as a humble and modest person He describes her meek as milk flesh and remembers her scrubbed and sour humble hands These lines paint a picture of Ann s simple and hardworking nature The poet honours her memory by recalling these details which is a common feature of elegies Here the life of the deceased is remembered and celebrated Confrontation with Death The poem does not shy away from the harsh reality of death Phrases like blinds down the lids the teeth in black and Morning smack of the spade that wakes up sleep bring forth the physical and final aspects of dying and burial By confronting death directly the poem helps the reader to understand the poet s profound sense of loss Search for Consolation While the poem is filled with sorrow it also seeks some form of consolation Thomas envisions a kind of eternal memory for Ann where her virtues continue to resonate He calls upon the natural world He hopes that her spirit remains alive in the memories of those who knew her The poem ends on a somewhat hopeful note with the stuffed lung of the fox twitch and cry Love And the strutting fern lay seeds on the black sill It suggests that love and life persist even after death In conclusion Dylan Thomas s After the Funeral is an elegy Through powerful imagery and emotional depth Thomas captures the sense of mourning and remembrance This makes this poem a significant tribute to Ann Jones