Poems about Death

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Poems about Death

This paper compares two poem about death: Dylan Thomas' "Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night" and John Donne's "Death, be not Proud".

1,075 words () | 0 sources | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in "Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night", Dylan Thomas shows death as something everyone must fight against; whereas, in "Death, be not Proud", John Donne illustrates that death is not an end for people. The author points out that Donne uses a much shorter and more emphasized speed to his poem; however, Thomas uses a different tempo to make his poem a rallying speech against death. The paper relates that Donne is straight to his point, telling death that it cannot win; whereas Thomas expects the reader to interpret what the speaker is thinking when he gives his cry against death. The paper concludes that Thomas is trying to persuade the reader that death is not good because it is an end to life as he or she knows it; in contrast, Donne believes death is a gateway to life eternal. The paper includes quotations.

From the Paper:

"Images are used to create a feeling of love towards life. The speaker says "[w]ild men who caught and sang the sun in flight" suffered the same fate too. Later he says that "[b]lind eyes could blaze like meteor and be gay." Earlier the speaker tells us about lighting and a green bay. All of these are used to show the vivid colors all around us in our world. We see that the sun is setting just as life is coming to an end when death is approaching. He mentions "the dying of the light" and we are constantly reminded "[d]o not go gentle into that good night.""