The poem written by Dylan Thomas [“Do not go gentle into that goodnight”] expresses the importance of fighting one’s inevitable death through a desperate plea for the speaker’s father to struggle to survive. John Donne’s [“Death be not proud”] illustrates death as an inevitable, restful sleep that will ultimately lead to eternal life. While Dylan Thomas and John Donne both concentrate on the subject of death, they utilize symbolism and personification, respectively, in [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] and [“Death be not proud”] to do so. Both [Do not go gentle into that good night”] and [“Death be not proud”] poetically illustrate death through the use of metaphors. These similar subject matters, however, convey different interpretations of death, one of the inevitability and necessity of death and one of death as a “short sleep” (13). 

During the time [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] was written, Dylan Thomas was suffering with serious alcoholism and a failing marriage (cite). Dylan Thomas wrote the poem while his father was sick and in anticipation of his death (cite). Evidently, both Thomas and his father were struggling to carry on their lives. In the opening stanza of [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] the speaker cries out “Do not go gentle into that good night” (1) and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (3). It is clear that the speaker is using “night” and “light” as symbols for death and life (1, 3). The speaker expresses that the father should not “go gentle” but “rage” or fight against the inevitable death upon him (1,3).   His tone towards death is fearful and bitter, expressing his bitterness using words such as “curse” (18). The speaker mentions three different groups of men who are nearing death. The “Wise men” expect death to come eventually and know that death “is right” so they do not die quietly or without a fight (4).  The “Good men” fight against their imposing death because they have done “deeds”, or good works and have had a fulfilling life (7, 8). The “Wild men” do not decline quietly into death, but create their ordinary lives into one full of imagination and sing “the sun in flight” (10). Finally, the speaker addresses his father, desperately crying with “fierce tears” as “I pray” to “not go gentle into that goodnight” and “rage against the dying of the light” (18 – 20). The speaker is almost selfishly begging his father to strive to live and fight on. Although the speaker’s symbolism and tone suggest his attitude towards death, it is evident the speaker believes that life is an opportunity to fulfill one’s dreams and desires and not “learn, too late” and death should be fought against at all costs (11).

In contrast, Donne’s speaker in [“Death be not proud”] declares that death is only a mere “rest and sleep” from which one finds “much pleasure” (5 – 6). The speaker suggests simple ways to “rest well” such as “poppy, or charms” contrasting Thomas’s speaker’s plea to resist death (11).  Instead of addressing various men who fought against death like in [“Do not go gentle into that good night”], the speaker personifies Death as a person he can talk down to. Death is described as weak, not “Mighty and dreadful” almost pitying Death, addressing it as “poor” (2, 4). Unlike Thomas’s speaker, the speaker in [“Death be not proud”] conveys a defiant tone towards Death demonstrated in the first line when he proclaims “Death, be not proud” (1). Through his tone he directs his focus on the subject matter of death leading to eternal life. The speakers in [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] and [“Death be not proud”] both understand that death is inevitable, but perceive death in two contrasting ways. The speaker in [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] perceives death as an evil thing while the speaker in [“Death be not proud”] perceives death as eternal life. John Donne was raised a Roman Catholic, leading to his poems which act as Christian visions. In “[“Death be not proud”] he insinuates the Christian belief that death leads to eternal life when he writes “One short sleep past, we wake eternally” (13). He goes on to say that “death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die” (14) leading to the Christian belief that when Jesus Christ died, death was destroyed and eternal life was created.  

Although [“Do not go gently into that good night”] and [“Death be not proud”] describe the same subject matter, the two different tones of bitterness and defiance, respectively, make the distinction between the two. When we compare the two poems, we are able to discover the variations in symbolism, theme, and tone and realize how amazingly dissimilar the poems are.  
