Dylan Thomas’s [“Do not go gentle in that good night”] and John Donne’s [“Death be not proud, though some called thee”] are two poems that share the same aspect which is death. Death is an aspect of life that eventually everyone becomes acquainted with. In Thomas’s poem, the speaker addresses his father by asking him to not surrender to death and asking him instead to challenge it. On the other hand, in Donne’s poem, the speaker addresses death by saying that it is nothing more than sleeping and resting. Both Thomas and Donne do not give a title to their poems. The title for both poems, is in the first line. Both poems look similar because they have the aspect death, but [“Do not go gentle in that good night”] and [“Death be not proud, though some called thee”] differ in their perspective and acceptance of death. In [“Do not go gentle in that good night”] the speaker is addressing his father asking him to challenge death, refusing to lose his father. While in [“Death be not proud, though some called thee”] the speaker is mocking death, saying that it is nothing more than resting and sleeping. In addition, each poem delivers different message.

Thomas and Donne’s poems’ title refers to the first line of the poem. In the first line of Thomas’s poem, the speaker is addressing an unknown person by asking him to not surrender to death. The speaker is referring to death by saying “good night” (1), and “close of day” (2). While in Donne’s poem the speaker is addressing death telling him to not be proud. Both poems have the aspect of death in their titles that suggest to the reader that both poems talk about death. However, Thomas does not mention death directly, he uses other words that refer to death such as “good night” (1) and “close of day” (2). On the other hand, the speaker in Donnie’s poem directly mentions death. The speaker mentioned death in the first line, challenging him and telling him to not be proud. Furthermore, both poems differ in their addressing. The speaker in Thomas’s poem is addressing an unknown person in the first lines, and encouraging him to not surrender to death. “Old age should burn and rave at close of day” (2).  The speaker is encouraging the person who is dying by mentioning different kinds of people that share the sense of someone old who has experienced life, and at the end of their life such as “wise men” (3), “Good men” (7), and “Wild men” (10). At the end of the poem, the speaker finally reveals the identity of the old person by saying “And you, my father, there on the sad height” (17). It turns out that the person who the speaker was addressing is the speaker’s father. That suggest the speaker does not want to lose his father, probably because the speaker is not ready yet to lose his father. While it seems that his father is ready for death. In contrast, the speaker in Donnie’s poem addresses death directly saying “Death be not proud, though some have callèd thee” (1). 

Both speakers in [“Do not go gentle in that good night”] and [“Death be not proud, though some called thee”] have different perspective of death. In [“Do not go gentle in that good night”] the speaker’s perspective of death is something that individual must defeat. The speaker says “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (3). The speaker is encouraging his father again to fight death and not surrender to it. Thomas’s wrote the poem in 1951, only two years before the death of his father at the age of 39 (Dylan). Why should Thomas write a poem about his father when he could speak to him? There are two potential reasons. The first that Thomas might did not have the courage to face up his father and blame him for his irresponsibility of not taking care of his health. Therefore, he wrote [“Do not go gentle in that good night”] to deliver his message to his father. When Thomas was a little boy his father used to read Shakespeare to him at bed time. Even though Thomas was a little boy and could not understand the meaning of it, he enjoyed the sound of it. His father, David John Thomas, taught English at a grammar school in southern Wales but wanted to be a poet (A). Thomas could have thought that writing a poem to his father will encourage his father to live. By giving a reason for his father to live, and telling his father that he should make his dream of becoming a poet come true. On the other side, the speaker in [“Death be not proud, though some called thee”] does not address anyone else but death. The speaker is focusing his attention on death.  In Donnie’s poem, the speaker’s perspective of death is that death is nothing more than resting and sleeping “From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be” (8). The speaker seems confident of himself, and not being afraid of death. The speaker mocks death saying it is something weak and pathetic that will never kill him “Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me” (4). The speaker does not stop at here, he continues disgracing death calling it “slave” (9). 

In [“Do not go gentle in that good night”] the speaker seems to not accept death. He does not want death to come and take his father away. While the speaker in [“Death be not proud, though some called thee”] seems acceptable for death without any fear. Christians belief that there is an afterlife. Although the body dies and is buried or cremated, they believe that their unique soul lives on and is raised to new life by God (Christianity). The speaker in [“Death be not proud, though some called thee”] seems to be a religious Christian. The speaker reflects that he is a perfect Christian who does not fear death. In the end of his poem, the speaker makes a conclusion in how death could die. “And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die” (14). The speaker beliefs that if everyone thinks as he thinks of death, death will die. The speaker reflects that death has no power on the individual who does not fear. Therefore, the speaker is asking every Christian to not fear of death by thinking death is just like waking up from sleep. 

Dylan Thomas’s [“Do not go gentle in that good night”] and John Donne’s [“Death be not proud, though some called thee”] reflected different perspectives. In the first poem, the speaker is worrying about his dying father, because the speaker does not want his father to die. While in the other poem, the speaker is mocking death, and reflecting that he does not fear death. The poems did not differ only in their perspective and acceptance of death. They even differ in their message. Thomas’s poem was a poem that delivers his personal issue with his father. While in Donnie’s poem, the speaker is delivering his way of killing death to Christians. 
