The Villanelle is a closed form poetic structure with five tercet stanzas and ending with a quartet stanza. It also uses an aba rhyme scheme and is in iambic pentameter. One special rule that Villanelles follow is that the first and last lines of the first stanza must be alternated at the end of the other tercet stanzas and both must be repeated at the end of the quartet stanza. In "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night", Dylan Thomas utilizes the repetitive rhyme of the Villanelle to strengthen the message of his poem.
The first stanza introduces the theme of the poem and the two repeated messages, "Do not go gentle into that good night/ Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (lines 1, 3). From here on, these two lines alternate at the end of every other stanza. This not only makes the Villanelle's aba rhyme scheme easier to accomplish but also forces the reader to remember these lines. This helps associate the content of stanzas 2-6 with the poems main theme of never quitting or dying without a fight.
Stanzas 2-5 describe different men. The ambiguity of each description allows the reader to speculate as to who these men could be and what is their purpose in life. Each stanza also defines its' group of men with an adjective. They are either, Wise, Good, Wild, and Grave. Alternatives to these words such as Intelligent, Decent, Uncivilized, and Evil suggest that Thomas is including all men into his poem. By doing so Thomas sends the message that all men, no matter what spectrum of profession or personality they belong to, always fight before relinquishing their lives.
The aba rhyme present throughout the poem also strengthens the idea that all the men mentioned in Thomas' poem must follow the same pattern of life. Another message in this poem that the Villanelle supports is that everyone exists in a cycle in which people die, but that does not mean that they should not struggle to survive.
The final quartet stanza introduces the narrator's father. His mentioning associates him with the other four men. It is especially apparent that the father is dying when the narrator says that he is, "...there on the sad height" (16). The poem ends with the narrator pleading to his father to continue fighting death by repeating the two aforementioned lines. What is interesting is when the narrator says, "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray" (17). It appears that the narrator prays to his father, alluding that his father might already be dead. His death is a curse and a blessing upon him because he misses his father and learned the lesson that he repeats.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Blog Entry 9: "The Lamb" and "The Tyger"
The poems "The Lamb" and "The Tyger", both written by William Blake, have narrators who question and speak to two different animals. The difference between the two poems is the animals that they are named after and the interaction of both narrators with them. The narrators are especially interesting because they appear to be the same person, but engage the lamb with courtesy while fearing the tyger.
From the levels of diction and syntax of the two poems, it is apparent that both the narrator of "The Lamb" and "The Tyger" are the same person. The sentence, "Little Lamb, who made thee?" ("The Lamb" 1), shares a similar syntax structure to the sentence, "What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" ("The Tyger" 3-4). In both sentences, the narrator asks the Lamb and the understood Tyger who made them while following the same subject-verb-object pattern. The narrator also asks both animals this particular question repeatedly throughout both poems. By doing so, Blake shows that both narrators follow a similar thought pattern and are likely to be the same person. They also use similar wording, such as the word thee and similar rhymes such as, "Gave thee clothing of delight,/ Softest clothing wooly bright;" ("The Lamb" 5-6), and also, "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/ In the forest of the night," ("The Tyger" 1-2).
Both poems have a common theme involving a creator. In "The Lamb" the speaker gives credit to the creator for making of the lamb. They often praise the lamb and compares the creator, the lamb, and them self by stating, "We are called by his name" ("The Lamb" 19). The tone seems to be of a condescending nature because the narrator asks the lamb who created it. The narrator knows the answer to their own question, suggesting that they see the lamb as an innocent animal.
This is not the case in "The Tyger". The narrator appears to fear or respect the creature as they describe it with grim words such as "burning bright", "fearful" and "dread". Another contrast to "The Lamb" is that while the narrator also questions who made the Tyger, the narrator genuinely does not know the answer. But perhaps the narrator does know the answer and denies it when they state, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" ("The Tyger" 20).
From the levels of diction and syntax of the two poems, it is apparent that both the narrator of "The Lamb" and "The Tyger" are the same person. The sentence, "Little Lamb, who made thee?" ("The Lamb" 1), shares a similar syntax structure to the sentence, "What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" ("The Tyger" 3-4). In both sentences, the narrator asks the Lamb and the understood Tyger who made them while following the same subject-verb-object pattern. The narrator also asks both animals this particular question repeatedly throughout both poems. By doing so, Blake shows that both narrators follow a similar thought pattern and are likely to be the same person. They also use similar wording, such as the word thee and similar rhymes such as, "Gave thee clothing of delight,/ Softest clothing wooly bright;" ("The Lamb" 5-6), and also, "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/ In the forest of the night," ("The Tyger" 1-2).
Both poems have a common theme involving a creator. In "The Lamb" the speaker gives credit to the creator for making of the lamb. They often praise the lamb and compares the creator, the lamb, and them self by stating, "We are called by his name" ("The Lamb" 19). The tone seems to be of a condescending nature because the narrator asks the lamb who created it. The narrator knows the answer to their own question, suggesting that they see the lamb as an innocent animal.
This is not the case in "The Tyger". The narrator appears to fear or respect the creature as they describe it with grim words such as "burning bright", "fearful" and "dread". Another contrast to "The Lamb" is that while the narrator also questions who made the Tyger, the narrator genuinely does not know the answer. But perhaps the narrator does know the answer and denies it when they state, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" ("The Tyger" 20).
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Blog Entry 8: Dickinson & Hardy
This week's readings gave a glimpse into the world of Poetry. I found all poems to be enjoyable and thought provoking. The one poem that did catch my attention was "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy, however, the poem that I found least enjoyable was "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson. Hardy's poem presents a clearer and easier to understand message whereas Dickinson's poem leaves the reader with a more ambiguous interpretation.
The subject matter of Dickinson's poem proved to be difficult to identify. The poem seems to be about a person enjoying the varying aspects of life and not allowing Death to interfere. I am still unsure of this explanation even after having read the poem several times. Most of the poem is presented in broken sentences and makes it difficult to understand what message the poem is trying to present. The format and pattern in-which the information is confused me. One example is the section which says, "Or rather-He passed Us-/ The Dews drew quivering and chill-/ For only Gossamer, my Gown-/ My Tippet-only Tulle-" (13-16). Passages such as this one appear odd. There is no sense of unity between one phrase toward the next and the subjects being spoken of did not give me any coherent idea. The whole poem did not make any sense to me and bothers me greatly. Perhaps this was Dickinson's intended purpose.
Hardy's poem was more enjoyable for me because I found the words and structure to be simple and had a message that is easily grasped. The essay on page 669 that focuses on this story also helped give a clearer perspective by reinforcing my interpretation. The subject presents many ideas to the reader. The morality of war and purpose of it come to mind when reading this poem. The language is still easy to follow and the format covers only a few thoughts at a time which makes it easier to follow along. The idea that attracted me most toward this poem was empathy. A person reflects on how he a man that he killed could have very well been his friend given different circumstances. It is this notion that reveals the sadness that accompanies war. It is because of this message that I found this poem overwhelming.
The subject matter of Dickinson's poem proved to be difficult to identify. The poem seems to be about a person enjoying the varying aspects of life and not allowing Death to interfere. I am still unsure of this explanation even after having read the poem several times. Most of the poem is presented in broken sentences and makes it difficult to understand what message the poem is trying to present. The format and pattern in-which the information is confused me. One example is the section which says, "Or rather-He passed Us-/ The Dews drew quivering and chill-/ For only Gossamer, my Gown-/ My Tippet-only Tulle-" (13-16). Passages such as this one appear odd. There is no sense of unity between one phrase toward the next and the subjects being spoken of did not give me any coherent idea. The whole poem did not make any sense to me and bothers me greatly. Perhaps this was Dickinson's intended purpose.
Hardy's poem was more enjoyable for me because I found the words and structure to be simple and had a message that is easily grasped. The essay on page 669 that focuses on this story also helped give a clearer perspective by reinforcing my interpretation. The subject presents many ideas to the reader. The morality of war and purpose of it come to mind when reading this poem. The language is still easy to follow and the format covers only a few thoughts at a time which makes it easier to follow along. The idea that attracted me most toward this poem was empathy. A person reflects on how he a man that he killed could have very well been his friend given different circumstances. It is this notion that reveals the sadness that accompanies war. It is because of this message that I found this poem overwhelming.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)