Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Death piques everyone’s interest. Whether in fear or curiosity, all people are a little mystified by this end to life. “Because death is such a prevalent concern in the human mind, it is a universal theme in literature. Even in stories that celebrate life, death haunts the space between the lines and sometimes shows itself…No writer can ignore death, and some make it one of their primary themes” (Stockslager 4). There is, perhaps, no better way to explain the way humans think about death than in poetry. Two poems that focus on how to approach death are “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas and “Crossing the Bar” by Lord Tennyson. Although they take extremely different approaches, both poets discuss how death affects their

Thomas is working up a powerful urging for people to fight against the bonds of death. From the first four words of “Do not go gentle” (Thomas 982), he is already lining up for this to be a sort of plea, but one quickly realizes this is no pathetic begging. By proportioning one day to one lifetime, he tells readers to not let the sunset come so quickly – to “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Thomas 983). Of course, there is also a sense of loss because this person is speaking to his father, who is, apparently, nearing the end of his days. This is evident especially in the last stanza when he addresses his father directly, telling him the same message he has repeated throughout. “The final stanza finds Thomas denying any distinction between his father's curse and his blessing—"Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray"—as he desires most of all an inheritance of tragic grandeur that is capable of transcending death itself” (“Explanation of: ‘Do Not Go…”). The repetition is what really personifies the theme in this work. As the phrases keep coming up repetitively, so is Thomas saying that life should keep going, on and on until the

Unlike Thomas’ speaker, Tennyson’s speaker greeted death, not with sorrow, but with peace and sense of calm. This is evident when he immediately sets up the scene as a sunset sky shedding light on a beach, which shows the readers from the very beginning how pleasantly he wants to portray what is about to happen. “Tennyson starts mysteriously…alerting the reader that something larger and more conceptual is being discussed before even introducing the boat trip that symbolizes the passage from life to the afterlife” (“Explanation of: ‘Crossing the Bar’…”). It seems evident, though he is leaving the world we know, the speaker pleads for “no sadness of farewell” (Tennyson 787). The poet is desperately pushing a message by setting this mood – death is to be welcomed. “Tennyson is able to face up to such negative concepts as darkness, sadness, loss of control, and death, and show them as part of the process that inspires hope” (“Explanation of: ‘Crossing the Bar’…”). For, maybe then, one can “hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crost the bar” (Tennyson