Death Be Not Proud 'And Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'

Accepting or Fighting Death. Which one to Choose. Should man become defiant or accept his fate against his ultimate enemy, death? Should he embrace or reject it? A person can be gravely ill and upon death’s imminent visit, can accept it without fear. In contrast, he can fight until his last breath because of a loved one’s encouragement to hold on to life. Death is ever looming and the curiosity of knowing when, where, and how it will happen is always questioned. The poems, "Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne and "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas relate to these thoughts, where two individuals, one who defiantly faces death without fear or pain, and the other a son afraid of losing his ailing father who encourages him to
In line 4, Donne, goes as far as to challenging death as if it were a despised enemy: “Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.” In Gale’s Online Encyclopedia: “Donne continues deflating Death in the first four lines of the sestet, Actually, Death is not anyone’s master, he suggests, but a slave” this article actually mirrors the interpretation in line 4 of the poem. Furthermore, in Gale’s Online Encyclopedia: “Death is mistaken in thinking that he can destroy anyone; he has failed to kill others, and he will not be able to kill the poet himself” it is portraying Death as powerless. Additionally, within the lines 9 and 10, the writer taunts death by accusing “him” of being a servant of loathsome companionship: “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell.” Subsequently, in lines 11 and 12, Donne compares Death’s imminence to a simple and enjoyable eternal slumber: “And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?” Another one of Gale’s Online Encyclopedia sources: “Now he points out either opium, which of course is made from poppies, or magic “charms” will work “as well” as Death in putting one to sleep, and probably even “better” further explains how Donne’s techniques helps his theme of Death’s limitations. Through mockery, insults, and the concept of acceptance,
In lines 1 through 3, “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rage at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” the speaker’s notion is to fight death with fury and strength until the last breath. In addition, lines 10 through 12, “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night,” it represents the concept that after enjoying a full and wonderful life, which flies by fast, death is inevitable but shouldn’t be given up without a fight. Moreover, in lines 16 through 19, “And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” there is anger and sadness of a son losing a loved one, his father who he looks up to. However, he implores his father to resist from