Transience Of Life In Poetry

As her husband emerges from the surf in the last stanza, the tone of the poem switches from one of darkness and fear, to one that is philosophical: “Once you lose someone

The poet’s tone changes as we move throughout the poem. The poem starts out with the poet declaring that his love for his mistress is limitless and will stand the test of time. “My vegetable love should grow / Vaster than empires and more slow.” Suddenly, the poet’s tone seems to takes on a sense of urgency. He contradicts his previous beliefs about time, as he now believes time is running out and will prohibit him from loving his mistress forever or ever loving her at all. “Times winged chariot hurrying near; / And yonder all before us lie / Deserts of vast eternity.” He now sees time as a looming death that will prohibit him from loving his mistress indefinitely. Considering that time is of the essence, the author’s attitude suggest

as a part of the season which is known as spring; it can be assumed he means all life and all things are subject to the ravages of time. Mortality is all around us and with it the stages of all life and time pass. In terms of the opening lines, thought, youth and beauty are fleeting indeed.

In conclusion, the poem points the inevitable cycle of natural and emotional events and the power that love has to go beyond that cycle. This is why the speaker assures that the way he has loved is something that

Overall, this poem shows the past, present, and future of the writer. His life is full of regret at points and then seems hopeful in others. This poem could be viewed in many ways but mostly you understand it as a man who wishes he could change his past because he knows his future is near and his life will soon be coming to an

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (“Sonnet 18”) is one of Shakespeare’s most famous poems. It is the model English, or Shakespearean sonnet: it contains three quatrains and a finishing couplet.. The poem follows the traditional English sonnet form by having the octet introduce an idea or set up the poem, and the sestet beginning with a volta, or turn in perspective. In the octet of Sonnet 18, Shakespeare poses the question “Shall I compare the to a summer’s day” and basically begins to describe all the bad qualities of summer. He says it’s too windy, too short, too hot, and too cloudy. Eventually fall is going to come and take away all the beauty because of the changes nature brings. In the sestet, however, his tone changes as he begins to talk about his beloved’s “eternal summer” (Shakespeare line 9). This is where the turn takes place in the poem. Unlike the summer, their beauty will never fade. Not even death can stop their beauty for, according to Shakespeare, as long as people can read this poem, his lover’s beauty will continue to live. Shakespeare believes that his art is more powerful than any season and that in it beauty can be permanent.

Nonconformity is one of the themes used in transcendentalism poems. It is used to mostly provide support for another important theme, Self-reliance. The story and theme are two different things by the way. Nonconformity is usually used to give the reader a direct definitions of someone’s originality and individuality. In the beginning of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, he says, “whoso would be a man be a nonconformist.” What he means by that is that if you are good at something, then you should not take it for granted. Many people are good at things and like to brag but that is not how it should be. You should be good also at not bragging because it will only bring negative attention to your skills or talent.

By the end of the poem there is another shift in tone. The tone takes on a more hopeful meaning. Now, Bryant uses the spring season to compare to a new age. He mentions, “The youth in life's green spring, and he who goes/ In the full strength of years, matron, and maid,/ The bow'd with age, the infant in the smiles.”(68-70) The rebirth of human life compares to nature in the sense that when nature is reborn in springtime everything turns green. The reader ends the poem with an enlightened sense of feeling instead of the dark and gloomy feeling they felt at the beginning of the poem.

This poem is pure reality it shows the truth in how life goes, and it give us a clear picture on how it does not come easy. There isn't a fantasy aspect on this because of how it shows that we grow old and die we don't live forever and always have a perfect life.

After that one word, the poem’s tone shifts to realistic and bitter. The author states that “time watches from the shadows And coughs when you would kiss” emphasizing that time remains quiet, but always present. It never stops and even at the end of one’s life, just like the “deep river” that “ran on”. The author then utilizes the time of day to symbolize the stage in a human’s life. At the beginning, it was evening representing a middle aged stage and by the end of the poem, time continues till “late in the evening”. Time is uncontrollable, unpredictable and sooner or later, time takes over a life. Although Clocks represent an evil figure, time however “remains a blessing”. Being limited makes time valuable. In finale, the poem’s theme is not to wish for a forever, but to embrace of the little time spent

The poem begins with a narrator describing her sorrow and suffering on her journey through life (TWL p.56 ll.1-5). She goes on to explain that the leader of her country has left his people (TWL p.56 l.6). The narrator is upset by this, and she searches for her only to find out that she can only see him if this is in secret (TWL p.56 ll.10-12). The audience finds out that the narrator’s leader is also her husband, and she does what she has to do to be with him again (TWL p.56 ll.14-15). After they get together once again, the narrator finds out that her husband isn’t the man he once was and sets her up “plotting murder” (TWL p.56 ll.18-20). She is then forced by her ex-husband to live in isolation by herself in under a tree in a cave (TWL p.56 ll. 27-28). The elegy ends with the narrator expressing her distaste for her ex-husband, and she hopes that he suffers the pain that she did for the rest of his life (TWL p.56 ll. 42-53). While the ending is distasteful, the wife playing the main character shows uniqueness for a poem written during the Old English era of literature (Johnson).

In the next stanzas, time is seen as the end of playing and going to bed, another idea familiar to children, but Thomas describes the continuation of time through sleeping and therefore a change of days. He still references the farm as a place to enjoy, while subtly preparing us for a change. “Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long, In the sun born over and over” (lines 38-39) refers to the change of days coming with a new sky and sun every morning. Children understand the concept and differences between day and night and that the night brings a new day, but they may not understand the science behind it that allows time to happen such as Earth’s constant orbits around the sun and the many perceptions of physics and time. Thomas is hinting that a greater knowledge of the world occurs as time goes on, and although he camouflages it with easy words and ideas, readers need this knowledge to fully understand this transitional part of the poem. Play eventually ends at night and with each night comes a new day until we are too old to play. In Stanza 5, Thomas signals a complete change in tone of the poem when he says, “And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, In all this tuneful turning so few and such morning songs Before the children green and golden Follow him out of grace” (lines 42-45). The changing of time is beginning to become a means to the end rather an an infinite happy ‘play time’.

These poems are showing signs of foreshadow about change in many ways. The first example is coming from the poem “We grow accustomed to the Dark”. It states, “Adjusts itself to Midnight- And life steps almost straight.” This quote shows that the speaker was adjusting to the change. She accepted that darkness was her new sight. On the other hand, other quotes suggest otherwise.

Furthermore Shakespeare compares “The Last Age” to childishness and oblivion meaning that after you have gone through all the stages everything you have built up demolishes and you start back at the first stage. The last line of the poem helps you to determine how the play ends and because this comparison is made it makes you aware of people in your life that have gone through a few of the stages described by Shakespeare. Giving you the idea that the stages may occur in your life but in the end it really doesn’t matter what you have done, because it will most likely be destroyed. The idea that what you have developed will be demolished makes you wonder what you are doing and have done with your life.

The Structure, style and poetic techniques of a poem contribute greatly to the development of the central idea of a poem. Three poems with central ideas that stood out to me were ‘The Darkling Thrush’ by Thomas Hardy, ‘Days’ by Philip Larkin, and ‘Remembrance’ by Emily Brontë. The central idea of each of these poems revolve around the idea of time and change. Firstly, I will discuss how in ‘The Darkling Thrush’ the simple and traditional structure, the bleak yet straightforward style and techniques such as vivid imagery and capitalisation combine to develop the central idea of change. The same can be said for the simple structure and style used in ‘Days’ which combine with poetic techniques such as metaphors to develop Larkin’s argument against time and change. Finally I will discuss how the idea of time is developed through techniques such as vivid imagery and symbolism in ‘Remembrance’ along with changing styles and a slow, consistent rhythm.