The two poems, Because I Could Not Stop for Death, by Emily Dickinson and Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, by Dylan Thomas deal with the theme of death. Each poem looks at death in different ways. Thomas does not accept death readily, but implores his father to hold on to life. On the other hand, Dickinson accepts death calmly. Both poets make use of figurative devices such as metaphors, personification and alliteration as they explore their opposing views of the concept of death.
Dickinson creates the feeling that death has compassion and creates a contrast in how people normally view death as being vicious and cruel. It is however Thomas, who presents death as the average person, perceives death. The reality is that death is an integral part of life’s journey. One must live and then die. Because I Could Not Stop For Death” creates an atmosphere of content and encourages the readers to look forward to death, yet the striking contrast in Thomas’ poem brings one back to reality and forces one to accept that after life there is death a place where no one really wants to go.
On the one hand, Dickinson uses imagery to create a pleasing image for the reader, but the fact is death is not pleasant. Dickinson likens the woman's grave to a house which shows her as being relaxed, yet this is an odd way to view death. In contrast to Dickinson's carefree view of death, Thomas presents death in a more formal and realistic way. Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night", depicts the reality that no one is ever prepared or willing to die. While the speaker uses euphemism to talk about death in the first two lines “that good night” (1) by the final stanzas in the poem, the reader recognizes that that the persona really has a personal concern about death.
The speaker uses apostrophe as he talks to the unknown listener, telling him not to "go gentle into that good night."(1) At the onset, it is a not clear as to who the night is and who should not go into the good night but by end of line 3, the readers begin to understand that night is really a metaphor for death and he did not want his father to die: the reference to one day possibly represent the lifetime of the person. This would mean then that at the sunset the life of his father would be gone and he would face the end of life’s journey.
Dickinson is fascinated with what happens to people after death, but Thomas is not in the least bit fascinated by death as he constantly repeats the rage” he feels towards death.
Dickenson believes that death is a similar to an attractive and courteous man who comes to take people for a “ride” in “carriage”(3). This carriage is the symbolic nature of moving from the stage of mortal life into the life beyond the grave. Death is an acceptable force of nature and as the speaker is relaxed with the euphemistic kind gentleman called death. Death takes the speaker on a figurative journey where she analyzes the path she has travelled throughout her life. She relives her past through the activities of those she “passes” and the reader is left to wonder at how much of these moments reflected her personal life. She realizes that while death has stopped for her, it had not stopped for anyone else as everybody moved along with their lives normally. Although the speaker was unprepared for her visit with death, but her time had come and death “He kindly stopped for me”(2) and this she readily accepted. The tone of the poem is one of acceptance and the writer has embraced the fact that even though she was ready to die, she would go willingly with “death”.
The two poems are quite different in form. Dickenson’s poem is composed of six quatrains with stanzas of four-lines. The lines with odd numbers use iambic tetrameter consisting of eight syllables, while the even numbered lines use the same iambic tetrameter with six syllables. The alternating lines consist of eight and six syllables and present the reader with the image of a stream falling at will. This image appears to be deliberate and matches Dickenson’s attitude towards her acceptance of death. The poem is structured to present the theme of accepting death in a calm and willing manner.
In contrast, Thomas’ makes use of the villanelle and consists of two important ideas that reflect his rage at death and the notion that his father should not accept death. Similar to Dickenson’s poem, both poems are made up of six stanzas, but the first five stanza’s in “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”are made up of three-line stanzas (tercets) and the final stanza is a quatrain. Both poems use iambs and Thomas centers his poem around a tight, yet the simple formal structure suggests that he is commanding his father to fight death.
Another important difference between both poems is use of rhetorical devices by the poets to bring out their main message. Dylan Thomas uses imagery and metaphor to accomplish his goal. The night and the “dying of the light”(3) are metaphors for death. The image that “Old age should burn and rave at close of day,”(2) and “wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,”(10) are vivid images that convey the anger and powerlessness one feels when one faces death. Thomas’ passion is even more vivid as he tells his father to curse and, “bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray / Do not go gentle into that good night” (17&18). The reader comes lost in his passion for life and his desperation to pass on this powerful emotion to his father.
Dickinson, on the other hand, message is clear. She believes that death is inevitable and teaches the reader that everyone should accept their fate. She personifies death as a gentleman caller and one who possess civility” (line 8) and who “knew no haste” (line 5). She romanticizes about death and as many critics have noted, she sees death as a suitor who come calling in his ‘carriage’ (3). Through Dickinson’s carefully crafted use of symbolism, the carriage (3), immortality (4), the setting sun (12), and eternity (24), the reader is left with the feeling that death can be kind.
The crossing to the speaker’s grave begins in first stanza as Death comes to her in a carriage where Immortality is onboard. As the journey continues in the second stanza, the carriage moved in an unhurriedly manner, the reader realizes that the speaker is suggesting that death may be in the form of a disease, which is taking its time to kill. However, in the third stanza, the poet reflects on the stages of her life: from childhood “the recess scene”(10), to middle age “the ripe, hence, “gazing” grain” (11), and the final descent into death “the setting sun” (12) as she goes over to the other side. Her description of the grave as her “house”(17) suggests that she feels comfortable that her end has come. And, although centuries have passed, her new life still seem peaceful that time appears to stand still - “shorter than a Day.” (22)
On the other hand, Thomas’ poem is much different in terms of how death is treated. Lines seven to nine summarizes the tone of the poem best and give the reader the clearest picture of how he sees death. “Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright/Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,/Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. The "Good men" (line 7), and "Rage" (line9) shows that the true goodness consists of struggling against the unavoidability of death as much as you can. Where Dickenson uses soft words to give death a pleasant view, Thomas lashes out with harsh words. He adds an image of the ocean waves crashing against the shore, or in other words meets their demise. As the men approach death, they forcefully tell the unavoidable death that their actions could have been great if they had been allowed to live longer.
The effective use of personification in any writing tends to evoke much thought and to some extent sensationalize the main idea. Consequently, imagery sensationalizes the sensory views of a person. In Dickinson’s poem there is much use of the technique. Imagery presents itself in stanza four where the speaker quiver as she is chilly because she had not been prepared for death, but only wore a “gossamer” gown and is euphemistically getting ready to spend the rest of her life with death.
In comparison, Dylan Thomas makes use personification, similes and oxymoron to create vivid imagery in his poem. In stanza 3, he personifies “deeds might have danced”. This explains why good men should oppose against death. Oxymoron is evident in stanza 5 “blinding sight”. Here he contrasts the idea of sight to the impossibility of accepting death in a calm manner. That “blind eyes could blaze like meteors” suggests that the poet knows that the meteor is bright and creates damage, but mankind is accepting of death and is blind to the idea that unlike Dickenson, people should open their eyes to the finality of death and put it off for as long as they can. The use of both oxymoron and simile present the message that is dark and one should not accept it.
Thomas further employs figurative language to bring his ideas across. Lines 7-15 makes use of parallelism whereby the actions of the various personalities of men are highlighted. The three stanzas begins with the poet listing the differences in these men and then highlighting what makes each man special because of what they have done. The persona closes each stanza by reminding that these will not die without a fight as they too are unwilling to embrace death as Dickenson has done.
The speaker creates an oxymoron in line 17 by asking his father to "Curse" and at the same time "bless" him. The juxtaposition of these two words going together and only separated by a comma suggests that a curse and a blessing are different, but are only separated by a pause – ultimately suggesting that they are the same thing. This is probably the only “soft-sounding” line in the poem, due to the use of alliteration, or the repeated the sounds in the words "Curse" and "bless”. This line gives the reader the idea that the poet had controlled his thoughts to an extent.
It is can be concluded that these two poems have similarities as well as differences in how they treat the theme of death. Nevertheless, both poems look at the concept of death from two different perspectives. Still, the main idea that each poet reinforces that irrespective of one’s view of death, it is still unavoidable and everyone faces death eventually. If one fights death, it still happens. It one gracefully accepts death, it still happens.
References
Anton, (2010) Ambiguity Of The Concept Of Death: A Comparison Of “Do Not Go Gentle Into
That Good Night and “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” Web www.studymode.com//Ambiguity-Of-The-Concept-Of-Death-128271 Accessed April,2014
Uhohno, (2007) Ambiguity Of The Concept Of Death: A Comparison Of “Do Not Go Gentle
Into That Good Night and “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” Web
www.studymode.com//Ambiguity-Of-The-Concept-Of-Death-128271 Accessed April,2014
Vgreen1, A Comparison of Poems: Emily Dickenson’s and Dylan Thomas’ Distinctly Diffent
Views of Death. Web http://www.writework.com Accessed April 24, 2014
