Compare And Contrast Because I Could Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
I’ve always had a morbid fascination with death. The thought that someone can be here one minute, and taken away the very next is baffling. Where do people go? Do they only decay under ground when we bury them? Are they still with us? Will the rest of us finally know the answer to that question when we go? I chose to write about Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and Dylan Thomas‘s “Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night.” While both poem’s themes lie heavily with the subject of death, it seems that they deal with the subject differently, giving us two different perspectives on what to expect when we meet our maker. In “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” Death is portrayed as a caring gentleman in this piece as
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Although the speaker is physically found to be at his father's side asking him not to die, the speaker takes us on a colorful journey starting with a setting sun, night, “at close of day;” a green bay and shooting stars “the sun in flight,” and meteors in the eyes of men. These of course are used to symbolize the ending of life and coming of death, perhaps to comfort both the speaker and his father. What’s interesting about this poem is that through out the nature walk we take that Thomas strategically laid out before us, we actually start at the bottom of the earth and end at the very top, “And you, my father, there on the sad height.” It could be an analogy for heaven. Either way it reminds me of the development of the human being. We begin as a baby, learning to crawl, continue on standing straight and walking upright, we have our sights set on the future, and eventually we get old and pass away. I wonder of Thomas did this intentionally. The acceptance of death is where these poems begin to differ. In Dickinson’s poem, we find that the speaker actually seems at ease traveling with Death to their final rest. Their ride seems fearless, comfortable and at ease. In fact, the speaker seems to let go of all Earthly attachments at Death’s
Although the speaker is physically found to be at his father's side asking him not to die, the speaker takes us on a colorful journey starting with a setting sun, night, “at close of day;” a green bay and shooting stars “the sun in flight,” and meteors in the eyes of men. These of course are used to symbolize the ending of life and coming of death, perhaps to comfort both the speaker and his father. What’s interesting about this poem is that through out the nature walk we take that Thomas strategically laid out before us, we actually start at the bottom of the earth and end at the very top, “And you, my father, there on the sad height.” It could be an analogy for heaven. Either way it reminds me of the development of the human being. We begin as a baby, learning to crawl, continue on standing straight and walking upright, we have our sights set on the future, and eventually we get old and pass away. I wonder of Thomas did this intentionally. The acceptance of death is where these poems begin to differ. In Dickinson’s poem, we find that the speaker actually seems at ease traveling with Death to their final rest. Their ride seems fearless, comfortable and at ease. In fact, the speaker seems to let go of all Earthly attachments at Death’s