Poems Comparison
ICCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE POETRY COURSEWORK
In the poems you have studied a recurring theme is that of ‘loss’. This can take many forms: death; identity; hope or loss of innocence
Discuss the poets’ treatment of any aspect of the theme of loss in at least 6 of the poems you have studied.
A minimum of 3 poems should be taken from the anthology.
Poems for discussion:
In detail
- Prayer Before Birth (Louis MacNeice)
- Do not go gentle into that good night (Dylan Thomas)
- A mother in a Refugee Camp (Chinua Achebe)
Referred to
- Poem at Thirty-Nine (Alice Walker)
-Death Of A Son (Jon Silkin)
-Mid Term Break(Seamus Heaney)
Loss is universal. An inevitable condition of life; you cannot have one without the other. Whether it is the loss of innocence of an unborn child in “Prayer Before Birth” by Louis MacNeice, a mother’s loss of her young child to poverty and starvation in “A Mother in a Refugee Camp” by Chinua Achebe or a poet’s loss of his father by death in old age in “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas. Although the three poems address the same central theme, they are dealt with in very different ways including contrasts in structure, use of language, imagery, symbolism and the general feeling towards loss whether it be anger, fear or regret. Most of the circumstances include an undertone of desperation due to the inevitability of the situation whether this is a sudden loss such as the loss of the child’s brother in “Mid-term Break” by Seamus Heaney or a gradual impending loss such as that explored in “A Mother in a Refugee Camp”. I will examine in detail how the writers achieve their specific impact on the reader by discussing, comparing and contrasting the three main poems with reference to three others that will be covered in less detail.
All of the poems deal with death as a form of loss. However the attitudes towards death vary quite significantly due to the circumstances in which the death takes
In the poems you have studied a recurring theme is that of ‘loss’. This can take many forms: death; identity; hope or loss of innocence
Discuss the poets’ treatment of any aspect of the theme of loss in at least 6 of the poems you have studied.
A minimum of 3 poems should be taken from the anthology.
Poems for discussion:
In detail
- Prayer Before Birth (Louis MacNeice)
- Do not go gentle into that good night (Dylan Thomas)
- A mother in a Refugee Camp (Chinua Achebe)
Referred to
- Poem at Thirty-Nine (Alice Walker)
-Death Of A Son (Jon Silkin)
-Mid Term Break(Seamus Heaney)
Loss is universal. An inevitable condition of life; you cannot have one without the other. Whether it is the loss of innocence of an unborn child in “Prayer Before Birth” by Louis MacNeice, a mother’s loss of her young child to poverty and starvation in “A Mother in a Refugee Camp” by Chinua Achebe or a poet’s loss of his father by death in old age in “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas. Although the three poems address the same central theme, they are dealt with in very different ways including contrasts in structure, use of language, imagery, symbolism and the general feeling towards loss whether it be anger, fear or regret. Most of the circumstances include an undertone of desperation due to the inevitability of the situation whether this is a sudden loss such as the loss of the child’s brother in “Mid-term Break” by Seamus Heaney or a gradual impending loss such as that explored in “A Mother in a Refugee Camp”. I will examine in detail how the writers achieve their specific impact on the reader by discussing, comparing and contrasting the three main poems with reference to three others that will be covered in less detail.
All of the poems deal with death as a form of loss. However the attitudes towards death vary quite significantly due to the circumstances in which the death takes