Coontrast of Edward Thomas March and but These Things Also

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How do the differing structures, forms and language change the feel of ‘March’ and ‘But These Things Also’ Both ‘March’ and ‘But These Things Also’ comment on the ways in which winter transitions into spring. They both specifically focus on the theme of cycles; spring is seen as the season of new life, a fresh start, and new beginnings. Therefore both poems show a hope a search for spring. The poem uses two specific species of birds to represent the promise of spring. In March the poem describes thrushes as a sign of spring. “They cared not what they sang or screamed; Whether ‘twas hoarse or sweet or fierce or soft; And to me all was sweet they could do no wrong”, the object of singing is shown to be holding off the darkness and silence which has a connotation similar of winter. In ‘But These Things Also’ starlings are represented as the sight of new birth, and new directions “Chattering on and on keep their spirits up in the mist, Spring’s here” the sound of the chattering alike the thrushes in March are a symbolism for the arrival of springtime. Both winter and spring exist together throughout the two poems, showing the use of cycles linking together again. Despite both contents of the poems being very alike the structure of the poems are very different. March is almost in prose with three long stanza containing long sentences and multiple uses of punctuation. For example the first stanza is three lines and one sentence and uses a caesura to split the possibility of two sentences. It’s tone is informal and almost as if the writing is like a conversation. It has no meter due to the way it is a story telling poem. In the second stanza Edward Thomas uses the repetition of still to represent winter in contrast with a few lines down, using words such and ‘warmth’ and ‘tenderness’ which are connotations with springtime. In the last stanza groups of three are
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