Death. Even the mere suggestion of the word is able to conjure up visions of dark, grisly impressions and cold, somber moods. The subject of death is neither an appropriate nor amusing subject of conversation among people because of the ill feelings of tragedy and mourning so often associated with it. Through his poetry, Thomas attempts to reverse the common opinions of society on death by using diction and comparisons that offer a new and contented perspective of death and reverences it as an integral, inescapable part of the natural cycle. Dylan Thomas begins "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" by setting up a motif of atavism that prevail