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Comparing Henley's 'Invictus And Billy Collins Forgetfulness'

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“Invictus” and “Forgetfulness” Process Paper Death is an uncomfortable and unnerving thought that the typical man or woman would love to tuck neatly away for much later in some cold corner of the mind, but sometimes when a piece of art brings such a challenging thought to the forefront of one’s mind, it not only intrigues the reader, but perforates into his or her mind and forces the reader to introspect. Two prime examples of such evocative works include William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus,” a poem about the inevitability of death, and Billy Collins’ “Forgetfulness,” a poem about the dilatory nature of human memory and death. Through the use of both first person and second person point of view respectively, intense visual imagery in “Invictus” …show more content…

The poem uses purposefully vague imagery such as “night” and “the Pit” specifically to apply to various situations that most people go through. This allows a broader audience to identify with the hurdles that the narrator is describing. Along with this, the author utilizes a first-person point of view that creates a more personal tone while also allowing readers to relate more easily due to the fact that anyone can be the “I” that the poem mentions. Furthermore, the visual imagery displayed by the narrator regarding the inevitability of death also lets the reader more clearly associate with the central idea of the poem. This is seen when the narrator states “Beyond this place of wrath and tears / Looms the Horror of the shade, / And yet the menace of the years / Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.” (Henley 9 - 12). This excerpt uses first person in order to illuminate the idea that the “Horror of the shade” in question “looms” over everybody. These words lend themselves to enrich the idea that death is universal through this dark and encompassing imagery, and thus relates the work to every possible reader due to the universality in question. Through the use of a word so surrounding as “looms,” the author is illustrating that death comes to and surrounds everybody at one point, and through the inevitability of death the author is uniting all …show more content…

Additionally, the second-person point of view directly places the reader into the work, making it crystal clear that any given reader is supposed to identify with the feeling of information slipping away, and thus when the author says “you kissed the the name of the nine Muses goodbye” or “even now as you memorize the order of the planets, / something else is slipping away” the reader realizes just how much information has left their mind. Also within the poem, the reader is reminded that as memory loss comes to everybody, there also comes loss of self until nothing remains. This is shown most clearly when the author writes “Whatever it is you are struggling to remember / it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, / not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen. / It has floated away down a dark mythological river / whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall, / well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those / who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a / bicycle.” (Collins 14 - 21). This word choice illustrates that once forgotten, a memory is no longer a part of oneself, and has floated away far from one’s mind.

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The poem begins with an address to an unknown listener and ends by revealing the unknown person as the speaker’s father. However, between these direct addresses, Thomas employs intricate yet vivid imagery that serves to evoke and motivate intense fighting spirit in the readers. Much of the imagery throughout the poem revolves around the twin motifs of light and dark. In line two of the first stanza, Thomas expresses the idea that moving forward towards death is not something one should do in a resigned way, but rather one should fight it, let the old age “burn and rave” and go out in a blaze of glory (2). In line three, Thomas chooses to use the word “rage,” which evokes an image of furious, anger and even violent intensity (3).

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Bronte uses rhetorical devices to craft the impression that this poem is a sorrowful lament for the dead. ‘Remembrance’ explores a bereaved persona haunted by memories as she sits by her loved ones gravestone who lies “cold in the earth”. Supernatural imagery is presented as “resting their wings where the heath and fern leaves cover” implying that the angels are using ‘wings’ to protect the soul in the grave. Biblical allusion to angels supports ones desire to be accepted by God and reiterates the belief that there is life after death. The key feature of Bronte’s style is the use of

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Aging and forgetting go hand in hand. Many try to grasp the memories and youth, remembering every detail possible, but as always memories slip away. The poem,” Forgetfulness” by BIlly Collins describes the process of memories fading away and forgetting the simple things you once used to remember. The short story,” Once More to the Lake” by E.B White describes of a man who clutches onto his childhood memories and tries to relive them, recounting every single detail. The poem,”Forgetfulness” and short story,” Once More to the Lake” both use similar themes of grasping onto memories and opposing themes of remembering and forgetting.

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Memories can play a huge role in a person’s life for it can cause an individual to drown or float in the sea of life. In the narrative poem, “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe and the short story, “I stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen, the two well written texts show the effect past memories can have on individuals. These effects can be thoroughly seen through the grieving man from from the poem and Emily, the fragile daughter from the short story previously introduced. Everyone has events that they remember, and these past memories cause an individual’s identity to be crafted in a specific way that only the individual himself will truly understand why. To begin with, in “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe, the poem shows how past memories shape an

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The word choice that gives the overall atmosphere and tone of the poem includes, weary, dreary, bleak, dying, sorrow, sad, grim, ghastly, gaunt, and so many more. The themes of this poem are grief, finality of death, and mental instability. This piece of work includes many different types of figures of speech. It uses alliteration when he says, “Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore”.

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Henley addresses both emotions with the idea that as humans we fear fear in itself. He feels that this place is nothing but, “…wrath and tears” (Henly Line 9) and there is a, “… Horror of the shade,” (Henly Line 10) that stands over all. There is fear when one thinks of the unknown and that is evident with Henley’s use of the line, “And yet the menace of the years” (Henly Line 11). Simultaneously, Henley explains his strength and fearlessness with the idea that he is unafraid of the menace of the years.

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As Holden and the character referred to in the poem think about and mention death, this allows the mood of sadness and despair to be shown amongst these two works. This mood also strengthens the theme that life can be hard when you are feeling lost and do not know where to go with your

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one of the many times he uses imagery throughout this story is when the narrator says, “on his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows” (Pg 1). By using imagery to compare walking through the neighborhood as walking through a graveyard shows that it is completely silent and there is no activity in any of the houses. Most people wouldn't describe their neighborhood as a graveyard, this also develops the mood. Another time he uses imagery is when the narrator says, “The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in mid-country” (1). This shows mood because the narrator describes him as a hawk in mid-country, that means that he is all alone in what he feels to be like a barren or abandoned place.

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A quote that can be used to support this is: “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls. The twilight darkens, the curlew calls.” After most readers who have read this, they could try to imagine this scene happening in the poem. It could be a visual thought or they can picture themselves there. This quote exemplifies shows that the author wants us to use our mind and imagination to picture ourselves there.

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