at is there for decoration alone. This gilt can be applied to the wheels of the hearse or to a small portion of the poem, if so desired, by the poet without over-embellishment. This point is further emphasized with the line no upholstery, phew! And no little brass rollers and small easy wheels on the bottom. These features refer to other stylistic conventions used by some poets. The narrator in Tract insists that on this [a rough dray] the coffin should lie by its own weight. This can be interpreted to say that the poem should be judged as good or bad solely on the basis of its literal meaning and content; not on pretence and frills injected into the art. Because of its rhyme scheme and syntax, Dylan Thomas poem seems to be elegant. If the sophisticated style were removed, what would the poem say? What kind of poem would it be without the rhyme scheme? These are questions asked by William Carlos Williams Tract.The word tract, like the poem, also has a dual meaning. A tract could be a religious ceremony, such as a funeral, or it could be a medical term for a biological structure that serves as a way of passage. It is a very fitting title for a poem that criticizes peoples way of passage from one life to the next. The poem stresses that a funeral should be dedicated to the deceased and not to those in attendance. It is wrong for the driver to draw attention from the guest of honor, as it is wrong for the poet to put himself into the poem. In the villanelle, it is apparent that Thomas puts himself into the poem: the reader knows that the poem is about Thomas father, without having to read a history or an interpretation. The line and you my father, there on a sad height informs the reader that Thomas father is sick in bed. In the context of Tract, Thomas is the driver who should take off that silk hat! There is no place for him [Dylan Thomas] at all- up there.... On the surface, Tract criticizes the driver for drawing attentio...
