
Death is, and has been, the inevitable conclusion to every person’s natural life; however, the attitude that one has towards this timeless dilemma varies greatly among people. The way that death is viewed inevitably reveals the beliefs and characteristics of that particular person. Dylan Thomas, author of [“Do not go gentle into that good night”], 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”], on the other hand, illustrates death as an unavoidable, restful sleep that will ultimately lead to eternal life. Dylan Thomas, utilizing symbolism and metaphors in [“Do not go gentle into that good night”], and John Donne, using personification in [“Death be not proud”], communicate their personal opinions and outlook on the concept of death. While both Thomas’s [Do not go gentle into that good night”] and Donne’s [“Death be not proud”] cover the matter of death with a degree of defiance, Thomas’s poem proclaims the necessity to fight death while Donne’s poem challenges the reader to think of death as a “short sleep,” merely a stepping stone to a much more important eternal reality (Donne 13).  

The poem [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] is a plea for Dylan Thomas’ father to “not go gentle” (Thomas 1) into death, with Thomas asserting that his father should attempt to “rage” (Thomas 3) against and defy his impending death. During the time [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] was written, Dylan Thomas was struggling with serious alcoholism and a failing marriage (Dylan). Also during that time, Thomas’s father was sick and in anticipation of his own death (Dylan). 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” (Thomas 1) and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Thomas 3). The speaker is suggesting “night” and “light”, or day, as symbols for death and life, respectively (Thomas 1, 3). Thomas thus uses the symbols of night and day (also associating light with day and the absence of light with night) as an extended metaphor throughout the poem. In this metaphor one must resist the dawn of night, the beginning of the absence of light. Thomas fearfully pleads his father to resist the end of the metaphorical day in the line “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Thomas 3). This is because the “dying of the light” (Thomas 3), with light symbolizing life, entails the end of life. His attitude towards death is fearful, bitter, and somewhat defiant, expressing bitterness using words such as “rage” (Thomas 3), “grieved” (Thomas 11), and “curse” (Thomas 18). With the speaker mentioning his praying, he alludes to his fearfulness towards his father’s impending death (Thomas 18). The fearful and intense assertions and demands in [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] reveal that the speaker believes that death should be fought against to the very end. The speaker’s fearfulness comes from the totality of death, yet he urges his father to live which creates a defiant attitude. Dylan Thomas utilizes personification and metaphors to beg his father to resist death, asserting that he should “not go gentle into that good night” (Thomas 1), and thus reveals his fearful and defiant outlook on death.

The speaker in [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] discusses four different groups of men and their approach towards their impending death. The “Wise men” expect death to come eventually and know that death “is right” and inescapable (Thomas 4). They are men who are displeased that their “words” and knowledge made no difference to the world, causing them to fight for more time to live so they may try to make an impact (Thomas 5). The “Good men” fight against their imposing death because although they have done “deeds”, or good works and have had a fulfilling life, they realize their good “deeds will not be remembered after life on earth (Thomas 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” (Thomas 10). They “learn, too late” from the lessons taught by their experiences, wanting to “rage” for more life (Thomas 11, 16). The “Grave men” are the men who are on their death beds, close to death. It is clear to the men “with blinding sight” that their life is valuable and it is better to “Rage, rage against the dying light” than go gently into their death (Thomas 14, 16). 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” (Thomas 18 – 20). The speaker is almost selfishly begging his father to strive to live and fight on. Although the speaker’s symbolism suggests his attitude towards death, it is evident the speaker believes that life is an opportunity to fulfill one’s dreams and desires and death should be fought against at all costs (Thomas 11).

The defiant attitude that dominates [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] is comparable to defiance expressed in John Donne’s [“Death be not proud”]. Donne, however, does not attempt to postpone death, but rather he writes that Death should be realized to be powerless. In this way Donne defiantly opposes the power that he declares Death to wrongly assume it possesses by writing “For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not” (Donne 3, 4). John Donne, raised a Roman Catholic, composed a series of 19 poems, the Holy Sonnets, which “constitute a forceful, immediate, personal and passionate examination of Donne’s love for God, depicting his doubts, fears, and sense of spiritual unworthiness” (Holy). [“Death be not proud”], a piece of work in the Holy Sonnets, focuses “on the subject of death and divine judgement” (McCulloch). In contrast to Thomas’s [“Do not go gentle into that good night”], the speaker in [“Death be not proud”] declares that death is not a matter that should be avoided because it is 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 [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] speaker’s plea to resist death (11). While Thomas’s speaker conveys a bitter, fearful, and defiant attitude, the speaker in [“Death be not proud”] writes with an undaunted attitude towards Death, demonstrated in the first line when he proclaims “Death, be not proud” (Donne 1). In comparison to the various men who fought against death in [“Do not go gentle into that good night”], the speaker in [“Death be not proud”] personifies Death as a being. Death is described as weak, not “Mighty and dreadful,” addressing it as “poor” (2, 4). Furthermore, the speaker asserts that Death is a “slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men” (Donne 9). The personification of Death as a slave serves to emphasize the extent to which the speaker considers Death to be lowly. The speaker’s attitude towards Death asserts his belief that Death should not be feared (Donne 2, 4). Proving the weakness of Death, the speaker declares “One short sleep past, we wake eternally” which suggests Christian belief that death leads to eternal life (Donne 13). The speaker’s fearless attitude towards Death in [“Death be not proud”] is thus starkly opposite [“Do not go gentle into that good night”]’s fearful and bitter attitude.

Although [“Do not go gentle into that good night”] and [“Death be not proud”] describe the same subject matter, the two different attitudes of bitterness and fearlessness, respectively, make the distinction between the two. 

When we compare the two poems, we are able to discover the variations in symbolism, theme, and attitude and realize how amazingly dissimilar the poems are. The symbolisms and metaphors of [“Do not go gently into that good night”] construct Thomas’ perspective on the concept of death for the reader. The fear in Thomas’ viewpoint on death is evident because the culmination of his use of symbols grant death the harrowing image of nothingness, of eternal darkening. John Donne writes of his entirely different belief about death in [“Death be not proud”] by rejecting any notion of finality to death. He brazenly scorns a personified Death as being a powerless stepping stone in life, doing so without showing the fear that Thomas’ ideology was dominated by. These contrasting extremes in viewing death reveal the intensity with which humans respond to the concept of death and the dissimilarity among the responses.
