Thursday, October 6, 2011

"Death, be not proud"

"Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,"



This poem is about how death is not as powerful or unconquerable as many people claim it to be. In some ways, we can control death. People can kill each other with weapons or poison. People can commit suicide. Also, in the end, death will be conquered by our everlasting life. "One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally, / And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die." I assume that the speaker is alluding to the everlasting life we gain through our belief in Jesus Christ. Again, this is a poem about how death should not be feared. The more poetry we read, the more I notice how common a theme death is, and how many different approaches people take when writing about it or how many views and opinions people have about it.

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"-Dylan Thomas

"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

In this poem, the speaker is urging his father not to give in to death. Even though many "good" and "wise" men have accepted death, the speaker does not want his father to do so. He wants his father to fight to live. This is not like most of the poems we have read so far this year. Most say just the opposite. "Crossing the Bar," for instance, was all about how the speaker was embracing death. Some people can learn to accept death, but many struggle with the idea. I think it is harder to imagine some close to me dying than myself dying., and I think that partly accounts for the two different approaches to death.

"Delight in Disorder"-Robert Herrick-Oxymoron

"A careless shoestring in whose tie
I see a wild civility;"

This poem describes the speaker's love of chaos over perfect order. Instead of a neat world, the speaker prefers things to be in disorder. This disorder doesn't overthrow all order; it simply makes the world a bit more unique. The oxymoron is "wild civility." Even though there is underlying order in the world, there are still details left to chaos. This strongly reminded me of Brave New World, where everything had its place. I agree with the author that I prefer a bit of "wild civility" to the rigidness of a world like that described in Brave New World.

"Lonely Hearts"- Wendy Cope- Structure

"Can someone make my simple wish come true?
Do you live in North London? Is it you?"

The structure of this poem is a villanelle, and the two lines that are repeated throughout the poem are the ones above. These lines represent a universal longing to have a companion to love. The poem describes five ads in the "Personals" sections of a newspaper. Each person is asking for someone different. However, the intent is the same. The people are all desiring someone special in their life. Since these lines are repeated, they are the focus of the poem. The reader can understand this specific feeling, even if they don't connect with the writers of the ad or the writers' desires.

"That time of year"- William Shakespeare- Imagery

"In me thous see'st the the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,"

This poem is a sonnet, with three quatrains and a couplet. In each couplet, there is death imagery. In the first, the image is of fall. Fall is associated with the death of plants and the hibernation of animals. In the second, the speaker employs sunset imagery to represent death. The sunset is the end of a day, while death is the end of a life. The final image is of a fire. The fire dies down until it becomes nothing but ashes. The couplet describes someone close to the speaker, possibly a lover, who is holding on tight because he or she knows the speaker is about to die.