Melody Hsu
17th February 2014
The theme of suffering caused by love is explored in the six poems Prayer Before Birth by Louis MacNeice, Mother In A Refugee Camp by Chinua Achebe, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight by Dylan Thomas, Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden, Ballad Of Birmingham by Dudley Randal, and Mental Cases by Wilfred Owen. This is shown through the suffering felt due to the loss of a loved one, and suffering caused by an absence of love.
The poem Prayer Before Birth expresses suffering caused by human beings, portrayed via the thoughts of an unborn child. Repetition plays a major role in this poem, especially where the phrase ‘I am not yet born’ is repeated throughout the whole poem. This conveys a strong sense of irony, since an unborn child is normally a symbol of innocence, yet the unborn child in this poem is portrayed as a symbol of maturity and moral ethics. This links to the poem ‘Ballad of Birmingham’ where the child wants permission to march the streets of Birmingham, but her mother says ‘but you may go to church instead’, which enforces the idea of protection and love of the mother towards her child, as ‘church’ symbolizes the protection of God. ‘Children’s choir’ rhymes with ‘fire’ in the previous sentence, which foreshadows that her child will be in danger, this is paradoxical as a church is stereotypically used to symbolize safety and religious harmony. The religious state of this poem links back to the poem Prayer Before Birth, as ritualistic statements such as ‘O hear me’, ‘console me’, ‘forgive me’, express the desperation of the unborn child, showing the absence of love. Additionally, the vocation of ‘O’ supplicates to a ‘God’ or a ‘Higher Deity’, strengthening the unborn child’s plea for love. The t...
... middle of paper ...
...ntle into that good night’ fully portrays the suffering of the poet by the repetition of ‘rage’ and the villanelle used in this poem allowed him to build the poem gradually. In the last stanza, the poet became personal and shifts tone from danger to despair: ‘I pray’ implies the helplessness of the poet. Suggesting there is nothing he can do but plea a religious figure, which strongly reflects the amount of suffering and pain caused by losing his loved one. These two poems are linked together by the idea of suffering created by love, this love is ironic because both poets are causing themselves to suffer more by pushing themselves to the edge.
In conclusion, each of the poets expresses his or her opinion on love and suffering. Whether it is mentally or physically, the poet fully illustrated the warmth of love, and the pain of suffering when love is absent or lost.
and that we should help those less fortunate than ourselves. In this I essay I have shown how successful the poet was in making me share this view by using his thoughtful and intense language, word-choice and imagery techniques.
The speaker’s rocky encounter with her ex-lover is captured through personification, diction, and tone. Overall, the poem recaps the inner conflicts that the speak endures while speaking to her ex-lover. She ponders through stages of the past and present. Memories of how they were together and the present and how she feels about him. Never once did she broadcast her emotions towards him, demonstrating the strong facade on the outside, but the crumbling structure on the inside.
To help Year Twelve students that are studying poetry appreciate it's value, this pamphlet's aim is to discuss a classic poem and a modern song lyric to show that even poetry written many years ago can still be relevant to people and lyrics today. By reading this may you gain a greater knowledge and understanding of poetry in general, and not just the two discussed further on.
Both poems inspire their reader to look at their own life. In addition, they treat the reader to a full serving of historic literature that not only entertains, but also teaches valuable lesson in the form of morals and principles.
Both poets want to be loved in the poems in their own way. While both poem’s present a theme of love, it is obvious that the poet’s view on love changes from how they view love at the beginning of the poem from how they see it at the end.
Dylan Thomas' poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" is about a son’s bereavement and the acceptance of his father dying. Thomas knows death is inevitable, therefore, he uses persuasion to get his father to "rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Line 3). Villanelle poems require two repeating rhyme schemes. Thomas helps the reader visualize dark and light. : “Wise men… know dark is right” (4). “Wild men… sang the sun in flight/do not go gentle into that good night” (10,12). “Eyes…blaze like meteors” (14).
This essay is anchored on the goal of looking closer and scrutinizing the said poem. It is divided into subheadings for the discussion of the analysis of each of the poem’s stanzas.
Both poems represent the despairs and failures of the love they hone for their beloved, with brings a touch of sadness to the poems. From this the reader can feel almost sympathetic to the unrequited lovers, and gain an understanding of the perils and repercussions of love.
In “The Despairing Lover” William Walsh sets out the poem like a story with a beginning a middle and an end. This narrative structure of the poem gives the poem three clear stages this making the poem clearer to the reader and enables the poets written words to portray his ideas with the poem. In the first stanza William Walsh is seen to be in ‘anguish’ over his loss of his lover. However in the second stanza his mood swings to being just unhappy to suicidal, “it’s torment projecting and sadly reflecting’. This also shows how the poet William
The use of the word “heart” emphasises this passion as the heart is considered the most important organ and so demonstrates how his passion (the “summer” in the sentence) is alive. Within these three poems, the use of nature as a mechanism impacted the poems, allowing them to convey meanings in an ambiguous sense yet still get across the general meaning of the poem.
...to help express the theme of the poems by illustrating the role the subject matter played in the life of the persona during their grieving period. Furthermore, metaphors helped communicate the thoughts and feelings of the personas by providing the reader with insight into the relationships and emotions covert in the poem. All in all, the poetic devices incorporated in each individual poetic composition played vital roles in the emotional and dramatic impact of these poems. And who knows, the immaculate use of these fundamental literary devices could be the key to successful love poems all around the world.
The Theme of Loss in Poetry Provide a sample of poetry from a range of authors, each of whom portrays a different character. the theme of loss in some way. Anthology Introduction The object of this collection is to provide a sample of poetry from a range of authors, each of whom portray the theme of ‘loss’ in some way. The ‘Loss’ has been a recurring theme in literature for centuries, from.
In the analysis of poetry one is always looking for the universal truth and how it relates to life. In the case of a child losing a parent, it strengthens the concept of the child’s own mortality. When your father’s generation gradually disappears it reminds you that your generation is the next in line.
When discussing the different aspects of New Criticism in Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle into The Good Night”, the impression that comes to mind is death. The use of imagery was a necessity for Dylan Thomas to express the different techniques of writing which involved a mixture of surrealistic and metaphysical tones. His ability to change a words meaning to incorporate symbolism is noticeable in circle of unity from life to death and renewed life.
The three poets convey the feelings of seriousness, happiness, and failure. In the poem “Simile”, Scott Momaday explains how people and the actions we do are similar to animals in which the comparison was towards deer. In “Moon Rondeau” by Carl Sandburg he illustrates that working together in a relationship, you may be able to accomplish a task and generate a strong bond. In the final poem “Woman” by Nikki Giovanni she displays how one may want to grow and be someone special to your significant other but they may not care of what their other may want. The three poets are illustrating the theme of humans being similar to animals in which case they either work together or they just ignore each other within the literary similarities and differences of the three poems.