The author’s physical picture of Death also varies from other contemporary works. Many people have their own idea of the physical appearance of Death through portrayals in different media. They also have a wide range of perceptions of Death that can run from scary to extremely funny. The physical description of the character of death varies greatly through different time periods and also different cultures. In the play Everyman the author does not pen down his own description of Death but leaves it to the reader to have their own interpretation.
The use of iambic pentameter also stresses key ideas and words whilst the poem can still flow. In contrast, Quickdraw is written in free form, restricting the poem from flowing smoothly. It has been suggested that this poem could be a concrete poem as many people think it resembles the shape of a gun. The irregular form of Duffy’s poem, allows emphasis on certain words. By separating lines and starting new stanzas during mid-flow, she is able to portray a hesitance in the person’s voice.
Where as with death, it is sad, mournful and so very lonesome. Because death is so final, there is no going back and living again, your life is over and there is nothing that you can do about it. When it is your time, you will nonetheless die, and that is that. In the short story, “I Used To Live Here Once”, by-Jean Rhys, her interpretation of death is very different. I think it was a very well written
Often poets provide their audience with hints to discover the meaning inserted in their work. It is the job of the reader to be an investigator and reveal what that is. Reading a poem and understanding it doesn’t always come easy to some readers. That’s why there are several methods presented to use to help explicate a poem. 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.
While both poems have traits that are similar, they have many more traits that differ from each other. While the ballad and the epic are are both types of poetry, they have unique elements that differ and elements that are similar. First, the ballad is able to tell a story through a narrative within the poem. These narrative within the context of the poem give the reader enough information to hold their attention. This enables the reader to grasp the concept of the story while also moving the story along.
Three poems which are mainly based on time but also use time to bring forth other themes are Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”, Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and T.S Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. In Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” there are two major themes time and death and as is the case with many other poems of the same nature, time is used to bring more emphasis to and progress the theme of death. The first stanza refers to Death as a gentleman for he “kindly stopped” for the speaker as he was to take her along her journey. This is in high contrast to a more common view of death in which it is personified as a sinister unforgiving character who is merciless and unforgiving in his task. The second stanza states “We slowly drove—He knew no haste” (line5) which points out how slowly Death’s carriage progresses while taking the speaker away as if time was of no importance.
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.
William Wordsworth is remembered as the founder of the Romantic Movement instead of William Blake. I believe this is because Blake had darker meanings behind his poetry. People probably were more attracted to Wordsworth because he had a warmer feel to his poetry. The fact that many people viewed Blake as crazy might, too, be a reason this occured. He did things most wouldn't find normal.
After those lines, the poem resumes its normal pattern, suggesting that death is just a normal part of life, and when someone dies, people should not be sad or change their course. The stanzas also follow this pattern. The first and third stanza are a bit more alarming overall, as they talk about the speaker being called to death and the aftermath of it. The second and fourth stanzas begin with contradictory words, balancing what has been said in the first and third stanzas. The second and fourth stanzas are more like a reassurance that death will happen, and it is okay.
This however, does not reduce the meaning of either, but strengthens the meaning of both. Each stanza symbolizes two complete opposites, life and afterlife. The actual death of the woman is not spoken of in this poem, it is only implied. Wordsworth’s choice to hide the death between the two stanzas is interesting, possibly illustrating that the speaker is unable to verbalize the pain that comes along with the woman’s sudden death. The choice to keep life and afterlife completely separate illustrates the contrast between what the speaker thinks of the woman while she is alive from when she is dead.