Do Not Go Gentle Into The Good Night

The imminent presence of death is received differently among people as they come to terms with fate. In the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into the Goodnight,” Dylan Thomas expresses the idea that even though the fight against death is a war that cannot be won, you should not stop fighting any less. Whereas in “Holy Sonnet 10,” John Donne is accepting of his fate, and rather than fighting death, he faces it. Both poems revolve around the concept that people try to take a stand against mortality in their own way.
“Holy Sonnet 10” is resistant to the fear of death in attempt to degrade its pride. Donne addresses the subject of fate very aggressively as show superiority over the looming force. There is hostility in his tone as he confronts this force, …show more content…
Donne creates comfort within this fear to set it as lesser to him. The craving for immortality drives Thomas metaphor of night as death.He paints the awe-inspiring image as “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight/ Do not go gentle into that good night” (Thomas 1390). The comparison of life to day he paints an image of truth and beauty, and convinces the audience to want to stay in this warm day, rather than accept death as the cold fear of night. The vivid image of the “wild men” show the natural and exciting beauty of life , and in doing this, Thomas convinces his audience to have a want to stay on this heaven-like earth. Similarly the speaker in “Holy Sonnet 10” further takes away the power death holds by comparing it to something gentle. Donne uses the metaphor of sleep and death, illustrating the lack of strength death holds over us. He renders it harmless by making the illustration that, “From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be” (Donne 486). By using such a peaceful concept to describe something so harsh it makes the other seem less scary and inferior. Sleep is so peaceful and welcoming, whereas dying is rather terrifying and hostile. He makes this comparison to show the reader that death is not an intimidating concept. He strips death of the fear it holds over humanity and makes it inferior. As the two authors degrade death they are in turn eliminating its …show more content…
By using a biblical allusion the concept of eternal life is brought into light, making bodily death irrelevant. “Death is stripped of its title as it is not an end, but a portal to an eternal awakening”(Dash). By revealing death's own mortality Donne in turn renders it powerless. One day it to will die and according the the bible we will resurrect into eternal life. Most people fear what is unknown to them, and by taking the element of the unknown out of death, the biggest fear that streams from it is eliminated. There is no need to fight against something of such little importance, therefore it is okay to submit to it, because by giving into its wishes without fear the person becomes superior to it. Thomas counters this concept of complete acceptance by rather urging against it. The speaker fears death until the very end and craves immortality among all else. This push for resistance occurs as he exclaims “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray”(Thomas 1390). He is speaking more personally now and we are able to see that death also has an emotional effect on the living. Thomas begs his father to grace him with his earthly presence and use the last of his strength to stay with him. The frequent punctuation also slows down the statement and sets the tone on a deeper level than what it had been before. There is a fight until your dying breath and living out what spirit is left is of great