Elegy for Dylan Thomas - Abse

The second part of my students' group work:

 

This poem is about Dylan Thomas’ life and death and Dannie Abse’s response to this which shows how Abse looks up to him. It shows Thomas’ unhappy marriage and how this could have led to his death through alcoholism. His marriage could also be shown through the structure of the poem as it is unorganised and uneven. The rhyme scheme also reflects this as there is no regular proper pattern to which Abse writes this poem. 

 

This poem links to Larkin poem ‘For Sydney Bechet’ as it reflects Larkin’s admiration for Sydney Bechet and his love for his music. This therefore links to ‘Elegy for Dylan Thomas’ as both Abse and Larkin write about someone they admire and look up to. It also links to Larkin’s poem ‘Mr Bleaney’ in some aspects as it is writing about somebody else’s life and the writer is removed from the poem but is compared to the character he has written about.