Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Analysis

Death is a huge part of who humans are. We all die, albeit in different ways and circumstances. Death has been portrayed throughout history in many ways. One such way is through poetry and three poems which entertain the thought of death are Ozymandias, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night and Dulce Et Decorum Est. The authors of these poems have used a variety of different poetry techniques in order to convey their view on the theme of death with different degrees of success, as will be outlined below.
The first technique which is makes the theme of death prominent throughout all three poems is the use of symbols and metaphors. Ozymandias is the most successful at using symbols to represent death. The whole poem can be considered a symbolic metaphor however, the main metaphor is of a crumbling statue. Proud
kings used to set up magnificent statues as an indication of their might and glory. Nonetheless, these statues would almost certainly decay and collapse over time just as in Ozymandias.
This can be seen as a symbol of how death is a loss of existence, legacy and memories. The crumbling statue in Ozymandias successfully conveys that, in death, nothing continues. Furthermore, both Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night and Dulce et Decorum Est use metaphors and symbols in a similar way. The phrase “wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight” in Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night is a metaphor of passing youth and, later on, death. ‘The sun in flight’ refers to youth which doesn’t last long and passes as those who grow old desperately try to remain young and vibrant, albeit with no success. This symbol denotes that if we do not make the most of our youth we might as well be dead. The last metaphor or symbol to be analysed is found in Dulce et Decorum Est. The whole poem is about WWI and the main metaphor in it is “Under a green sea, I saw him drowning”. The green sea part of the metaphor is referring the gasses and chemicals which were used during the war. Chemical warfare was used during WWI for the first time and it killed millions of soldiers. It would have caused great fear among
soldiers and, with almost no way to combat it, soldiers would have known that they were almost certain to die. When looking at all three major symbols that were used, the best and most effective is the Ozymandias one because it represents what death is the best. The use of symbols is a very effective technique; although, symbols may be interpreted differently by different people depending on their background. Due to this, the poems which have brought out a theme of death well, also use additional techniques.
The theme of death can be found in select words and phrases throughout each of the three poems. These may be plainly stated or may appear as connotation or allusions. For example, in Ozymandias the words sunk, shattered, wrinkled, cold and lifeless cultivate a feeling of dread and death within the poem by implication. In contrast to this, Dulce et Decorum Est uses more literal and obvious words such as drowning, hags, old-beggars, helpless, devil and incurable to bring out a theme of death. All of these words can be related to death in some way. For example, ‘drowning’ is a cause of death, death is ‘incurable’, ‘hags’ and ‘old beggars’ are close to death and everybody is ‘helpless’ against death. Within Dulce et decorum Est there are also phrases such as “watch the white eyes writhing in his face” which is an obvious link to death as, when dying, the whites of eyes will roll back giving the writhing effect the poem spoke of. One more phrase which speaks of death is, “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria more”. This is plainly stating that there is no joy or glory in dying for your country because in death there is nothing, no glory, no honour. The final poem, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, uses a similar technique to Ozymandias as opposed to the technique found in Dulce et Decorum Est. Ozymandias and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night are heavily based around connotations in contrast to having more literal language, as is found in Dulce et Decorum Est. “Grave, grieved, end, night and dying of light” are all used in Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. All of these words have strong connotations of death to majority of people making it a very effective technique when trying to be direct and specific.
The third technique used to bring out a theme of death in all the poems is the use of hard sounds. This technique is more prominent in Ozymandias and Dulce et Decorum Est. In Ozymandias, a hard C sound can be heard in the phrase “round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare”. The hard C sound relates to death in an inconspicuous way. Along with the meaning of the words, the hard C sound portrays the theme of death for the reader. The same technique can be seen in Dulce et Decorum Est. In particular, the phrase “coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge”. The hard C sounds may, at times, stop the flow of the poem and make it seem more chaotic. This could be taken as a reference to death although, it is discreet and hard to notice meaning the poems must rely on alternative techniques to convey the theme of death with higher success.
Finally, structure and imagery are two techniques which bring out a theme of death however they are only found in Dulce et Decorum Est. Dulce et Decorum Est does not have any set structure whereas Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night is a Villanelle and Ozymandias is a Sonnet. It is this attribute which brings Dulce et Decorum Est ahead of its peers in terms of bringing out a theme of death. By having no structure, the poem is replicating death. Death is chaotic, with no order and no form or configuration. This is a complete alteration of everyday life as, although it may seem disordered, every day follows the same rough pattern. Dulce et Decorum Est also heavily uses imagery to construct a theme of death. The poem appeals to the five senses in phrases such as “bitter as the cud” (taste), “you could hear, at a jolt, the blood come gargling” (hear), “watch the white eyes withering in his face” (Sight) and “knock kneed…Drunk with fatigue” (feel). All of these phrases create a heavily detailed image of the war and what it was like being surrounded by death. The uses of structure and imagery are limited to Dulce et Decorum Est, making the theme of death more in-depth and obvious.
It is clear to see that death is a prominent theme throughout all forms of poetry. The three poems Ozymandias, Dulce et Decorum Est and Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night are three excellent examples of this. They communicate a theme of death with a high degree of success through the use of poetic devices such as symbols, metaphors and word choices. Ozymandias and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night portray a theme of death in a more discreet and hidden way as opposed to Dulce et Decorum Est which uses a wider variety of poetic devices, making for a more conspicuous theme. Dulce et Decorum Est is the most effective in communicating a death as a major theme.