Though They Sink Through the Sea They Shall Rise Again

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And Death Shall Have No Dominion Stanza 1

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Stanza 1

Lines 1-3

And decease shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be 1
With the man in the wind and the due west moon;

• Looks like our speaker is getting correct to the point with the poem's title, which as well happens to exist the first line. So there's no mistaking that "death shall accept no rule"—whatsoever that means.
• Also, having the first line lucifer the championship is a pretty common convention, especially in Romantic poesy (which Thomas's early on work was very much inspired past).
• Take a look at this gem by William Blake that does the same thing.
• So we get that death isn't having the last say subsequently nosotros die. Information technology has no "rule" which is simply a fancy way of saying that death isn't getting all the power in this poem.
• We also have an allusion in line 1 that comes correct from the New Testament—St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans (vi:nine), to exist exact.
• Then folks in biblical days were getting at the same idea as Thomas, challenge that since Christ rose again, that proves death isn't some anointed strength.
• Instead all those "dead men" volition be i, presumably in a sort of unifying cosmic space. So even though life tends to separate people, death (in Thomas'southward verse form) brings them together… in sky, mayhap? Or someplace like it.
• Line 3 gives us some of that catholic imagery that Thomas is known for. We've got a "man in the current of air" and the "westward moon."
• And all those expressionless men are also "one" with all the cosmic stuff, as well.
• So after death, it looks similar everyone rises into this unifying cosmic space that doesn't distinguish men from the creation.
• Everything and anybody is coming together here.
• The figurative language of that "human in the wind" and the "west moon" helps to vividly create this groovy cosmic world. and immediately gets us thinking in a less earthly style.
• We might also have some symbolism going on besides in that "west moon" paradigm. If we call back about the sun rising in the e and setting in the west, that "w moon" may represent the transition from life into death. Our lives (symbolically speaking) "set" in the w, just like the sunday, while the moon rises in the night, deathly world.
• Observe, as well, that nosotros've got a rhyming design going on in all 3 lines, but we're not talking near those perfect rhymes like dead and dread. Instead Thomas is using a sort of slant rhyme that emphasizes North sounds: rule, oNe, and mooN.

Lines 4-5

When their basic are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;

• Don't worry, the folks having their bones picked make clean are already dead, so they can't experience a thing (right?).
• Anyway, by line iv we empathize that the physical, earthly world has come to an terminate for these folks. The "bones" help to symbolize all the earthly stuff. And since they're gone, so is their earthly life.
• The repetition of the word "clean" also emphasizes the thought of a clean slate. Once all our shenanigans on globe are over, maybe we all end up in the aforementioned sort of purified state. In other words, in expiry in that location's no taking into account the sorts of things you lot've washed in your life, whether expert or bad. The bones still stop up "clean" and then "gone."
• So what do we go after all the earthly stuff? According to line 5, nosotros all will have "stars at elbow and foot." Presumably this ways we'll be one with the cosmos. That doesn't sound too bad.
• Past now we tin as well say a fiddling almost our speaker. He looks to take a very declarative and omniscient vocalization. That makes sense, since he'southward speaking near life and death from the sort of perspective that but that Large Guy in the Sky is supposed to have. Bank check out our "Speaker" department for more.
• Also, we're definitely hearing the Romantic poetry influence by at present. We know Thomas really liked William Blake, so he isn't hiding the fact that he'southward got some of those Romantic poets in mind. Have a wait at this famous Blake verse form for some comparison.
• One characteristic that the two definitely share is the poem'due south lyrical quality (that song-like jive). Rhyme and meter were very important to the Romantics, and though Thomas doesn't look to be sticking to whatsoever particular pattern, the rhythmic syntax in line iv is catchy nonetheless.
• Nosotros've got a little fleck of that trochaic pes happening in that up, down (stressed, unstressed) pattern. Check out "Form and Meter" for more than.
• And of course Thomas's interest in the cosmic and mystical stuff is very much in line with those Romantic poets similar Blake, Keats, Shelley, etc. Only Thomas, as a mod poet, is giving it his own spin with those slant rhymes and his more than modern language ("dead men naked," "bones are picked clean").

Lines six-7

Though they become mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall ascension again;

• Patently, it'south okay if yous go a niggling crazy now and then, because in the finish, you "shall be sane." We're non quite sure what "sane" ways to the guy with the "stars at elbow and foot," but we're guessing that's not really the point here.
• What does seem to be the point is the idea of that clean slate you get subsequently death. Information technology doesn't matter if you're sane, mad, lightheaded, or what accept you lot. In the end nosotros all volition "rise again," co-ordinate to our speaker. And then nosotros'll all be spiritually and cosmically redeemed despite our earthly lives.
• We're also hearing more of that allusion to the New Testament in the thought of "ascent again" like Christ did. And then the story of Christ's resurrection seems to be the speaker's main point of comparison here in terms of "rising once more."
• And to further emphasize the thought of "rising once again," Thomas includes the imagery of sinking in the bounding main in line seven. We know the sea tin get pretty deep, and so even those unlucky folks who find themselves at the bottom will too ascension once more.
• Notice we have some more tricky syntax with the repetition of that "though they" clause. So Thomas is using some parallelism to assist go on his poem sounding rhythmic and lyrical like those Romantic poets.
• And last but not least nosotros take another rhyme here in "sane/again." Thomas was from Wales so the pronunciation of "again" has the aforementioned "a" audio equally "sane."
• Our piddling couplet here helps emphasize these two lines, just like the parallelism does. So Thomas is really driving home that "rising again" idea despite our earthly lives.

Lines 8-ix

Though lovers be lost dear shall non;
And death shall have no dominion.

• It looks like line viii is getting to the literally romantic stuff like love. So Thomas is grouping all of the extremes in life in one stanza with that same "though" clause: crazy people, people in dear, etc. By now we're thinking even more that no affair what our earthly circumstances in life, nosotros all terminate up in the aforementioned place after death.
• But we're adding a new theme here, too. the takeaway point in line 8 seems to be that even after death, love is never lost. The physical "lovers" might exist expressionless, but their love carries on. Pardon united states of america while we wipe a few tears abroad.
• And then line 8 gives us one earthly circumstance that does endure in its original form: love. All the madness and "sinking" we saw earlier doesn't go paid much listen after death, but beloved does.
• In a way we tin read line 8 as a sort of universal truth. All the other stuff amounts to cypher while love seems to be quite important, even in the poem'due south cosmic sense.
• And of course the kickoff stanza ends with that famous refrain: "And death shall accept no dominion." And then merely in example there was any doubt every bit to what the speaker was driving at with his catalogue of mad and "sinking" people or people in dearest, nosotros're reminded that death isn't squashing it all.
• Notice too the bit of alliteration we have in "death" and "dominion." The repetition of that D sounds helps to make the refrain even more than memorable. Check out "Sound Check" for more.

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Source: https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/poetry/and-death-shall-have-no-dominion/summary/stanza-1

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