Thomas uses enjambment, the breaking of a phrase into
multiple lines or verses, to evoke a certain mood in the reader--namely, one which
matches the tone he is using. As an example, in the first verse, he uses enjambment to
help the reader feel as lost or disjointed as he does at the time just before he falls
asleep:
I
have come to the borders of sleep,The unfathomable
deepForest where all must
loseTheir way, however
straight,Or winding, soon or
late;They cannot
choose.
Themes in this poem
include sleep: first defined as resting, alluring as a deep, dark forest, and then as
death, unavoidable yet perhaps pleasant after the difficult tasks of life. Thomas refers
to the towering foliage in the final verse, using imagery as he states that it is
structured "shelf above shelf." He then states "That I may lose my way/And myself,"
which indicates a surrendering to either death or sleep, whichever theme by this point
that the reader feels is most congruent. It seems that when the author suggests the
"foliage lowers," he might be suggesting that nature is enveloping him once more, as we
return to dust in death.
As with much of Thomas's poetry,
this piece deals vaguely in human alienation, or at least solitude, as man must go to
sleep--or his death--essentially alone.
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