“Rain” by Edward Thomas Essay

On the brink of de rootate together World War I, the United Kingdom bunch up a draft system to recruit young men into the military. This system set limits on sex, physical disabilities, marital status, and of course, age. Although Ed ward doubting Thomas fell come to the foreside of these restrictions, accordingly saving him from ever having to dress in uniform, a patriotic Thomas motionless wanted to serve his country, so he affianceed. However, in front combat his battles in Europe, Thomas wrote the famous metrical composition, Rain, in which he discusses the pains of terminal and war. Thomas creates a utterer with whom he discount relate and uses this loudspeaker system to represent the possible scenarios and scentings that he may face in all future war handle moorings. In Rain, Thomas diction, organization, and punctuation mark all cay intense, disturbing images, which in turn convey the poetrys important theme of war and death.Thomas diction plays an essentia l role in reaffirming the poems main theme. This is evident in the inaugural lines of the poem when he writes, Rain, midnight rain, nonhing but the wild rain / On this perfect(a) hut, and solitude, and me / Remembering again that I shall die (1-3). The word rain is ingeminate three times in the first line, initially al wholeness, then with the front adjectives midnight and wild. All of these words expound the Thomas surroundings and symbolize his loneliness. The first rain stands alone with no adjective, just as Thomas is alone, trance the bet on and third rain are described by midnight and wild, which describe his surroundings and state of mind. These ideas become more obvious in the split second line, as Thomas uses the word solitude, reiterating his aloneness.In terms of diction, Thomas to boot incorporates several fictions into his poem. In line 13, he writes, Like a wintry water among scurvy reeds, referring back to a supposed baskd one hopefully not being helpless among the living and the deceased (12). This simile paints an extremely morose picture, that illustrating Thomas inner feelings and pain. The adjectives cold and broken in this simile revealicularly emphasize these feelings. An early(a) simile is plant in lines 15 and 16 where Thomas writes, Like me who stand no do it which this wild rain / Has not dissolved except the love of death. Now, Thomas is saying that he lacks love because the rain has melted remote whatever love he had. Now, he is altogether left with lovefor death because he feels so tortured in his situation in the cold, wild rain (15).Essentially, this poem can be distributed into cardinal parts the first of which, Thomas is writing in first person, communion his inner feelings almost himself the second part in which he still discusses his inner feelings, however this time, those feelings are about others, not himself. These parts divide at the annihilate of line 7, where a colon clearly attach the spot. Ultimately, the Thomas is frightened by death, and perhaps is envious of those who gather in died. He wants to free himself of the torture he suffers waiting for his death and just wants to get death over with, as he says, Blessed are the dead that rain rains upon (7). Here, the dead are blessed because they no longer have to endure the angst and torment of wondering when death will happen. Death is not an option there is merely a matter of time before it does happen, but it is sure to happen in this war. Notice the rain only rains upon the dead it does not torrent or downpour, thus, it paints a more pacifistic image. These dead are deservingly being cleansed and washed of all bad that has happened to them as the rain patters serenely on their lifeless bodies.In the second part of this poem, Thomas is thinking about his loved ones and hoping that they are not perceive to the rain as he is awaiting death or thus in sympathy (11). His loved ones are most likely his fellow comrade s, friends, and family. He hopes that none of his comrades are lying in the alone in this rain, experiencing a painful death, and he hopes that his friends and family are not lying awake in their beds worrying about him. And should his comrades be dying on the battle field, he further hopes that they are not helpless among the living and the dead (12). The speaker envisions dead bodies all around him Myriads of broken reeds all still and sealed (14), and he feels very alone, as he repeats the word solitude doubly in lines 2 and 6 and solitary in line 10. He does not want his loved ones to feel this same way.In the fail two lines of the poem, Thomas steers away from his thoughts about his loved ones, as he creates a more personal tone than the preceding linesin the second part. In these final two lines, Thomas discusses how he may have to lower his love in order to do what is perfect (17). In this sense, what is perfect, may real mean what is right or what his heart tells him e nlist in the war and fight for his country. Here, the tempest, or rain, is telling him not to disappoint himself and do what he feels in his heart. Throughout the entire poem, Thomas has struggled with these images of war being in the darkness, alone but in the end, he knows his lot will be death. It is just a matter of how he chooses his death, whether it is in battle or growing old at home with his family and friends, so long as he doesnt disappoint himself.Thomas ideas about death are reinforced by the poems punctuation and caesura. This poem is comprised only of two sentences, the first ending at the end of line 6. Line 7 serves as a transition line into the next sentence, which begins at line 8. All of the poems caesura can be found at the end of these sentences. In all other lines, except 6 (the end of the first sentence), 7 (line ends with a colon), and 18 (the end of the second sentence and poem), enjambment occurs. Thomas utilizes this sentence social organization as a metaphor for his feelings, which he expresses throughout the poem. Effectively, the speakers thoughts are scattered, but continuous reflecting on his current physical situation in the rain storm, dreaming about his loved ones, and eventually confront his fears of death just like the sentences in this poem. These sentences are somewhat run-ons, symbolizing the continuous thoughts of Thomas, but eventually, and sadly, Thomas life must end, just like the poem.Death is, unfortunately, an occurrence that we must all ultimately face. Since Thomas wrote this poem before he joined the war effort, he did not actually know what it was like to fight in battle. However, through this poem he was able to articulate his thoughts and anticipate the feelings of being a soldier in war. The imagery that Thomas is able to create through his word election and punctuation is dark and distressing, yet very real. Thomas use of similes further exaggerates his inner feelings as a soldier. The only love t hat Thomas possesses by the end of the poem is the love of death (16). How unbearable it must feel to be so desperate that you awaitdeath to put you out of your misery.Work CitedThomas, Edward. Rain. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Comp. Margaret Ferguson, Jon Stallworthy, and Mary Jo Salter. 5th ed. New York W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2005. 1255.