R.S Thomas Treatment of the Theme Of Old Age In His Poems Lore And
An Old Man
R.S Thomas was an Anglican minister who was born in 1913 and died in
1965. He ministered in remote parishes in the welsh hillsides amongst
hill farmers. The bleak Welsh landscape and the harsh life of the
farmers who were his parishioners provided an inspiration for much of
his finest poetry. R.S Thomas taught himself the Welsh language in
order to understand the hill farmers. Much of his poetry describes
their lives in an unsentimental but he does show compassion and
understanding for the hard working individuals and the harshness of
the conditions they had to endure.
Throughout these two poems there are a lot of similarities. The main
similarity is that the two poems are both about old men who have had a
tough and hard life. Another similarity is that they are in the stage
of winter of their lives, meaning that they are in their last stages.
We find this as Job Davies is eighty five years old and the old man is
having ‘tears on his cheek which are the last glitter on bare branches
of the long storm’ which in other words means his life is nearly
over. Another similarity is the setting of these two poems; they are
both in the season of winter and winter is the hardest time for the
Old Man and for Job Davies. The elements that winter brings in the
poem ‘Lore’ are rain and wind and in the poem ‘An Old Man’ are the wet
roads and treacherous ice.
The differences between the two poems are in the physical appearances
of Job Davies and the Old Man. We see Job Davies as a tall, strong
man, we know this as it says ‘kept this tall frame’ meaning that he is
supple and agile. But we see the Old Man as quite the opposite, we
see him...
... middle of paper ...
... to realize that old age
is not always miserable.
The last verse of the poem ‘An Old Man’ is about the poet asking that
the pain of death came to the Old Man as softly as possible so that
the pain can be as ineffective as the sun does in winter. The last
verse in the poem ‘Lore’ tells us to leave the machine behind and stay
as close to nature as possible and also advises us to live life to the
full but do not have unrealistic dreams.
To conclude, I found that these two poems were very interesting and
that the language and style that the poet used really helped the
poems. My favorite poem was ‘Lore’, I thought Job Davies outlook on
life was fantastic and also the way he told us to forget the machine
and stick close to nature was good advice. I felt sorry for the Old
Man as he went through a lot, but so did Job Davies but he overcame
it, so can anyone.
Both poems share many things in common. The first being the obvious theme of major decision making and choosing the best path, so that life doesn't pass you by. Blanche obviously had Robert Frost's famous poem sitting beside her when she wrote her own rendition of the poem 21 years after Frost's death. Most of the stanzas in each poem match up with one another. Similar words are used as well, such as in the first stanza of each poem "and be one traveler, long I stood"(Frost), and "and mulling it over, long she stood."(Blanche) Both of these lines are undoubtedly similar, and they are both part of a five line stanza that rhymes the ending words of two lines and three lines to each other.
the years go by. The man grows older and becomes more wrinkled or "cracked," also. He will continue to
The imagery used in the two poems is very similar at times. Both authors describe to the readers a picturesque view of nature, like plants blooming in the springs. Proof of this is found in “Lone Bather'; : “ is plant with lilies bursting from its heels.'; Similarly, in “The Swimmer'; the first
The similarities are prolific in their presence in certain parts of the novel, the very context of both stories shows similarities, both are dealing with an oppressed factor that is set free by an outsider who teaches and challenges the system in which the oppressed are caught.
As you can see, upon looking at both pieces of writing from a different angle, there is always the opportunity for different interpretations. It is certain that a deeper analysis will give even more possible themes and common topics. Now that you have seen how each of these can be read in more than one way, hopefully you can read other pieces of poetry, attain different meanings for them and have greater love and knowledge for poetry in general.
All spring and summer the townsfolk spoke about the three bodies that had been found, mangled and slashed. Now, had the three men headed the warning and stayed away from the old man’s house they would still be alive. Instead they were tempted by the greed in their hearts for the money the terrible old man was said to have possession of. This drove them to enter through his gate and knock on the door. They believed that because he was an old man, he would be feeble and week, making him an easy target for
One similarity is that there is a similarity in allusion. Heaven in “Mr. Rager” is known to be this glorious place to journey to. Scott states in his lyrics, “I’m on my way to heaven (wherever you are, now).” (Cudi line 6). Heaven is hard to find, it is this glorious place in the book “The Bible”. Just about the same in the poem “Dreams” except the man is dreaming about heaven, “‘Twere folly still to hope for higher heaven.”(Poe line 12). Heaven is always going to be the highest place to look up too, especially in the sky. Both poem and song lyrics have a big similarity in allusion. There is no winner on which is better but both have spoken what heaven is
Although both poems are set in the same environment, and that the visual structure of the poems are similar. Once you look deeper and analysis the poems it becomes clear that they have been written in very different styles, and very different but as powerful emotions running through them i.e. grief and resignment. One poet has a future to look forward to; the other knows that death is around the corner. One poet could not have for scene a death, the other is questioning weather the ‘black diamond dust’ was worth it on reflection.
When considering the structure of the poems, they are similar in that they are both written loosely in iambic pentameter. Also, they both have a notable structured rhyme scheme.
In conclusion, we can see that the two poems differ greatly in the feelings they project through mood and literacy devices. However, the poems do have one thing in common in that they both portray the same sentient of concern over plants that the authors clearly care a lot about.
time of their works, they both had many similarities in the theme of their stories and their goals of writing the stories.
Therefore, although both poems are written on similar topics, the poems are quite different, mainly only agreeing on the fact that war is wrong.
similarities that are inevitably beyond mere coincidence. One could surmise that both of these stories might have a basis in common historical occurrence. However, despite the fact that both of these works discuss a common topic, the portrayal of this event is quite different. Like identical twins raised in different cultures, the expressions of these works are products of their environment.
There are no differences in the poems themselves as they are both set in the same scene but different centuries one has a negative point on the poem whereas the other has a positive however they tell the same story but in different words.
Both poems where written in the Anglo-Saxton era in Old English and later translated into English. As well as both poems being written in the same time period, they are both elegiac poems, meaning they are poignant and mournful.