In the poem “the dead woman” by Pablo Neruda, the subject, states of his feeling of wanting to go back to where his loved one is lying without life, but he also clearly states that he wants to move forward. This statement can be used to mean that the author is resistant to change. Besides, he subconsciously knows that he has to keep moving forward (Neruda and Donald, 21). This situation is experienced by everyone at one point in life when they reflect on simpler Yester years but know that the future is coming.
In the poem, the subject goes back and forth trying to relate his loss to other world occurrences in his time as he desperately tries to prove to himself why he should keep on living. There is a sense of hopelessness in the subject’s tone. He was always referring to negative outcomes like going to jail with his brothers. Apparently, during his time the beating of blacks was a common occurrence. Though this is racism, he should not be judged harshly for it was the norm at that time.
The subject, also, in this poem displays male egotism. He clearly shows it when he refuses to write about his feelings towards the loss of his loved one. In fact, it is an unwritten law that a male should never let out his feelings. The author goes ahead to confirm this by choosing to speak only to a fellow hurting man but not to a wide audience which books tend to represent.
The subject is a loving person and the loved one that he has lost was deeply dear to him. He shows this by his use of strong words denoting immense pain over the loss in the last stanza of the poem. He acknowledges that he will weep and experience a deep sense of loss for losing someone in his life. Despite all this, he will have to move forward.
The subject shows a strong will to move forward. Although it is hard, he knows he has no alternative. He also admits that he will be grieving for several days because the loved one was dear to him and the loss is heavy to bear.
The subject is also a racist since he thinks that as long as punishing of blacks is happening somewhere he cannot die. This statement entails his negative attitude towards Africans and their descendants in several places around the world. This statement can also be used to infer that he is from a country where slave trade was common and a source of livelihood.
The subject is an optimist since he is expecting to have victory. It is known when fighting the outcome is either a win or a loss, but none has a greater possibility of occurrence than the other. The only time this statement is wrong is when there is an enormous disparity in the fighting prowess of one party to another although, this also is a rare occurrence.
The subject show devotion to his brothers for he is ready to go to prison with them to defend what they stood for as brothers. The greatest test of devotion is volunteering to get the same punishment as the person that one gives devotion. Together with this, the subject is philosophical for he knows that a time is coming that even the silent will have to speak, and those who have been turning in a blind eye to happenings will have to speak because this is a price for the victory that the subject is expecting.
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”
In the poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas, the first line in the first stanza is a gentle request for a loved one to avoid going into the ‘good night’, which is euphemistic of death. The subject pleads with the loved one not to slip into the darkness in front of them. In the second line, the subject is more assertive about stopping the loved one’s motion towards the darkness. In the third line, the assertiveness is now turning into full blown rage. At the third line’s end, the muting of rage happens due to the engulfing darkness. These words are sorrowful words for someone that is about to die.
In this poem, it is noticeable that the author tries to use commonly used words to describe the human emotions. Line one is the same as line six, and it relates to the first two stanzas in the poem in a way that carries the difference between the stanzas (Verdicchio and Robert, 52). The first stanza is leaning towards how inevitable the situation is while the second stanza is of acceptance of the reality. The use of ‘they’ in line five shows this aspect.
In the second stanza, the wise men realize the shortcomings of their statements about going into the ‘good night’. This causes the characters to increase and the poem to become longer than expected. Characters like good, grave and wild men are added all to fight against the coming of darkness. These characters are destined to meet again when the subject addresses the reader as ‘my father’. This creates an image of a dying father or in the case of the Christian religion, the scene at the crucifixion of Jesus.
Line 16 of the poem transports the reader at once to hate and forgiveness of the father in the Old Testament and also of a dying parent. ‘I pray’ gives a feeling of completion, as the words create a preaching tone in the subject who was assertive but now humbled in the presence of the father. The 17th and 18th line there is the reoccurrence of the first and third line. This creates the effect of repetition, but the tone is different this time to emphasize the lines that came before it. Although, the words are similar to those in the first stanza, they are now calmer in a somber way rather than angry because line 17 and 18 end with a full stop. Line 18 ends the poem with finality by invoking and then revoking the opening attitude towards the poem’s subject.
The poem has made use of imagery and sound to deliver its points. It also evokes several human emotions in the reader thus, creating the effect of being in the actual situation that the subject was experiencing. The poem also alludes to the fact that the reader is Christian or at least knows Christian history for the understanding of the last stanza to be effective.
Works Cited
Neruda, Pablo, and Donald D. Walsh. The Captain’s Verses =: Los Versos Del Capitán: the Love Poems. New York, N.Y: New Directions, 2009. Print.
Verdicchio, Massimo, and Robert Burch. Between Philosophy and Poetry: Writing, Rhythm, and History. New York: Continuum, 2002. Print.