Death is one of most imposing entities in the cycle of life, due to its finality. We still remain to this day uncertain of what happens in death, but even that uncertainty will be wiped away once it eventually claims us all. Death is as natural as breathing and eating, and it is the commonality of this unknown entity that has inspired poets for decades. The endurance of death in poetry is evident in famous poets Dylan Thomas’s and Emily Dickinson’s respective works addressing the topic, despite the fact that the pair was born nearly eighty years apart. Thomas wrote the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” in honor of his dying father in 1947 and published it 1951, while Dickinson wrote “Because I could not stop for Death--(479),” which …show more content…
In “Do not go gentle into that good night,” Thomas stresses one or both of the phrases “ Do not go gentle into that good night” (1) and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (1) in every stanza. He uses this repetition to emphasize his point that death should be fought against and to essentially beg with his dying father to follow through with his son’s wishes and live. Dickinson also uses repetition in the lines, “We passed the School, where Children strove / At Recess – in the Ring – / We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – / We passed the Setting Sun –” (9-12) and does so in an almost whimsical manner as describes dying similarly to going on a scenic journey. Both poets wordplay to their advantage. Thomas writes, “Though wise men at their end know dark is right / Because their words had forked no lightning they / Do not go gentle into that good night,” (3-5). He establishes an image of darkness to be associated with death and contrasts that image with the metaphorical lightning of man’s accomplishments, further emphasizing the need to keep living a full life before death. Dickinson introduces her poem with some equally clever wordplay: “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me – / The Carriage held but just Ourselves – / And Immortality,” (1-4). She uses playfully uses the idea that death will stop for her …show more content…
She believes death to be an unavoidable requisite for all living beings to eventually fulfill, and she writes “Because I could not stop for Death--(479)” to express her acceptance of this as well as imagine what she thinks the afterlife might be like. The lines, “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me – / The Carriage held but just Ourselves – / And Immortality,” (1-4) state how death will find her someday even if she does not ever ask for it, as no one is immortal. She nonchalantly boards the figurative carriage alongside Death and remarks, “We passed the School, where Children strove / At Recess – in the Ring – / We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – / We passed the Setting Sun – / Or rather – He passed Us – / The Dews drew quivering and Chill – / For only Gossamer, my Gown / –My Tippet – only Tulle –,” (9-16). Dickinson frames death in a light and optimistic manner, in which she joins Death for a scenic journey to the afterlife. She portrays herself as casual and curious about this experience, and there is not one feeling of pessimism nor regret in Dickinson’s account of death when compared to that of Thomas. Putting forth her imagination and creativity, Dickinson also describes what the actual afterlife might be. The lines, “Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet / Feels shorter than the Day / I first surmised the Horses' Heads/ Were toward Eternity,” (21-24) portray the
Touching humans the most is the acceptance of unstoppable death. We all know that death will be our fate some day, but how we accept or how we deal with it is left to each individual. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," written by Dylan Thomas, emphasizes raging against death towards his dying father as he repeats this exhortation in the last line in every stanza. Imagery, sound, metrics, and tone, are used by Thomas to create the theme of his poem and what it means.
“Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”s tone is urgent and fearful. The author uses a villanelle form to describe his poem. Thomas passionately discusses not to let death take over, to “Rage, rage against the dying of the light,”
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.
“Afraid! Of whom am I afraid? Not Death – for who is He?” (F345). Dickinson, on the other hand, was not shaken by the thought of death, but rather welcomed it. Dickinson’s poetry not only portrayed death as nothing to fear, but it also counterbalanced society’s disdain for death. In one of Dickinson’s most popular poems, she writes “Because I could not stop for death- he kindly stopped for me” (F479). Culture typically sees death as an unwelcome end that everyone must face, but her poetry depicts death as being kind enough to halt its progress to accommodate her. Why is Emily Dickinson’s poetry so in love with death? Death is the only reliable constant (Ottlinger, 42). “All but Death, Can be adjusted Dynasties repaired – Systems – settled in the Sockets – Citadels – dissolved – Wastes of Lives – resown with Colors By Succeeding Springs – Death – unto itself – Exception – is exempt from Change -” (F789). Perhaps the harshest aspect of her poetry’s death is that after it has taken another soul, life moves on simply
Dickinson starts the first stanza of the poem with, “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me” (807). Clearly she was not ready to go, death simply took her by surprise and brought her busy life to a halt. This could be seen as a beautiful way to take on death because death is usually said in such a morbid tone and the fact she associated “kindly” with death makes it beautiful. The second line says, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves – and Immortality” (Dickinson 807). The author emphasizes Carriage, Ourselves, and Immortality. Dickinson seems to be talking about her own death chariot and by immortality, she believes her death is not the end, but rather as a step to eternal life.
"Because I could not stop for Death" is one of the most puzzling poems Emily Dickinson wrote. “Scholars who stress these subversive qualities note that this poet appropriated conventional language, images, and themes and twisted them, disrupting their usual meaning.” (Dunlap, 2) In this poem, she describes death in hindsight. She commentates the experience play by play, chronicling her actions and vision from the time he arrived to pick her up in his carriage to her final resting place. In the poem, the impression of death is not portrayed as scary or daunting, but rather more as tranquil and peaceful. In the poem, death took on the image of a person. Through personification, he was portrayed more like a male suitor picking up his companion for a date. Dickinson guided us to believe that the speaker in the poem is talking and describing her journey with death to us from beyond the grave. She leads us to believe that the speaker is ghost-like or a spirit who has accepted her death and content with her boundless eternity. It is not surprising that “Because I could not stop for Death” incites so much controversy in that it presents complex and multi-dimensional concepts of both life and death, both of which are too mysterious to be fully expressed. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, Dickinson does personify both death and Immortality as people, and presents the process of dying as eternal life. However in a bizarre twist, she also personifies life. She brings
Emily Dickinson is one of the most important American poets of the 1800s. Dickinson, who was known to be quite the recluse, lived and died in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, spending the majority of her days alone in her room writing poetry. What few friends she did have would testify that Dickinson was a rather introverted and melancholy person, which shows in a number of her poems where regular themes include death and mortality. One such poem that exemplifies her “dark side” is, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. In this piece, Dickinson tells the story of a soul’s transition into the afterlife showing that time and death have outright power over our lives and can make what was once significant become meaningless.
Death is the concern in of both Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Goodnight,” and Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. Moreover, while these two poets use similar themes in their works, the execution and tone of their respective pieces could not be more antithetical. More to the point, Thomas’ poem paints death and oblivion as something deserving of fear and dread, and even though dying is an immutable fact in our world, man will always feel the need to have, “Rage, Rage against the dying of the light”. However, Dickinson does not let the fear of death consume her, so much so, that in her poem she embraces death as nothing less than a gentleman, who in her own words “kindly stopped for me”. At the end of it all, Dylan Thomas’ poem is a loud boisterous proclamation about the desperation of man to hold on to life and to leave something behind but ultimately realizing they cannot, while Dickinson’s is a quiet reflection about the cyclical nature of life and death and the peace the end brings.
For many people, the thought of death is a terrifying concept to fathom. Whether a beloved family member, pet, or even emotions have died, death in any form continues to be a challenging subject to communicate about to others. From dances to songs and from paintings to writings, people express their views on death in a variety of forms and fashions. In William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis” and Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” death exists as the main topic of both poems; however, Bryant’s and Thomas’s opinions on death contrast greatly in both works as a result of each poet’s religious beliefs, experiences, family and decisions that influenced the poems. Bryant and Thomas held different religious beliefs that influenced
When it comes to death, many people feel uneasy or scared, but accepting your fate can lead to a better life in full. In “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” Dylan Thomas uses metaphors and tone to communicate the importance of not giving up.
Getting into the carriage and beginning this journey shows her acceptance of her fate of leaving life as she states “And I had put away / My labor and my leisure too, “ (6-7). This was a carriage ride that was similar to an outing or date. During the times that Dickinson lived in a single woman would not go on a carriage ride without a chaperone (source here) and therefore Immortality is acting in this capacity. She is on this journey with Death who she refers to as somewhat kind and courteous as she says the following of him “He kindly stopped for me – “ (2), “ He knew no haste” (5), and “For his Civility –“ (8).
In the poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas the author engages early into the aspects of death. With the help of explicit word-use he is able to establish a very descriptive message for the reader. To begin, Thomas describes death by stating, “Old age should burn and rave at the close of day” (2). Although the author doesn’t directly mention death, within this line it is easy to evaluate the conclusion he is trying to make when looking at his choice of words. His eerie use of words suggest that death should be viewed as painful, and wicked. Although the author's diction would often be used to describe a lethal situation, Thomas uses it to describe a common person’s perspective. He explains that death should be accepted
Going into depth, the poem shows Dickinson's belief that death was a peaceful beginning to a new life. “She could not stop for Death, (1)” and instead he stopped allowing her an immortal afterlife. Dying is not the end, for death is shown as an amazing new beginning. Evidence for this theory
Who does not cower in fear upon the thought of death? Almost everybody does! However, people have differing views on the abstract idea of dying. In examining the poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death? by Emily Dickinson and "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night? by Dylan Thomas, it is evident that the poets use contrasting and comparative techniques in their unique presentations of the concept of death. In the poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death? Emily Dickinson presents the idea of acceptance of death, whereas in the poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night? Dylan Thomas presents the idea of refusal and opposition to death. Despite the differences in theme, these two poets both use similar figurative language devices, such as
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