The Background
"And death shall have no Dominion" is a thought-provoking poem written by the famous Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas in 1933. It was published in 1936 alongside other poems written by the poet. Here you will find the meaning of and death shall have no dominion by Dylon Thomas after a thorough analysis.

The Structure
The poem And death shall have no dominion is written in 3 stanzas with no definite rhyme scheme. The poet uses imagery and symbols in communicating his message. Each of the verse starts and ends with the title of the poem.

The Meaning
The title of the poem is derived from the biblical passage in Paul’s epistle to Romans, chapter 6 and verse 9. The poet showcases the reality of death and also gives it a good meaning. He lets us see the beauty behind death. Courage and dignity are part of the beauty in death. The dead persons who have gone ahead of us have timeless values. The memory of our dead loved ones lives with us. This means that the dead still lives on in the memory of their loved ones despite the fact of their physical absence.

The poet celebrates the eternal strength and undying nature of the human spirit. For him, death has no real victory over the life of man. The spirit of the dead still lives on. The dead also live in the memory of their loved ones. Hence, the struggle for life continues.

The poet goes on to talk about what happens after death. He says the body is united with nature after death. Men become naked in death just as they were in their mother’s womb. Man’s bones still becomes clothed in eternal glory in death instead of being clothed with mortal skin.

Moving on in the second verse; the poet talks about the graveyard on a sea floor. He says the dead appear to mariners or to other souls lost at the sea. Such dead people were brave at death despite all they suffered in life.
Finally, the poet still goes on to talk about what happens after death in the final verse. He says the dead are no longer aware of the physical elements that surround their homes. Nevertheless, death no longer has any dominion on the departed souls.

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