Formal Approach to Thomas Gray's Elegy (Eulogy) Written in a Country Churchyard

Imagery is a common form of technique used in poetry in which the author uses visualization to demonstrate a vivid scene for the readers. In the poem, “Digging”, he discusses his father’s aging figure and recreates the feeling of the passage of time by mentioning his grandfather digging in a similar fashion. When Heaney says, “Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds; Bends low, comes up twenty years away”, he is most likely referring to a past memory of his father, indicating he has passed away twenty years ago. Heaney vividly remembers his father digging, and compares his father’s digging to his own penmanship when he says at the beginning of the poem, “Between my finger and my thumb/ The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.”, and at the end of the poem when he says, “Between my

The imagery described in stanza 3 appears to revisit the stages of the speaker’s life. The school where the children are at recess symbolizes her childhood. “Fields of Gazing Grain” in line 11 implies a ripe harvest; perhaps the middle stages of her life when she was most productive. In the final line of the third quatrain, the “Setting Sun” is not only a reflection of the end of a day but also the end of speaker’s life. Perhaps it is the chilling thought of death that brings a revelation to the narrator about the thin, sheer garment she is

The visual’s background is formed by a dark and starry night sky; stretching across the image and transitioning into a sunny day sky. This is a representation of the passage of time, life, death, and the power of memories. The nighttime depicts ageing and adulthood, whereas the daytime represents youth and life. In the poem, the narrator describes the sky, ‘Ambiguous night, ambiguous sky,’ which is symbolic for the transience between adulthood and childhood. An ambiguous sky is a sky which is unclear or undecided. The faded transition from the night sky to the day sky reflects this notion and the uncertainty of memories; displaying how the poem

Edward Hirsch starts off the elegy by writing about when they were at the funeral home, and shocked by the sight of recently deceased son. Hirsch says, “And for a moment I was taken aback/Because it was not Gabriel/ It was some poor kid/ Whose face looked like a room/ That had been vacated”. He uses these descriptive words to set the emotion and sensitivity for the rest of the poem, which is bitter and disheartening.

The line ‘driven like stakes into the earth’ is a simile and can be interpreted in two different ways. It can be seen as the fact that man is trying to build a city of impermanence, and the other is the literal meaning of mans crucification of the earth with buildings. Robert Gray also uses contrasting juxtaposition of imagery extensively in the poem. ‘On a highway over the marshland...cars like skulls, that is rolling in its sand dunes.’ This not only emphasises humankind’s assault on nature and the urbanisation that is contaminating natural spaces, but also compares the two landscapes as existing together. It once again forces the responder to visualise the situation, one of which they may be able to relate too and question life’s morals. The poem shows the destructive nature of mans actions, which is an issue in society that is prevalent.

Burial Rites, a novel written by Hannah Kent is heavily based on story telling and the effect it has. Through the course of the novel, readers observe the significance story telling has for both the individual and the community. For an individual story telling can make the speaker feel empowered whereas for the community story telling’s main significance is the entertainment it provides. Since Kent’s purpose of Burial Rites is to tell the life journey of Agnes Magnusdottir in an ambiguous light, story telling also becomes important for the reader.

being severed by white sealers as they tried to save themselves from drowning. Figurative language and the overall tone of the poem illustrate the gloom and sadness surrounding the event: “shadows” and “darkness”. The landscape made up of “low hills”, ”the silver-grey wash of clouds” and “the steel-shining channel” reflects this dark mood. Reference to black crows, hectoring and descending, eyes being pecked, conjures images of cold-blooded, inhumane slaughter and “filaments of sinew”. Harwood’s typical use of the sonnet form is not employed here but experiments with rhyme and metre, in the form of free verse, evident in many of her later poems. Run-on lines and stanzas add to the narrative style of the poem, best read out loud. Although the

The color gray exemplifies the lifelessness of The valley of ashes, an area populated by inhabitants who are unable to pursue the American dream of a wealthy life. Despite all his hard work, George Wilson, a boring man, is powerless in his ability to escape the valley of ashes due to the lack of business at the car garage and unsupportive wife. Due to Wilson’s low social standing, he lives in “... the valley of ashes - a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the

In lines 1-2, “my black face fades, hiding inside the black granite” he is speaking about how his face is literally black from the granite wall. He is also speaking how the kind of person we show to the world. We do not always show who we truly are, people only show the side of their personality that they want people to see. From these two lines, the narrator brings up the main theme of this poem. In lines 3-5, the writer is expressing his feelings or he is at least trying not to, he tries to hold back his emotions from the war. He wants to remain strong because he says, “I’m stone and flesh” He is not literally saying that he is stone but he is a person that has been through a lot and even after everything he is still alive. In lines 6-9, imagery is the only thing being used because he is only speaking about his reflection and how it relates to the granite stone. In lines 10-13, he says, “I am inside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial”. From this line, part of the narrator is still stuck at the war. He brings up light and how he wants it to make a difference. Light is symbolized for how we represent ourselves to others and the kind of person we truly are. It also plays a big part in the poem

. . should burn and rave at the close of day”(2). This means that old men should fight when they are dying and their age should not prevent them from resisting death. Another example of personification in the poem is “Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay”(8). This line personifies the men’s frail deeds by saying that they could have danced. This means that the potential actions of the men could have flourished and contributed greatly to their lives. The metaphor “. . . words had forked no lightning. . .”(5) is about how the men had done nothing significant with their lives. They had not achieved anything great or caused a major change. The simile “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay” is about how even grave and serious men will fight against death for as long as they can. Another notable example of figurative language within the poem is “. . . blinding sight”(13). This oxymoron details how the men can see very well and it is very obvious to them that they will die soon, but they know that they can control how they will leave this world. There is an abundance of imagery within this poem, a few examples of which are “. . . danced in a green bay”(8), and “. . . caught and sang the sun in flight”(10) . These examples of imagery are both appealing to the sense of sight by using descriptive words such as “Green” and “danced” in the first example and words such as “caught” and “flight” among others. The second example also appeals to the sense of sound by

This is significant because it emphasizes the melancholy and mournfulness that he depicts with imagery in the first stanza. Later on in the second stanza, he author describes the tree the narrator would have planted as a “green sapling rising among the twisted apple boughs”. The author uses visual color imagery of the color green to describe the sapling in order to emphasize just how young the newborn was when he died. Later on in the poem, the narrator speaks of himself and his brothers kneeling in front of the newly plated tree. The fact that they are kneeling represents respect for the deceased. When the narrator mentions that the weather is cold it is a reference back to the first stanza when he says “of an old year coming to an end”. Later on in the third stanza the author writes “all that remains above earth of a first born son” which means that the deceased child has been buried. They also compare the child to the size of “a few stray atoms” to emphasize that he was an infant. All of these symbols and comparisons to are significant because they are tied to the central assertion of remembrance and honoring of the dead with the family and rebirth.

In the third stanza a box is introduced. It can be assumed that this box is a coffin. The box is being lifted into the ground and the "Boots of Lead" "creaking" across the poets soul symbolize the mourners walking on the fresh grave. The "tolling" of space mimics the church bell that is introduced in the following stanza.

The elegy is written in free verse; it does not rhyme or have any regular meter, not employing a consistent pattern. The poem has no structure and is free throughout, which emanates Whitman’s attitude throughout the elegy: the embracement of death. One technique he uses the most is repeating the word “O”, for an example:

In the second stanza, the speaker beholds a piper joyfully playing under the tress for his lover to find him with song. “Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared. The use of imagery of the senses is effective here. For I consider poetry to be more musical in nature than literary text. The speaker claims to be hearing melodies emanating from the urn, which for me the sound transmission from the urn correlates to the finite aspects of fleeting love. While the nature of art of the urn seems to me to represent the exquisiteness and infinity of the universe. Indeed, the sounds of silence from art is akin to vastness of space and time. “She cannot fade, though, thou hast not thy bliss,” (line19). Keats is asking the readers to not grieve for him. Because, her beauty will not diminish over time it is everlasting.

Imagery is seen all throughout the poem, but can be seen specifically when Keats is referencing death. Through the uses of the word “hemlock” which is a poison made of herbs, and “Lethe” which is, in Greek mythology, “a river in Hades (the underworld). Souls about to be reincarnated drank from it to forget their past lives.” (Melani) These words, along with others, paint a distinct picture of death and forms a very dark image of Keats’ inner thoughts. In the 2nd Stanza, Keats describes the real world with words such as “Flora” which is the “goddess of flowers and fertility.” (Melani) and Hippocrene which is, in Greek mythology, a “spring sacred to the Muses, located on Mt.Helicon. Drinking its waters inspired poets.” (Melani) Through the uses of these words, readers can infer that Keats seems to think that life, when enjoyed, is blissful and pure. Imagery is used