Lit E Learning

8/3/2019 Lit E Learning

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Attempted Poem: Part 2Do not go gentle into that good

night


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[in a poem] the sound [of a word]

should seem an echo to the sense [of the

word] Sense refers to the meaning of the word


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What is your understanding of Alexander

Popes quote?

The sound that the word makes whenpronounced should reflect the meaning of the

word.

x E.g. The word aggressive focuses on the crunching

sound of the g syllable, thus sounding fierce


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Pledge and Ledge

Flower and Power


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By the shore of Gitchie Gumee, By theshining Big-Sea-Water, At the doorwayof his wigwam,

In the pleasant Summermorning, Hiawatha stood and waited.

(Hiawatha's Departurefrom The Song of Hiawatha,

HenryWadsworth Longfellow)


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Little trotty wagtail he went in the

rain,And tittering, tottering sideways he

ne'er got straight again,He stooped to geta worm, and looked up to get a fly,And

then he flew away ere his feathers they

were dry.( Little TrottyWagtail, John Clare)


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"Those images that yetFresh imagesbeget,That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea. (Byzantium,W.B. Yeats)

"The spider skins lie on their sides,

translucent and ragged, their legs drying

in knots.(Holy the Firm, Annie Dillard)


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Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though; Hewill not see me stopping here

To watchhis woods fill up with snow.

(Stopping byWoods on a Snowy Evening,

Robert Frost)

And the silken sad uncertain rustling ofeach purple curtain

(The Raven, Edgar Ellan Poe)


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Our first foe, the serpent Satanas,Thathath in Jews' heart his wasps nest,Upswelled, and said: "O Hebraic people,alas!Is this to you a thing that ishonest,That such a boy shall walken ashim lestIn your despite, and sing of suchsentence,Which is against your law'sreverence?

(Prioress' Tale, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales)


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the moan of doves in immemorial

elms,And murmuring of innumerablebees. (Come Down, O Maid, Sir Alfred Tennyson)


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The tone is one of forewarning.

The poet gives instances of wise men,

good men, wild men, and grave menregretting not fighting against death, and

he does not want his father to succumb to

the same fate.


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

A sense of desperation is created where the poet

refuses to let his father succumb to the hand ofdeath, regardless of whether or not he goes in tothe night, a metaphor for death, gently or withrage against the dying of the light (loss of life).The interlocking rhyme pattern effectively

synthesizes the meaning of both the refrains intoone meaning, reaching its climax at its repetitionof both refrains at the end of the poem.


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What is the effect of ending with bothrefrains? It shows how the poet is reluctant to let his father die.

He does not care if he dies calmly (going gentleinto the good night) or struggling (rage, rageagainst the dying of the light), he refuses to let hisfather die.

Why do you think Dylan Thomas chooses todo so? While each type of man only has one refrain in the

respective stanzas, having both for the last stanzaheightens the desperation of the poet with regards tohis fathers resistance to death.


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Do you see the use of onomatopoeia in thisline? The pronunciation of the g syllable creates a sense

of unresolved conflict which is made apparent by thecrunching sound of the g syllable. The soundcreated by the pronunciation of the g syllable doesnot have a distinct pronunciation, not as distinct as ach but not as gentle as a j either, creating a senseof resistance.

What is the effect of onomatopoeia here? This lack of a clear pronunciation creates a sense ofresistance which emphasizes how people shouldresist death to the very end.


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sang the sun in flight,

see with blinding sight

Both utilise the pronunciation of the

hissing sound of the s syllable


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Wise men Regretful

They lived their life discovering and finding out new ideas and concepts. However, nonewere substantial enough to create an impact to the world. If they had lived for a whilelonger, such a discovery could have been made.

Good men

Regretful They lived their life doing good deeds, but are regretful that life had to be taken away sosoon before their frail deeds could truly be glorified

Wild men Grieving and extremely sad

They celebrated life and enjoyed life to the fullest, only to discover that the world theycelebrated was slowly dissolving around them as comrades age and die.

Just when they were celebrating in the sunlight, they fail to realise that night (symbolizingdeath) is coming and imminent

Grave men Full of willpower towards death

Even though they are weak and losing their faculty of sight, they can still use what strengththey have to rage against death and refuse to succumb to it


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How is this change in tone shown, and what is itseffect?

He addresses his father personally, using words such as youand me, creating an intimate atmosphere, far different fromthe detached atmosphere in the other stanzas. Moreover, whilethe other stanzas focus on broad categories of men, this stanzafocuses on one sole individual, his father. This intimateatmosphere brings the element of emotion into the refrain,creating a larger impact.

Why does Dylan Thomas implore his father toCurse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray?

Struggling against death can result in two extremes. If hestruggles but ultimately succumbs to death, his suffering issimply prolonged, making the pain for both the poet and hisfather more severe. On the other hand, if he struggles andovercomes death, it is a blessing instead.


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He wants his father to live life to his fullestand not succumb to the natural laws ofdeath. In this sense, he wants his father to

live life without regrets and make his markin the world and ultimately have full controlof his life, including his death.

Is it because he himself fears a worldwithout his father?

This is another possible interpretation of the poem.He refuses to let his father die as he cannot survive

without his father, with the fathers fate subsequentlydictating his own life.


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the sound should seem

an echo of the sense- Alexander Pope


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The sound of the word and the overall

feel created by its pronunciation should

complement the meaning of the word.

However, this is not the case for all

poems.

Not every poet would employ such a method,perhaps preferring other methods such as

focusing on imagery instead.


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A poem which relies heavily on aural

poetic devices to impact the reader The Raven by Edgar Ellan Poe

A poem in which sound is not as

important.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost


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Which do you prefer, and why? I prefer poems which utilise aural poetic devices.

Poems are meant to be read out. Hence, the auditory

elements in the poem can be fully capitalized upon,where the sound of the word creates a fuller andmore distinct impact on the reader as compared toan image which takes time to be conjured.

A larger emphasis on words can be created by using

auditory devices such as assonance and consonance Onomatopoeia can effectively contribute to the

overall atmosphere of the poemx E.g. Hissing sound created by the letter s


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Substantiate your response with

examples from poems of your choice Come Down, O Maid by Sir Alfred Tennyson

Stopping byWoods on a Snowy Evening by

Robert Frost

Holy the Firm by Annie Dillart

Documents

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