Both The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls and A Psalm of Life share similar philosophies: Death is a part of life. However they differ in the moods of the writing; The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls portrays the philosophy in a dark and pessimistic mood while A Psalm of Life is more optimistic and sanguine. Both poems share the philosophy that death is a part of life. Longfellow states that life is a cycle. He says this in A Psalm of Life: “…the grave is not its goal."
The connection between poetry and love this poem suggest is that when you fear yourself about death—you will think of everything. Before he die he would like to experience love, as in the last line it says “Till love and fame to nothingness do sink”. 3. Do you see a turn of thought in this sonnet? At the conclusion of the poem, does the speaker resolve his fears?
Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” is a metaphoric account of an attitude and acceptance of death. In the poem, the land, though unmentioned, is life, ocean is a representation of death, and the bar, or sandbar is the borderline between life and death. The speaker seems to hope that “which drew from out the boundless deep/ turns again home “ (Lines 7-8), which represents how he will be taken to death. The “dark” that is mentioned in Line 10 refers to the state of being after the speaker passes on, but he hopes that there will “be no sadness of farewell/ when I embark” (Lines 11-12), meaning the he hopes no one will be sad when he dies. The speaker knows that he will be taken beyond “Time and Place” (Line 13), meaning beyond life as everyone knows it, but he hopes that when he gets there, he will see his “Pilot face to face”, meaning God, the leader of his life.
In the concluding couplet, Donne affirms that after “one short sleepe” imposed upon us by death, we wake to the eternal life of salvation and in that life of the soul, “death shall be no more”. This subject of death and its aftermath is indicative of the societal values in Donne’s context, where death was an omnipresent entity and mortality rates were low as a result of limited scientific and medical knowledge. Subsequently, advancements in science and medicine in the context of W;t alter the perception of death, which is portrayed through Vivian’s constant use of gallows humour throughout the play as a theatrical device in confronting her fear of death. Contrary to Donne’s time, in which religion was very much central in one’s life, the 1990s mark a time where the lack of religious dimension and faith resulted
Edgar Allen Poe demonstrates in his written works of “Lenore”, “Annabel Lee”, and “To Helen” an element that seemingly attempts to give the reader exceptional emotional sadness. Poe does this by telling the poem in a point of view where a man tells the story of the death or remembrance of a young love or woman. He also puts a sense of gloom in each of his poems. This allows for the reader to create a mental image if the setting, without him having to directly point it out. As well, the gloominess of his poetry could also be due to his longing effect of sadness that he attempts to express.
Barrett Browning manipulates direct speech and colour symbolism in the passage “Guess now who holds thee? – ‘Death’ I said. But, there, the silver answer rang, - ‘Not Death, but Love’” in order to personify Death and Love, emphasised through dramatic use of punctuation and dashes. A clear shift is depicted through the emphatic and passionate tone of Sonnet XXI, in which Barrett Browning presents a lack of fear of ageing, contradictory to attitudes of her time.
The form of Thomas’s poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” provides rhyme, repetition, and length that present the concealed theme to fight death. For one thing, adding rhyme to his poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” Dylan Thomas uses this technique of form to offer the dominant idea, fighting death. When Thomas uses rhyme in his poem he provides the audience with words that define the theme. For instance, in addition to rhyming, Thomas uses words metaphorically in each stanza of his work. Metaphoric words are used as a figure of speech to compare two objects, but not taken literally.
Analysis of “Thanatopsis” The poem, “Thanatopsis,” written by William Cullen Bryant, is about a peaceful view of death, comfort for the living, and re-birth. Bryant suggests that nature teaches one many things about death that no other human could possibly teach. He shows one that death is just another phase of life. It is the only thing in life that is certain. One should not fear death because no one will be dead alone.
The poem, “Because I could not stop for Death-“, alludes to a possible afterlife or existence in different manifestations, especially in the last two lines “I first surmised the Horses’ Heads Were toward Eternity_”. Dickinson’s references to the “Setting Sun” and the “Dews” give suggestions to an organic or naturalistic view of life and death. Dickinson is very composed and calm in this poem as she tells a story about taking a carriage ride with death. Death is a kind gentleman and in no rush. She has no fear and sees her death as a positive event instead of a negative
Emily Dickinson and the use of death as symbolism One of the best ways to portray a feeling or expression is by using symbolism, which most poetry does a good job of, however, there are few better than poetry by Emily Dickinson. The poems written by her are abstract enough where she could be talking about death and she is really talking about how she barely left her home town of Amherst, Massachusetts. She also uses symbolism to show the internal struggle of some things, such as losing your mind, symbolizing the felling of emptiness and loneness. “Because of I could not stop Death” is one poem that has the feeling that she is not saying what she means. The overall theme in the poem of death is actually another form of symbolism.