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Isolation - Edward Thomas and Robert Frost

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Isolation - Edward Thomas and Robert Frost
Both Poets write about the isolation of the individual in their poetry
Compare and contrast two poems, one by each poet, taking account of the methods which each poet uses to write about the isolation of the individual.

Both poets write about the isolation of the individual in their poems An Old Man’s Winter’s Night and Man And Dog. Frost depicts an elderly individual who is isolated form others because of the harshness of the natural environment around him. Whilst Thomas depicts a nomadic individual who wanders the countryside and who, In contrast to Frosts character embraces his isolation, choosing instead a “brown bitch” for his only company
To begin with, Thomas writes in rhyming couplets which create an on-going effect of the individuals story also reflecting the oral tradition of the English countryside. He also writes in narrative lyric which gives this poem a song like undercurrent carrying the story fluidly and seamlessly. AOMWN is a narrative poem with an irregular rhyme scheme, Frost here reflects the conflict between man and nature as death approaches. Even though the poem is irregular in rhyme, frost makes use of internal rhyme such as assonance and alliteration which may illustrate how the character feels comfortable inside but has a fear of the natural environment, feeling almost as if it is against him.
Secondly, both poets explicitly use the idea of isolation in their poems. In Man and Dog the sensory imagery through “then he went on against the north-east wind” depicts the harshness of the nomadic lifestyle showing how he is isolated form society. In contrast in AOMWN sibilance through “that gathers on the pane in empty rooms” conveys the silence of the landscape, while the adjective reinforces that the man is isolated from others. In Man and Dog the isolation is reinforced through, “She goes everywhere with me”, this man is isolated from others, his only companion is a dog and it almost seems that he chooses the dog over others enjoying

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