Death in 'Sonnet on the Death of Mr. Richard West' and 'Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat'. Georgina Elphee College

Thomas Gray and Thomas Hardy both explore the treatment of loss in their poems ‘Sonnet on the Death of Mr. Richard West’, ‘Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes’, and ‘The Voice’. Each of these works provide a contrasting presentation of the concept of loss, which underlines the fact that as humans we react to grief differently. Whilst Gray’s ‘Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat’ is a satirical poem, mocking the death of his friend Horace Walpole’s cat Selima, his ‘Sonnet on the Death of Mr. Richard West’ has a far more sombre, sincere tone. Similarly, Hardy’s ‘The Voice’ reflects his own pain following the death of his wife Emma in 1912, as he reveals his desperate longing to hear her voice once again. However this poem remains focused on the notion of denial, whereas Gray’s sonnet is more bitter, conveying a sense of futility with regards to the loss of friend since preparatory school, who died at age twenty-six. Despite the varied approaches to the theme of loss, it is to be noted that the texts have certain elements in common, such as the use of natural imagery, but also the elevated language in each of Gray’s works which serves to produce either a humorous or a formal effect.

The unconventional...