And Death Shall Have No Dominion: Wordnotes

By Dylan Thomas  

Text

And death shall have no dominion.

Dead man naked they shall be one

With the man in the wind and the west moon;

When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,

They shall have stars at elbow and foot;

Though they go mad they shall be sane,

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;

Though lovers be lost love shall not;

And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.

Under the windings of the sea

They lying long shall not die windily;

Twisting on racks when sinews give way,

Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;

Faith in their hands shall snap in two,

And the unicorn evils run them through;

Split all ends up they shan't crack;

And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.

No more may gulls cry at their ears

Or waves break loud on the seashores;

Where blew a flower may a flower no more

Lift its head to the blows of the rain;

Though they be mad and dead as nails,

Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;

Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,

And death shall have no dominion.

WORD NOTES AND ANNOTATIONS

Stanza I:And death shall have no dominion-The title of Dylan Thomas’s poem “And death shall have no dominion” is strongly and obviously indebted to a particular phrase from the Bible, in the King James translation " Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him."It means death shall not prevail. It shall not dominate and triumph over love and a love of life. Thomas's central theme here is resurrection. Starting from the very title, there are several Christian echoes in the poem, although Thomas treats the theme not only from a religious perspective but also as a celebration of the forces of life to win over death.Dead man naked they shall be one/With the man in the wind and the west moon---Beginning with a Biblical allusion to Christ's resurrection breaking the power of death, this speaks of the power of resurrection over the horrors of death. Dead people have no possession, they are "naked"; their molecules shall become part of the wind of nature and part of the cosmos ("moon").The unity and wholeness of the universe is hinted at by an arresting rearrangement of elements that Dylan Thomas creates in the third line: “the man in the wind and the west moon.” Man in the moon, man in the wind, west wind, west moon—it does not matter how the parts are arranged because all is one.When their bones are picked clean---vultures feed off of carcasses exposed in hot sun until all the meat is removed from the bones.and the clean bones gone---the bones "picked clean" are gone because buried or carried away by predators.When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone-When the time comes that vultures have eaten the flesh from abandoned bones, the bones themselves are buried or carried away by predators.They shall have stars at elbow and foot---an allusion to the idea that the dead rise to dwell among the stars, like the myth of the Seven Sisters of the stars of Pleiades; thus stars twinkle all around the risen dead, at "elbow and foot". Then the dead will rise to the heavens, because death can't hold them (line 1), and shall have stars twinkling all around them, at their elbows and feet. Though all manner of awful thing may happen, death will not conquer, the dead will have resurrection.Though they go mad they shall be sane,/Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;/Though lovers be lost love shall not- Through a series of paradoxes  Thomas is presenting the contrast between what would usually be expected and what will happen at the end of time.The spirit survives the death of the body and remains in nature.None of these things will come to pass. Despite the onset of insanity, the person will still have a rational and "sane" existence. Even those who have drowned "shall rise again."Despite whatever circumstances occur to force lovers to be absent from one another, their love will continue.These lines indicate  that while death may occur, it will not conquer: on the other side of the veil that separates this life and the next, insanity, the loss of love and drowning will not defeat one's soul. On the other side, sanity will prevail, those who have "fallen" will rise, and love will remain.

Stanza II:Under the windings of the sea......they shan't crack-Next follows a list of the ways "bodies" may die.The poet speaks of lying at the bottom of the ocean, being tortured on racks that rip sinew from bone or on the wheel; he writes of the spirit losing faith at the direst of moments—snapping like something dry and brittle; and, even run through, as if by a sword, death will not defeat man. Through all of these horrible ways a man is robbed of life, death still will not be the conqueror, the winner: man will live on. Twisting on racks when sinews give way---allusion to a Medieval torture machine, the rack, that stretched people apart, tearing their muscles (i.e., sinews) from their bones.Strapped to a wheel--allusion to another Medieval torture machine in which a person was roped onto a wheel that going round and round crushed the person with every turn.unicorn evils run them through--Biblical allusion to Isaiah 34:7 where unicorns are mentioned as being slain with other enemies.Split all ends up they shan't crack-another allusion to the machines of torture that may break bones but won't break the soul, which shall not break ("crack").Here is a list of all manner of horrible things that might happen to the dead or that might cause death. Yet even these things will not hold the dead in bonds: death has no power because of the Resurrection .

Stanza III:No more may gulls cry at their ears...till the sun breaks down-There may come a time when all men are gone from the face of the earth. Sea gulls will no longer cry over the breaking waves; flowers will no longer grow—perhaps rain will no longer fall, but even when the sun "breaks down," death will not win.gulls cry at their ears-allusion to death at sea.Break in the sun till the sun breaks down-unrelenting sun may cause death until the end of the world.These lines give us a series of images of how our spirit will enter the natural world. Our life force is so much a part of nature that we may find our life force entering objects such as a daisy or the sun, but it will definitely not end. The final line of the poem repeats the refrain and the central argument of Thomas: "And Death Shall Have No Dominion.

Sailing to Byzantium:Word Notes

WORD NOTES AND ANNOTATIONS

Stanza I: That is no country for old men-That country is Ireland.The line implies that Ireland is not suitable  for the old man.The speaker, an old man, says he does not feel welcome in the land of the young. This is a  reference both to ancient Byzantium and post 1922 Free State Ireland. The mention of old men provides our first example of Yeats' preoccupation with old age.  Yeats himself was in his 60's when he wrote the poem, so the concerns of old age weren't far removed from him.In the broad sense that country symbolises any country which is full of sensual pleasure. The young In one another’s arms-The young men and women indulge themselves in amorous play and pleasure.It's a land of youth where all the attention is placed on young lovers and on the animals, birds, and fish that live exuberantly and then die without any sort of advancement.Dying generations-generations suceptible to the ravages of time.'generations' conveys the idea of the reproductive process and sexual gratification both among men and birds.'Dying generations' applies to men indulging in love and love making.It also applies to the birds.The salmon-falls-waterfalls;waterfalls replete with shoals of Salmon(a variety of fish). The mackerel-crowded seas- mackerel is a kind of fish.The sea is full of these fishes. Fish, flesh, or fowl-a fish stands for anything that lives in water,acquatic world.flesh alludes to human beings and fowl means bird.Commend- recommend .Whatever is begotten-begotten means to give birth.Caught in that sensual music-sensual pleasure;that which pertains to the bodily gratification.The speaker thinks the living are caught in the sensual world.The country that the speaker is in does not suit the old. It is full of bounty, with fish in the water and birds in the trees. The young and reproductive are caught in the earthly cycle of life and death. Monuments of unaging intellect-immortal product of the intellect and spirit as contrasted with dying generations.It also means works of art having towering dimention.Actually the dying generations  are so much involved in sensual world that they do not heed ageless intelligence. The young neglect the monuments simply because they are blinded by their hormones, life, and the pursuit of being young. Yeats is saying that just because they are old doesn't mean that they have lost their minds; they still have worth.

Stanza II: An aged man is but a paltry thing-An aged man is insignificant to others.A tattered coat upon a stick-the expression presents the image of a scarce Actually "tattered coat" refers to the poet's own physical existence and his aging body.His body hangs upon his soul is like a tattered coat hanging upon a stick.It reveals Yeats's frustration with old age. Unless Soul clap its hands and sing-the soul is thrilled with joy;Yeats thinks that unless  the soul is capable of singing more joyously,an aged man is very insignificant.Without the soul  being able to sing in this way, an aged man is like a tattered coat upon a stick.louder sing/ For every tatter in its mortal dress-in this state of robust joy the soul has to sing louder with every tatter in its mortal dress.In other words,the newly learnt song of the soul has to become louder and louder as the physical powers of the old man go from bad to worse.Nor is there singing school but studying/ Monuments of its own magnificence-The best music for the soul of an aged man is the study and appreciation of the most precious moment of  "imaging intellect".The soul of an aged man must seek that which is neglected by youths.And therefore I have sailed the seas and come/To the holy city of Byzantium-That is why the poet has crossed the oceans and arrived in the holy city of Byzantium.All passion must be left  behind and in Byzantium,soul is free to study the emblems of unchanging or eternal works of art.Yeats idealizes Byzantium as the only place where art and man are one. It is the only place that has been able to impartially represent history. In Byzantium, art and monuments are not influenced by anything other than their subject.

Stanza III: sages-great artist in history. God’s holy fire-the fire is holy as it has the power of purification.The fire of the Eternal artificer(artist) which purifies as well as moulds into artistic shapes.This view is very similar to Rabindranath Tagore:

Aguner Parashmoni Choyao prane

E jibon Punnyo karo....

mosaic of a wall- represents the artistic pattern of the wall. The poet appeals to the sages who stand in God's holy fire and who have been purged of the last last remnant of sensuality.These sages look like the figures as in the gold mosaic of a wall. As early as 1907 Yeats had visited the Romanesque church of S. Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy, and seen the "sages", the saints and apostles on the mosaic-clad walls of the basilica.  Yeats had revisited Ravenna in November 1924.  He was clearly inspired by the Byzantine mosaics at Monreale and the Capella Palatina at Palermo (Jeffares A New 211). The art of this period continues to inspire him and provide him with material for his poetry. perne in a gyre-rotating in a rapid whirling movement.The expression suggests that the poet's prayer that the sages descend upon him by a cyclic swoping motion as  that of hawk descending upon an object of desire. be the singing-masters of my soul- the saints should teach him the art of singing by entering his heart and filling it with the pleasure of the music of the sphere.Consume my heart away-the poet prays to the saints to purify his heart of sensual craving since the poet's body has grown weak and is unable to indulge physically in sensual enjoyment.sick with desire-fraught with longing or full with longing. dying animal-the poet who is now weak and is not capable of indulging in sensual gratification.It-the poet's heart. artifice of eternity- immortal products of art.The word 'artifice' implies art or anything made after prolonged meditation with great craftsmanship.Here the poet believed that art is eternal where life and sensuality are temporal.

Stanza IV : Out of nature- dead; Bodily form- earthly body. Natural thing- any living creature(the theory of transmigration of soul is hinted at).Once out of nature I shall never take/My bodily form from any natural thing- Once he has renounced his earthly body,he would not like to be re-born in the same or any earthly form.All living beings are subjected to death and decay,so he will reject all physical incantation.Gold enamelling-gold coating. Bough- branch. In the final stanza he begins by declaring that in this world of art, he would not take on the form of any natural thing, which like the images of the opening stanza, would be susceptible to the ravages of time, decay and death. Instead he would take the form of a golden bird - an image based on golden birds that adorned trees in the palace of the Byzantine emperor. Yeats has finally broken with the sensual mortal world, he has rejected life as we know it, in favour of an intellectual permanence produced by a work of art.But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths .........passing, or to come-He would take the shape of a golden bird,the kind of bird which Grecian goldsmiths are believed to have designed for the sake of an Emperor's pleasure.As a golden bird,a piece of art,he would be beyond the reach of mortality.As a golden bird,he will be placed on a golden bough and he will appear to be singing songs of all time-past,present and future.His songs will delight the lords and ladies of Byzantium. To become a mechanical bird, alludes to the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus. Theophilus, according to legend, had just such mechanical birds. It is thus the poet’s wish to be granted a body immune to death and to sing forever.