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Compare and contrast poems about death
With emphasis on death as a theme,examine dylan thomas death poem
War photography carol ann duffy english higher critical essay exemplar
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Recommended: Compare and contrast poems about death
Death is a predominant theme in the collection of poems, all of death portrayed in the poem lead to a similar interpretation of grief, regret and despair. Throughout the essay I will discuss the similarities and differences between the poems. Although the content of the poems are distinct, the views on death stay constant.
War photographer' by Carol Ann Duffy is a poem that explores the theme of death. In the poem, the photographer is developing images that he had taken. As the photos begin to develop the photographer reflects on the memories the photos conjure. ‘In his darkroom he is finally alone’ this suggests he is finally away from all the violence and chaos however this is oxymoronic as he is not alone but with his memories stained
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The process of developing the photos is compared to intoning a mass, just as a priest prepares for a funeral to commemorate the dead, the war photographer develops images in remembrance of the victims. Duffy provokes the reader into considering their privilege by comparing how the word ‘problem’ has a different meaning in different places, ‘Home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel, to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat’. Duffy presents the English as oblivious; they complain about petty issues whilst parents on the other side of the globe pray for food to feed their children. ‘War photographer’ gives the reader an insight to the true horror of war, which can’t be captured through the lens of a Canon …show more content…
On one hand they are dying whilst on the other they are struggling to keep alive. Dylan Thomas has an intense view of death as he compares the end of life to a burning candle, ‘Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, Rage against the dying of light’. His use of these words suggest there is nothingness after death Dylan Thomas represents the life of his father as a day with the sun setting his approaching demise. ‘Explain Deal explicitly with Do not go gentle and then move on to midterm break’ Unlike others who would slowly accept their death Dylan Thomas demands his father to fight against death until the very last breath. Dylan Thomas poem seems to prepare for death however this concept contrasts to ‘Mid term break’ as the family in ‘Mid term break’ must come to terms with the demise of their loved one. Heaney’s poem links back to ‘Out of the blue’ as they both are a result of an unexpected catastrophe. Their different perspectives on death are conflict with one another as they both show how people mentally prepare and deal with the death of someone precious. This is evident as ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ ends with “rage, rage against the dying of the light” whilst ‘Mid term Break’ ends with a very strong short sentence “A four-foot box. A foot for every year”. Despite the difference between the
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
‘War Photographer’ differs structurally from ‘Prayer Before Birth’. Firstly it is a narrative and the voice is the poet’s itself, as opposed to a persona. It also follows a conventional structure of 4 stanzas with an equal number of lines where each ends on a rhyming couplet as if to conclude argument. This also keeps the readers interested in the poem or the particular phrase as it creates a flow of rhythm. Alternatively, ‘Prayer before Birth’ is written in free verse and uses alliteration and assonance to create rhythm. The structure of the poem also supports this dichotomy in that there are two contrasting worlds: the world of war zones (‘Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.’) and the quieter and calmer world of ‘Rural England’. The photographer is portrayed as a struggling man who wants to adapt back into ‘normal’ life having witnessed such tragedies. The war has made everyday life meaningless and trivial to him in comparison to the suffering experienced by others. The sentence structure also helps emphasise the contrast the poet is creating between everyday life back in leafy England and the shocking reality of a war zone.
‘The Falling Soldier’ is one of many poems by Duffy which deals with the subject of human mortality. Duffy expresses what could have been over a harsh reality; this is characteristic of her as also seen in ‘Last Post’ and ‘Passing Bells’ which both seem to be largely influenced by poet peer Wilfred Owen’s personal experiences of war. In the ‘The Falling Soldier’ Duffy paradoxically captures the essence of Robert Capa’s famous photograph of a man falling after being shot during the Spanish Civil War (1936). She employs the form of an impersonal narrative voice, using second person to question the possibilities, to explore the tragic and cyclical nature of war. The futile reality of war contrasts to her central theme in ‘The Bees’ anthology of bees symbolising the grace left in humanity.
No man wants to go to war and no government wants war but there are
‘Poetry can challenge the reader to think about the world in new ways.’ It provokes the readers to consider events, issues and people with revised understanding and perspectives. The poems Dulce Et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owen, 1917) and Suicide in the Trenches (Siegfried Sassoon, 1917), were composed during World War One and represented the poets’ point of views in regards to the glorification of war and encouraged readers to challenge their perspectives and reflect upon the real consequences behind the fabrications of the glory and pride of fighting for one’s nation.
Tennyson’s poem has a lot of action in it but Binyon’s poem is a view
I am going to compare and contrast the two poems ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘War Photographer’ by Carol Ann Duffy. They both give a view of war. Owen gives first hand experiences he witnessed whilst fighting in World War One and where he unfortunately died one week before the war came to an end. Carol Ann Duffy may be writing about the feelings of her personal friends who were war photographers, showing some of the horrors they witnessed.
How does Duffy use language to present the themes of power and conflict in her poem ‘War Photographer’
Human Corruption depicts the abandoning of societal norms and values for an unfair advantage or for various other reasons including greed for wealth. Clearly, the person engaging in such activities is driven by an ulterior motive or a vested interest through which he/she hopes to gain and take advantage of their power against society with disregard to the rules and regulations governing such behaviour. This central idea is explored vastly in ‘Prayer before Birth’, ‘War Photographer’, ‘Mother in A Refugee Camp’ and the three other poems through the use of elements such as stylistic features, language techniques and form and structure. The respective poets employ these techniques in different ways. In ‘Prayer Before Birth’, MacNeice expresses his fear towards a corrupt world. He does this through the persona of an unborn child. ‘War Photographer’ by Carol Ann Duffy similarly puts readers in the shoes of the photographer who spends his occupation alternating between two contrasting countries and situations. ‘Mother in a Refugee Camp’ is about the struggle of a mother holding her dying son in her hands for the last time suggesting the inevitability of death. The ideas conveyed in the three main poems are supported by the secondary poems: Adrienne Rich’s “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers”, Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I rise’ and Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Shooting Stars’.
The speaker started the poem by desiring the privilege of death through the use of similes, metaphors, and several other forms of language. As the events progress, the speaker gradually changes their mind because of the many complications that death evokes. The speaker is discontent because of human nature; the searching for something better, although there is none. The use of language throughout this poem emphasized these emotions, and allowed the reader the opportunity to understand what the speaker felt.
Many people find it hard to imagine their death as there are so many questions to be answered-how will it happen, when, where and what comes next. The fact that our last days on Earth is unknown makes the topic of death a popular one for most poets who looks to seek out their own emotions. By them doing that it helps the reader make sense of their own emotions as well. In the two poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickenson and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, the poets are both capturing their emotion about death and the way that they accepted it. In Dickenson’s poem her feelings towards death are more passionate whereas in Dylan’s poem the feelings
and is very touching. When I read the poem for the first time I was
Wilfred Owen wrote about the distilled pity of war from his first-hand experience. Owen concisely features the carnage and destruction of war in both the poems, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Strange Meeting’ Owen uses these poems document the psychological and physical debilitation of war. In ‘Dulce et Decorum est’, Owen uses a various amount of literary techniques to visually depict the cruel and grotesque death from the mustard gas whereas ‘Strange Meeting’, portrays the speaker in conversation with a dead soldier that he is presumably responsible for killing, symbolically which emphasises the effect of the wartime trauma. Wilfred Owen’s poetry effectively highlights the carnage and destruction of war to educate the audience on the disillusionment of war.
War Poetry Alfred Tennyson and Wilfred Owen present different ideas about war in their poems, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Dulce et Decorum est”. Write about these poems and their effect on you. “The Charge of the Light Brigade” was written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, about The Battle of Balaclava which took place in 1854. Tennyson wrote the poem using information from an article in The Times and it remembers the bravery of the outnumbered cavalry men who were wrongly sent into battle.
The two main themes covered by these two writers are love and death. The poems which use love as the main theme inspire the reader and offer hope that true love exists and is not a fragment of their imagination. The feelings that are discussed in these poems are feelings that all people can experience but are difficult to describe and put into words. This is what makes the poetry so worthwhile to read, to see how the feelings that relate to love are expressed and how they are shown with images and other writing styles.