What Techniques does the poet employ to make vivid the situation of the survivors?

The Survivors, by R.S. Thomas recites a tale of a group of survivors as they are stranded on the
open sea suffering in each other's presence for seven days. Thomas employs numerous stylistic devices
throughout the poem in order to portray the death the survivors have come to meet, as well as amplify
the theme of death's inevitable nature.
Thomas writes the poem in first person, in which the narrator recalls the events once told to
them. The narrator gives an initial impression of the survivors surroundings, stating they spent their
seven days in, “An open boat”, giving the reader an initial impression of the expanse of the space in
which the survivors reside. Thomas’s use of both desolate and expansive imagery express the looming
nature of death, and compare the suffering endured by the survivors to an endless sea of water.
Thomas states the survivors troll towards land that is lost in the “Horizon”, suggesting that the
anticipation of their survival is merely a hope, as they realize the uncertainty of their whereabouts. By
describing the boat's trajectory towards an unsure destination, Thomas suggests that the fate of the
survivors is also uncertain. Thomas continues to describe the vastness of the survivors surroundings as
the days progress, on the third day, describing the sea, “As empty as the sky”, comparing it to, “A vast
disc under a dome.” Thomas references the position of the sea under the sky, denoting that they are
both endless and hopeless entities, amplifying the hopelessness within the survivors. Thomas implies
that as the survivors traverse the sea, they are only approaching an impending death. In conjunction
with the expansive imagery, the suffering endured by the survivors occurs simultaneously, only to end
when the survivors eventually reach land, or their death.
Throughout the poem, Thomas employs numerous bouts of war-like terminology and speech,
in order to suggest the circumstances that have led to the survivors' situation, as well as personify the
shroud of death that cloaks them. In the final stanza, as the survivors approach “Land”, they are met
with the sight, “Ominous as the big guns of enemy shores.” Thomas suggests upon arriving to this
land, they are met with visions of what they have escaped from. The reference to enemy shores implies
that the survivors might have escaped a war, connoting a sense of danger or dread within the land that
lies ahead. Thomas describes that one survivor sees, “The ruins” when approaching land, suggesting
that what the survivor sees is the remains of a battle. The reference to ruins hints that the survivors are
suffering from the memory of whatever they have escaped from, and that the demons they have
encountered continue to haunt them. Through the connotation of war through war-like terminology,
Thomas further exaggerates the theme of death, and intensifies its presence looming around the
survivors.
Thomas uses biblical allusion within the poem in order to compare the journey of the
survivors to that of god's creation, as well as exhibit the sense of hope through the symbol of a bird.
The poem recites a seven day journey endured by the survivors, similar to that of the 7 days in which
the bible states the world was created. Thomas initially references a bird, a symbol of hope within the
bible, by comparing the oars of the boat, to wings that, “Beat” to propel them forward. Through this
comparison Thomas hints that the hope is present within the boat itself, as the representation of a bird
flies forward throughout the ocean. A bird is later referenced in the final stanza, as on the sixth day, a
bird flies by the boat, leading to an absence of sleep the following night by the survivors. It is as the
literal bird flies by, that the survivors gain some hope for an end to their perilous suffering. Similarly to
the recollection of god within the bible, as the survivors stay awake on the final night, god sleeps on the
final day. By comparing the journey of the survivors to that of the world's creation, we are able to see
the holy nature of the survivors' situation, suggesting that the seven days they spend on the boat are
their transitions from the tangible world into death.
The impending nature of death is encapsulated through Thomas’ use of transition of time. As
the days progress, “song dries on their lips” suggesting that as the boat traverses endlessly, the
motivation to live diminishes within the survivors. The word song is a personification for positivity, of
which there is none as the survivors approach their death. Similarly to that referenced above, the
attitude of the survivors flip upon the 6th day, as the boat becomes an, “ear” that strains for the sound
of, “Wrecked waves” meaning the sign of waves breaking upon a shore. The change in attitude,
perhaps suggests a collective focus of the survivors as they know they approach land. In contrast, it
could be assumed that the immediate shift in attitude correlates with the survivors' acceptance that
their death is inevitable following all the suffering they have endured. Through the transition in
attitude and time, Thomas is able to imply that all of the suffering endured by the survivors was
preparing them to reconcile with their inevitable fate.
The use of the survivors trip as a metaphor for the crossing over and acceptance of death is
described within the use of the horseman that extends the rope out to the survivors. In the second
stanza, as the survivors stick to themselves, they feed the idea of death to themselves, feeding it on what
the others, “Could not conceal”. Thomas suggests that the survivors are not actually surviving, yet
they are becoming aware that they will die and must come to terms with that fact. Upon their eventual
arrival to the “Land” a, “Lean horseman” rides towards the boat and extends a rope that brings them to
the “Curt sand”. By describing their arrival as abrupt and surprising, Thomas implies that the
horseman is death himself, similarly to that of the horsemen of the apocalypse, and that the survivors
arrival onto land is the abrupt death they have been met with following days of suffering. The both
literal and metaphorical portrayal of death and suffering is shown within the characters attitudes, and
they transition from desolate, to hopeful, to accepting.
To close, Thomas expresses the impending death the survivors face as they traverse the sea for
seven days, by employing numerous stylistic devices. Of these, desolate imagery, war-like terminology,
biblical allusion, transition of time, and the metaphor of death assist the reader in understanding the
reality of the situation of the survivors