to live and may even find shelter in another body. Again, from the title of the poem we can tell that death will be the main idea. Digging into the first stanza of the poem, we can begin with the analysis of the first few lines. "Whoever comes to shroud me, do not harm nor question much, That subtle wreath of hair, which crowns my arm; the mystery, the sign you must not touch, for `tis my outward soul" (line 1-5) The speaker is telling the people who come to mourn him not to disturb his body. He speaks about the hair that "crowns [his] arm" (line 3) is considered armor to his dead body. The hair is protecting his soul and this is why he must not be disturbed. What is being insinuated is that the soul has become vulnerable after th...
While Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" overtly deals with the distinction between social class and the opportunity for greatness, the poem also contains a subtle yet strong message against the dominant role of men over women in society. Gray's tone throughout the poem is permeated with regret and a sense of something lost, voicing his opinions clearly against social class prejudice. This emotional tone, when applied to the stereotypical roles of differing sexes discussed throughout the poem, portrays the injustice of inequality between males and females.
In “Home Burial,” Robert Frost uses language and imagery to show how differently a man and a women deal with grief. The poem not only describes the grief the two feel for the loss of their child but also the impending death of a marriage. Frost shows this by using a dramatic style set in New England.
Just as Katherine Philips, poet Ben Jonson also wrote two elegies, for his son Benjamin and daughter Mary, entitled “On My First Son” and “On My First Daughter”. Jonson’s son died the early age of seven, and he expressed the strong, personal bond between them through the years Benjamin was “lent” to him. Jonson really comes from a place of sorrow and self-condemnation while writing this elegy. His approach to “...
The two poems, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas and, “Because I Could Not Wait for Death”, by Emily Dickinson, we find two distinct treatments on the same theme, death. Although they both represent death, they also represent it as something other than death. Death brings about a variety of different feelings, because no two people feel the same way or believe the same thing. The fact that our faith is unknown makes the notion of death a common topic, as writers can make sense of their own feelings and emotions and in the process hope to make readers make sense of theirs too. Both Dickinson and Thomas are two well known and revered poets for their eloquent capture of these emotions. The poems both explore death and the
The phrasing of this poem can be analyzed on many levels. Holistically, the poem moves the father through three types of emotions. More specifically, the first lines of the poem depict the father s deep sadness toward the death of his son. The line Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy creates a mental picture in my mind (Line 1). I see the father standing over the coffin in his blackest of outfits with sunglasses shading his eyes from the sun because even the sun is too bright for his day of mourning. The most beautiful scarlet rose from his garden is gripped tightly in his right hand as tears cascade down his face and strike the earth with a splash that echoes like a scream in a cave, piercing the ears of those gathered there to mourn the death of his son.
Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous authors in American History, and a good amount of that can be attributed to her uniqueness in writing. In Emily Dickinson's poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she characterizes her overarching theme of Death differently than it is usually described through the poetic devices of irony, imagery, symbolism, and word choice.
Emily Dickinson describes an unusual and meaningful trip with “Death”. The poem was written around 1863, originally, the poem was not titled. When it was published, Thomas Johnson named it depending on the meaning of the poem. Dickinson did not fond of gaining reputation and money-she even tried to avoid those. She focused on artist creation, for instance writing poems. Therefore, she achieved the extreme high levels in writing. Her poems are vacant and inspiring. She had a deep thinking about the connection of death and immortality in this poem. I am going to analyze the poem on its forms and depths to let the readers understand the poem
In conclusion, Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” uses symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant to those of greater statures.
On the most superficial level, the verbal fragments in The Waste Land emphasize the fragmented condition of the world the poem describes. Partly because it was written in the aftermath of World War I, at a time when Europeans’ sense of security as well as the land itself was in shambles, the poem conveys a sense of disillusionment, confusion, and even despair. The poem’s disjointed structure expresses these emotions better than the rigidity and clarity of more orthodox writing. This is evinced by the following from the section "The Burial of the Dead":
Losing a loved one is one of the hardest experiences every person must go through. The experience does not end with the loss though, but begins with it. The loss of a dear person leads those left behind into a downward spiral of emotions and memories. A poem entitled “Lucy Gray” by William Wordsworth focuses on that loss and the emotions that follow it. By reading the poem one can objectively experience both the grief that Lucy Gray’s death brings on but also her parents’ acceptance of her death.