A Mortal's Only Hope: Analysis of Literary Techniques in "And death shall have no dominion" Anonymous College

Dylan Thomas's "And death shall have no dominion" provides a comforting and encouraging reminder that death is not an all-powerful force that holds every aspect of the living world in its clutches. It, too, is finite and pales in comparison to the power of God and heaven. Dylan Thomas strips away the perception of the all-powerful death through his use of stanza structure, his tone which he creates by using dark yet hopeful imagery, and his abundant use of contrast.

Dylan Thomas chose to structure his stanzas in a specific way to make sure that the point of the poem was not lost within his poetic language. Dylan Thomas wrote this poem specifically to communicate the point that "death shall have no dominion." The structure of the stanza accomplishes both these goals by having the beginning and end of the stanza be, "And death shall have no dominion." The continued emphasis and repetition that is put on this phrase makes it be the most crucial part of the poem. Dylan Thomas chose to have this structure so that his commentary would be rooted in between the truth of the Bible, which pushes the narrative that the word of God supported his beliefs on the finite nature of death.

The structure of Thomas's commentary also plays a key...