Comparison Of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night By Dylan Thomas

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.

William James, an American philosopher and psychologist once said “believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” Life, regardless of how close it lies to death, is worth keeping. The poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas is a son’s appeal to a fading father. He shows his father that men from all walks of life confront death, however, they still war against it. Thomas uses figurative language to classify men into four different categories to persuade his father to realize that a life, regardless of how it was lived, should be fought for.

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

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 poem consists of the speaker pleading with his father to “not go gentle into the night”; Thomas trails on throughout the poem with pleas for his father to embrace “Carpe Diem” and to not let go of life so quickly. Thomas used an incredible amount of metaphors to explain to the reader that his father shouldn’t give up on life and die already, even though he is very ill. Thomas

The death of Ulysses is not only his death but also the death of the idea of a hero who goes on adventures all across the world. The worlds view on heroes changes with his death and it is no longer the heroes who rule but the people who can judge and rule fairly and not be ruled by someone who is on the other side of the world. The death of Dylan Thomas’s father dies also marks the death of Thomas’s conviction in god. He had already lost friends and began to lose faith but his father death was the nail in the coffin for his belief in god.

Given that death eventually comes to every one of us, how can someone fight death? Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” lays out his case. The opening lines are a wonderful beginning to what, on the surface, seems to be a poem about the transition from day to night. But, upon closer reading, the poem is a much more complex piece on grief and death. Thomas uses light and dark imagery, diction, and anaphora to demonstrate the author’s thoughts on death and the questions he raises on its inevitability.

With this stated I would like to point out how the moral of the poem is to live life by living. That is the message of “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.” Dylan Thomas was able to relay this concept to his audience by having a transcribed conversation between him and his dying father. The love and bonds between members of a family are stronger than steel, which Dylan clearly expressed.

This poem was written by Dylan Thomas who had been acknowledged as one of the most important Welsh poets of the 20th century. The poem is a son’s plea to his dying father. Thomas shows four different kinds of people in four stanzas – wise men, good men, wild men and grave men so as to encourage his father to fight against death rather than to accept in silence. The tone used in the poem is passionate and intense. “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (line 3) is an attitude the old is supposed to hold. “Old age should burn and rave at close of day” (line 2) is exactly the theme that the poet wants to pass on.

Death is inevitable. It is unstoppable and unavoidable. One can try to escape its hold, but it will catch eventually. In the poems “[I Heard a Fly Buzz]” and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Emily Dickinson and Dylan Thomas respectively, an underlying theme is mortality. While Dickinson uses her poem to explore things about death, Thomas uses his poem to show the inevitability of death. Both poets use poetic devices such as imagery, repetition, and symbolism to show the struggle of life during the capture of death.

While reading poetry one may wonder, “What is this poem about?” The posed question, which is always floating in one’s mind, tends to have multiple analyses by the time this individual has completely finished reading the poem over and over. Although, a poem may have multiple themes behind their words, this poets main focus, or theme, is for his character to fight against death. By taking a New Criticism approach towards Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night,” one must involve close reading, focus and attention on a main theme, and making sure to focus on the work itself, not on the reader or author. Beginning with stanza one, Thomas starts his poem by stating a command: “Do not go gentle into that good night” (1-1). Thomas then adds to this line by stating that old age should fight for their lives still and not just give up.

Many people have both feared and questioned death throughout the ages but when it’s time to die, two kinds of people emerge: those who accept it and wait to die, and those who keep fighting. Dylan Thomas describe the importance of continuing to fight in his poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”, which he wrote for his dying father. Firstly, there is lots of symbolism in the poem, which helps to develop the theme of never giving up. Secondly, the author uses many literary devices, which help to develop the main theme of the text, which is to never stop fighting. Lastly, there is lots of imagery used to help develop the theme of persevering until the end even more. Death is all around us but it is important to persevere and keep fighting