An Analysis Of British Literature Essay Research — страница 4

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is immortalized the way he is when he dies, and in the afterlife he has the honor and prestige he had during life. Housman told the athlete, “silence sounds no worse than cheers/ After earth has stopped the ears:/ Now you will not swell the rout/ Of lads that wore their honors out.” The athlete will live his afterlife in glory which he had on earth, and according to this thought, Ozymandias will live in the afterlife as “king of kings.” In the 20th century, Dylan Thomas offered advice about how to live the time before the afterlife. In “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” he advised people to “rage against the dying of the light.” He is telling people to continue to make life meaningful and live it to the fullest before they go “into that good night,”

which symbolized the afterlife. This concept is very similar to the ideas in “Ulysses.” Both poems suggested that people should struggle to make the most of their lives, and they each expressed a belief in the afterlife. Throughout the chronology of British literature, artists have presented many different perspectives on the afterlife. There are views which I agree with, and there are views which I don’t agree with. One of the ones which I support is John Donne’s idea of death not being a terrible thing because it leads to the afterlife which is a better place. I support this idea because I have been raised in a rather religious family, and it has been instilled in me that death is not bad, and there is an afterlife to go to. I also agree with the ideas in “Ulysses”

and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” that one should struggle to make the most out of his life and to make it meaningful. This idea is very appealing to me because I believe a person should always attempt to make the most out of what he/she is given, and it is important to never give up. While I don’t agree with the poems which state that there isn’t an afterlife, analyzing and thinking about them has been valuable for me because it has forced me to consider my views, and to build up a stronger support of my views to counter the ideas presented in these poems. 349