“Compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about time and it’s passing.” In your response, you must include detailed critical discussion of Love Songs In Age and one other poem by Larkin. Many poems in Philip Larkin’s ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ are connected through one common factor: Larkin’s rather dismal attitude towards time and the passing of it. In many of his poems Larkin presents time as a menial entity resulting in an inevitable mortality. However, on further examination Larkin reflects back on time in a nostalgic manner. In order to emphasise Larkin’s outlooks onto time and it’s passing, one can highlight the similarities and differences between Larkin and Abse’s poetry.
Hamlet emphasizes “Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep. No more-and by a sleep to say we end” (Hamlet). And He means that the scariest part of death is not knowing what exactly it’s going to be like. We shouldn’t let the fear of death go past us but to always have hope.
Once they have eaten of the lotus they prefer its half-life and they would prefer death rather than setting forth again. “The Lotus-Eaters” is amongst other things a creative allusion to Homer and presents the question of a known outcome not mentioned within the poem. The same question is found in Tennyson’s allusion to Shakespeare in his poem “Marianna”. The end of the story in Homer is very definitely not the mariners’ drugged wish, however Tennyson is interested in that moment that evokes a state of trance in the mariners. The readers know that in Homer the mariners continue with their journey but Tennyson opts to explore the mariners’ state when they are drawn to a life away from labor and responsibilities.
Through greatness one must die to be remembered as a legend. The poem allows Death to voice that he doesn't reflect gory, but glory. Death speaks of the runner as a champion, but justifies that in life; victors fade and become meaningless in the eyes of the masses: So set, before the echoes fade, the fleet foot on the sill of shade. Death was able to set the runner free before he would face humiliation of witnessing his prestige fade
The poet wants to show the meaning of life. He sheds light on the fact of death and the brevity of our life. The rhetorical question shows that the poet belittles man's life because it is short and transient. The word "division" shows that man's happiness is short and temporary. The word "short" shows the brevity of the earthly life.
These are highlighted because it is claimed that “O me! O life!” ;is a distilled version of “Song of Myself”. During the entirety of both poems, Walt Whitman encourages that to have a fulfilling life, one must ask the right questions, find good in their surroundings and contribute to life. Both plays are molded around series of questions. “"O me!
How does the exploration of the connections between two texts from different times deepen our understanding of what is constant in human nature? The comparative study of the poetry of John Donne and Margaret Edson’s play, W;t, reveals changes in context inform what we value in human nature, specifically in regards to finitude, relationships and humanity. John Donne’s Holy Sonnets, ‘Death be not proud’, ‘This is my playes last scene’ and ‘If poysonous mineralls’ explore the fear of death and the need to belittle it, whereas ‘Hymne to God my God, in my Sicknesse’ (‘Hymne’) and ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’ (‘Valediction’) deal with the idealised, spiritual aspects of love and relationships. The need to undermine the power of death is reflected, though expressed differently, in both ‘Death be not proud’ and W;t. In ‘Death be not proud’, the personification of death, the logical argumentative structure and tone of the sonnet cohesively highlight the idea that death is not the absolute end, and can be transcended through a religious belief in salvation. 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”.
“The Seafarer” can be categorized as Angle-Saxon lyric poetry for its use of kennings, change in tone, and themes that include love of the sea, loneliness, exile and fate. A popular literary device used during this time period was a kenning, which is a figurative, usually compound expression used in place of a name or noun. One is found in line fifty-three, “summer’s sentinel,” referring to a cuckoo. During this point in the poem, the lines create images that contrast with the images of the sea. Another example is in line fifty-nine through sixty “whales’ home,” referring to the sea.
Professor Merchant Essay 4 Rough Draft October 21, 2012 Let Me Choose No human being wants to be in pain; but, what if the only way to stay alive was to live with pain. What is worse, dyeing purposely to end the pain or to live through the pain as long as possible to extend life? Dudley Randall shows that life is worth living no matter what. The speaker in “To the Mercy killers” begs for his or her life by changeling the mercy killers that want to end the speaker’s pain. Dudley Randall’s poem, ‘To the Mercy Killers,” argues for saving life paradoxically by pointing out all the reason to take it.
The effect of the long stanzas on responders reflects the passing of time and the flooding memories. Memories triggered by the meeting a childhood friend and the realisation that the person can transcend death because of memories, love, family and friendship. Love and friendships enshrined in memory will protect the persona against time and mortality. No change has occurred in the persona’s stubborn and determined nature — “I could walk on water” to “in airy defiance of nature”. However, she now realises that “no hand will save her”, but the poem ends in peace and acceptance, as death will be followed by eternity - “waters that bear me away forever”.