An Elegy for Dylan Thomas

This poem by Dannie Abse is about the admiration and adoration that he has towards Dylan Thomas. Therefore, I believe that the main themes in this poem are passion and admiration. I feel that this poem links to 'For Sidney Bechet' as both poets focus on someone that they look up to and adore. However, it can also link to 'Mr Bleaney' as both poems talk about somebody else's life where the writer is removed from the poem.
One of the things that I found interesting about this poem was the way the poet focused on Thomas' marriage throughout. This can be seen in "Death was his voluntary marriage", "whiskey-meadows of her breath". This suggests that Dylan Thomas had an unhappy marriage that was fuelled by alcohol leading to arguments between the two. There is also a focus in this poem that this marriage has changed his and that nothing can bring him back to the way he was before. This can be seen in "not even for the sake of love can his true energy come back". The sense that he will never be the way he was before can also be portrayed in "stranger" which suggests that Dylan Thomas is now unrecognisable compared to how he was before.
In this poem there is no regular rhyme scheme which I feel could reflect his rocky marriage and the way that his life and marriage has been affected by alcohol.
The structure of the poem is also uneven which could portray the uneven and uncertain path that his life had to offer.

Cricket Ball

I believe that this poem by Dannie Abse is about the passion that he has towards the sport Cricket. Therefore, I believe that the main themes in this poem are passion and love.
One of the things that I found interesting about this poem was the play on words used in "biggest hit with me". I found this interesting as in cricket you have to hit the ball as hard as you can however in this phrase Abse has chose to use it to show the impact that cricket has had on him which shows the passion he has for the sport.
In the line at the start "1935, I watched" it shows that Abse is recalling his fondest memory of going to watch a cricket match. This can also be seen in the first four stanzas as he is recapping what happened to him when he went to this cricket match.
I also found the lines "sound of summer" and "applauding ground" quite interesting as it is personification as he is suggesting that the cricket meant so much that the ground was applauding and it was like the sound of summer. This again shows the passion that Abse has for the sport and the adoration he feels towards it.
The last stanza in this poem I believe shows the present time which is in contrast from the other stanzas in the poem. This can be seen in "The years, too, gone like change". However, the line "I smell cut grass" links back to the memory as it is using the senses to show a connection to his memory.
The last line also shows his passion towards cricket as it says "I shine an apple on my thigh" which is what the players do with a cricket ball before throwing it. It is also a metaphor as apples are red and usually cricket balls are as well.
'Cricket Ball' links to 'For Sidney Bechet' by Larkin as both poets express their passion and adoration towards both sport and music through their poetry.