Analysis Of Dylan Thomas And Elegy For My Father, Who Is Not Dead

All times, the disappearance of cherishable beings brings people unbearable agony. Eventually, they cry, and then suffer more heartache, yet the attitudes when confronting a farewell vary dynamically within individuals. In Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” and Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”, both speakers experience a painful loss. However, while Thomas strongly opposes the undeniable fact of his father’s death process, Bishop reluctantly accepts the departure of her beloved. The two speakers react differently to recover from the ineluctable sadness, to regain inner peace. In the end, the poems’ comparison concludes losing valued relations is distressingly unavoidable, and that there is no ideal way to cope with losses. Therefore,

Two literary pieces, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by, Dylan Thomas and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by, Emily Dickinson are both poems that discuss the topic of death. While there are some similarities and comparisons between the two poems, when it comes to the themes, both poets writing styles are quite different from one another which makes each poem unique. Thomas and Dickinson both use identical figurative language devices and other literature symbolisms as they explain their main themes which contrasts the differences to the concept of death. These distinct variations between poems are apparent in both the form, and how the choice of words is used in the poems. Both of the authors have presented two very different ideas on death. The poems are well distinguished literature devices, they share minor similarities and differences between each other and how they present the meaning of death to a toll.

In Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," the speaker is a son talking to his aging father and pleading with him to fight against death. The son knows that death is the inevitable end to every life, but feels one should not give up to death too easily. By using metaphor, imagery, and repetition, Thomas reinforces the son's message that aging men see their lives with sudden clarity and realize how they might have lived happier, more productive lives. These men rail against fate, fighting for more time to set things right.

Thomas realizes it is human nature to take life for granted; until death approaches. Thomas wrote this poem for his father, to tell him that there is so much more for him here, living, to do. The only way to deter death is through fury and frenzy. Death comes too quickly for most people and only with "rage" can death be defied.

Both "Death Be Not Proud" and "Do not go gentle into that good night" do not necessarily see death as a negative thing. In looking at the title "Do not go gentle into that good night" one notices that Thomas calls the night, presumably a metaphor for death, good. He also says "wise men at their end know dark is right" (4). This would suggest that he believes that death is a necessary occurrence. If Thomas sees death as necessary, then why does he say "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (19)? The answer to this can be found in line 16 when he addresses his father. Throughout the whole poem he names different types of men, then in the last stanza he specifically names his father. I think that in this poem Thomas is trying to express that even though he knows that death is natural he doesn't want his father to die. This creates a sort of conflict within the poem where Thomas knows that eventually death will come for everyone, but he wants to put it off as long as possible in the case of his father.

The poems “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas and “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A. E. Housman both discuss how each author views death. But, both poems have drastically different opinions upon the matter. Thomas in “Do Not Go Gentle” is full despair and hatred towards death, and is tries to convince his father not to accept death. Whereas, Housman in “To an Athlete” expresses that a young death is beautiful and glorious. That a young death shouldn’t be just seen as sad, but more as honorable.

e poem,” Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” was published by Dylan Thomas in 1951 and is about preserving through trials and hard time. Although the author seemed to take a stance that those who are older should not “go without a fight”. This poem talks about surviving and preserving, and trying and pushing as hard as possible to overcome. This poem is also talking about his father, and his will for him to not die.

The first group that Thomas depicts are wise men. In the stanza’s first line, “Though wise men at their end know dark is right,” (4) he proposes that they all agree that death is the final part life’s natural cycle and that they contain the wisdom to know that they ought to accept it. Nevertheless, the next line argues that they war against it because they lack the legacy that exist long after one has succumb to death. Thomas uses line (5), “Because their words had forked no lighting” to convey that they grip onto life because they want to leave a print on the sands of time.

When reviewing the work of Dylan Thomas, one can see that he changes his style of language, such as using metaphors and imagery, to fit each poem accordingly. In the poems, "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night," and "Fern Hill," which are the poems I will be looking at in this presentation, he uses different techniques and language to make each poem more effective to the reader. I have chosen these works because they are his most well known, I shall start off by reading the poem “Do Not Go Gentle…” even if it was written after Fern Hill, as it is the most famous of all his works. "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" is addressed to Thomas' father, giving him advice

In this poem, there are two lines that are repeated. These lines are “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” By repeating these lines, Thomas is letting the speaker reiterate his encouragement over and over to his father. The speaker is obviously angry at death for wanting his father, and uses this to help him fuel his father’s effort to live.

This is expressed by the multiple examples of old men whom regret certain aspects of their lives and defy death even when they know their time is up. The speaker is urging his father to fight against old age and death. The meaning and subject of the poem influence the tone and mood. The tone is one of frustration and insistence. Thomas is slightly angry and demanding. His words are not a request, they are an order. The mood of the poem is is serious and solemn due to the poem focusing mainly on the issue of death. This mood and tone is created by words such as “burn”(2), “Grieved”(11) and “rage”(3) along with phrases such as “crying how bright”(7), “forked no lightning”(5), “near death”(13) and “fierce tears”(17). The insistent feeling is also created by the repetition of the lines “Do not go gentle into that good night”(1), and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”(3). The figurative language used also affect how the meaning, tone and mood are interpreted.

The whole poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” is an extended metaphor. Thomas is comparing death to the sun setting, or the end of the day. For instance, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (3) is referring to the dying of the light, or metaphorically, death. In the poem, many other example of figurative language is also portrayed. The line, “Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” (8) personifies the “frail deeds” (8). Referring to the green bay, which symbolizes a sea full of life, helps the reader understand that these weak deeds that they do are just one small part of this lively world. Thomas uses this reference in this poem to help the reader better understand that they need to do something impactful before they die. Additionally, the line “Grave men, near death who see with blinding sight” (13) includes a pun with the “Grave men” (13). Depending on how it is interpreted, the reader could think that the word “grave” refers to a dying man or a serious man. Either way, these men are going to die and with their remaining strength they will “... blaze like meteors and be gay” (14). The simile is saying that rather than the old men’s light going out quickly, their light should be strong and go out with an impression on people and the world. In the poem, the poet uses imagery to create a better visual for the reader. When Thomas states alternating images like light and night, then blinding and sight, it gives the reader more visuals on what is happening in the poem. All of these factors contribute to this poems

In the sixth and final stanza, Thomas speaks to his father directly, having finished his four examples of men who fight death ("And you, my father, there on that sad height"). Thomas implores his father on the precipice of death to speak ill or good, as long as it is done with passion ("Curse, bless me know with your fierce tears, I pray"). The poet realizes passion may stave off death. He also hopes his father might identify with the four types of men cited in the poem as Thomas apparently viewed his father as an intelligent and decent, but very ill, free spirit.

Immediately, the question of who this person may be comes to mind. As the second stanza begins it is clear the the point of view has switched to third person and Thomas’ goes on to describe how good, wise, wild and grave men have “[raged] against the dying of the light” (7). The entirety of the fifth stanza is a declarative sentence- a call to arms against the war on death. This is an apparatus to ignite passion amongst those who hear his words. But the sixth stanza comes full circle back to second person creating a more intimate effect. This illuminates the overwhelming distress and devastation he felt at the time because it is here that Thomas’ own father is revealed to be the subject of the poem.

Firstly there is a lot of repetition, such as when the author states, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. This line is repeated 4 times in the poem, and you can see that repetition was very important to Thomas, as he chose a Villanelle, which is a style of poem that relies greatly on repetition. The author is telling his father to “rage, rage against” (fight), “the dying of the light”, which essentially means the dying of life, or just simply, death. The fact that this is repeated so often makes it stick with you long after you have finished reading and, therefore the idea of death stays with you for a while after reading the poem as well, and it makes you want to fight back against, and not accept, it. Secondly, the author uses one very evident euphemism, when he says “that good night”. In this case, “good night” refers to death. This is a very important part of the poem because, not only is it repeated four times and evident in the title, this shows that, when talking about his father’s impending death, Thomas does not actually want to say the words to either soften the blow for himself, or for his father. Which either shows a great deal of sorrow or compassion in his character. This reinforces the theme, as it is a euphemism for death and describes it as something to avoid, similar to a kid fighting his bedtime as his parents tell