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Theme of death from a poem
Elements of poetry to analize
Elements of poetry to analize
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Analysis of A Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy
Analysis of “The Darkling Thrush”, by Thomas Hardy
As the title has already mentioned, this assignment will be an analysis on a poem by Thomas Hardy. The poem is called “The Darkling Thrush”, also known by another title, “By the Century’s deathbed”. My analysis will include elements such as the poems’ setting, structure, imagery, diction, rhyme scheme and theme. I will go into one element at the time, and them give examples from one stanza only in that element. I will not come back to the same elements in the other stanzas, even though they are there. Therefore, this will not be a complete analysis of every element in each of the stanzas. I’d rather prefer to give a thorough description of what the different elements are and then give a few examples of each of them. In then end I will try to come up with a conclusion.
Setting:
The poem takes place on New Years Eve, the last day of the 19th century. It’s also the end of the Victorian Age. Winter is bringing death and desolation with it. A tired old man leans over a coppice gate in a desolate area, seeing ghosts of the past and little hope in the future.
Structure:
This poem has 4 stanzas, each with 8 lines. This is what we call an octave. The lines changes between having 4 and 3 stressed syllables in them, which is called tetrameter (4) and trimeter (3). Since the lines also follow a form of having one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable etc, we also call it iambic.
As an example I use the poems 1st stanza. Line number 1, 3, 5 and 7 each have 4 stressed syllables, therefore called iambic tetrameter ( / - / - / - / - ). Line number 2, 4, 6, and 8 each have 3 stressed syllables, therefore c...
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...standing of the poem is enhanced, but also your understanding of poems in general. I’ve tried to guide you through some of the main elements of poetry, giving a brief explanation as to what they are and how to find them. Because I’ve chosen to spend so much time on this, I didn’t use them all in each and every stanza. But now that you have it in front of you, why not try to look for signs of the different elements in the other stanzas?
If I were to give my own opinion of this poem, then I think I like the other title of the poem better. It is more fitting, considering the context around the writer at the time. You are in the last day of the 19th century, the queen is breathing her last few breaths, and so is the Victorian era. Awaiting just around the corner is a completely new era, a new king, and an entirely new Period entirely different from the Victorian.
Rhyme-The last words of line one and line three of each stanza rhyme. The last words of line two and line four of each stanza also rhyme. The rhyming words contribute to the rhythm and flow of the poem.
The em dash is used to separate the poem, whereas a special style is used in order to make the poem flow smoothly. This style is called iambic meter, a style that divides lines into two syllable sections. The syllable pattern is 8, 6, 8, 6 for every stanza in the poem. Iambic meter is used to counteract and support Dickenson’s use of the em dash.
The poet begins by describing the scene to paint a picture in the reader’s mind and elaborates on how the sky and the ground work in harmony. This is almost a story like layout with a beginning a complication and an ending. Thus the poem has a story like feel to it. At first it may not be clear why the poem is broken up into three- five line stanzas. The poet deliberately used this line stanzas as the most appropriate way to separate scenes and emotions to create a story like format.
last, which is four lines. In the first three stanzas, the poem is told in
This means that the poem contains unstressed followed by stressed syllables. In addition, each line contains three-stressed syllable, which makes it trimeter. For instance, “The whiskey on your breath” (1) can be used to identify the stressed syllables in that line. The syllable for “whisk”, “on” and “breath” are the three stressed syllable within that line of the poem. The use of an iambic trimeter allows the poem to become the waltz itself as it matches the three beats of the waltz. While this meter is used throughout the poem, there are certain lines that contain disruptions to the meter of this poem. For example, “slide from the kitchen shelf”(6) which is a trochaic. A trochee is a meter pattern that involves a stressed syllable flowed by an unstressed syllable. In this case, “slide” is a stressed syllable, while “from” is unstressed. These disruptions in meter mirror the father’s “missing steps” in line 11. This dance between the father and son is not smooth, but rather rough and clumsy due to the father’s drunkenness. Similarly, the first stanza also includes a simile, “But I hung on like death” (3), which portrays a sense of seriousness in tone of the speaker. In other words, there is a sense of play but also a sense of danger that characterizes the
Each stanza is composed of words that present a logical flow of growth through the entire poem. The words in the poem do not rhyme and the lines are different lengths.
This is a long one-stanza narrative poem. All the lines have five stresses and are written in iambic pentameter or blank verse, which was also Shakespeare's chosen meter in his plays.
In relation to structure and style, the poem contains six stanzas of varying lengths. The first, second, and fourth stanzas
Dickinson begins the first line of her poem by writing in iambic tetrameter. In the second line she switches to iambic trimeter and proceeds to alternate between the two. This rhyme scheme proves to be particularly effective in complimenting the subject of the poem-- the ocean. When a reader looks at the poem it is easy to see the lines lengthening then shortening, almost in the same fashion that the tide of the ocean flows and ebbs.
Rumens, Carol. "Poem of the Week: The Darkling Thrush, by Thomas Hardy." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 Dec. 2009. Web. 5 April. 2014. .
The construction of the poem is in regular four-line stanzas, of which the first two stanzas provide the exposition, setting the scene; the next three stanzas encompass the major action; and the final two stanzas present the poet's reflection on the meaning of her experience.
Clarke, R. (n.d.). The Poetry of Thomas Hardy. rlwclarke. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://www.rlwclarke.net/Courses/LITS2002/2008-2009/12AHardy'sPoetry.pdf
Sonnet 8 seems to be somewhat melodic as if it were a musical type chant. It sticks strictly to the pattern of 14 lines where a problem exists on the first eight lines and the resolution is on the last 6 lines. It is not an iambic pentameter where there are at least five iambs per metrical line but iambs do exist in the poem like “Muses” or “requite.”
The first stanza is rhymed abcb and the second defe. Wolosky mentions that Emily Dickinson wrote almost all of her poetry in this hymnal verse form – but almost always for purposes other than those of the church hymn. In this poem, Dickinson used various meters: the common iambic and even hymn meter, it shows that “Dickinson was a consummate metrist” (Cooley 84). For example, verse one, three, five, and seven have the hymnal feet ux ux uux ux, whereas u is the unstressed and x the stressed syllable. The feet of line two and six is an iambic tetrameter (ux ux ux ux) where an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed. The fourth and eighth line follow the feet ux ux ux (u), whereas the last unstressed syllable appears only in the fourth and the last verse therefore is a trimeter (Meyer 46). Her usage of dashes and the different meters in this poem furnishes evidence for her reasoning is not finalized or even inscribed and that the lines must proceed. With the help of the reader’s imagination the line of thought can be accomplished in different possible ways. Through these incomplete rhyme schemes and abrupt stress patterns the openness of Emily Dickinson’s poems are supported. Because of the poem’s brevity they seem simple to interpret at first glance but exactly that is what makes it difficult to grasp. Emily Dickinson let it open therefore it could signify
The poem is written in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Giving the poem a smooth rhyming transition from stanza to stanza.