The Issue of Death and Time in Literary Works - Research Paper Example

?  Comparing Literary Works                Comparing Literary Works Introduction Poems created by Dickinson deal with the issue ofdeath and time, which are never identical in his works. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, the author personifies death. Death is not intimidating, or even frightening, reaper, but instead, a gentle and courteous guide, leading the foremost character to eternity. “Because I could not stop for Death” contains four stanzas, which illustrates the theme of the poem. The speaker does not have any fear for death when it occurs to her in the carriage; she only perceives it as an action of kindness, as she was extremely busy to find time for death (Dickinson, 2009). In contrast, the poem by Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”, shows the defenselessness when it comes to becoming elderly and moving towards death. “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” contains six stanzas that comprise of a simple rhyme pattern, which highlights the complicated theme of the poem. Generally, it is evident that “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” is about dying and death but when closely assessed, it becomes clear that it is also based how we live our lives. This paper will compare and contrast the theme of death and impermanence in “Because I could not stop for Death” and “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”. This paper will discuss how the issue of death is illustrated and perceived by speakers in both of the poems, and how the poems utilize language that evoke specified images and uses specified techniques that stir profound imagery, setting and character. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, the speaker is more comfortable and at ease with death than the speaker in “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, the speaker is conversing from beyond the grave. She describes her expedition with death, personified, from our existence to the afterlife. The speaker is extremely busy and has no time for death, which is illustrated by the initial stanza, “Because I could not stop for Death”. Therefore, death sympathetically takes the time to do what the speaker cannot do, and halts for her. The politeness that death illustrates in taking time out for the speaker makes her renounce the things that made the speaker extremely busy. She asserts, “And I had put away/My labor and my leisure too.” (Dickinson, 2009). This means that the speaker and death have the freedom of enjoying the carriage ride together. She continues, “We slowly drove – He knew no haste” (Dickinson, 2009). In contrast, the speaker of the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” is extremely distressed by the issue of death. The speaker appears to presume that it is not befitting or honorable for an interesting or illustrious man to quietly die in an elderly age and he persuades the reader to view death as something which should be struggled against instead of silently accepted. Therefore, it may be argued that “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” is about living a resilient life and declining to perish as simply as it may be read as a poem based on the process of aging or dying and death (Dylan, 2001). When the speaker in the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” asserts in the second line of the first stanza, “Old age should burn and rave at the close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of that light” (Shmoop, 2010), he is putting forward the notion that moving toward death should not be something which individuals do in a reconciled manner, but instead individuals are to depart in a blaze of splendor. When the speaker states, “rage, rage against the dying of the light”, it is evident that the dying light signifies darkness, which is a figure of speech for death, and that when people are growing old, they should “burn” with life, which highlights images of light, brightness and life. This initial stanza virtually acts as some form of a thesis statement for the remainder of the poem because it plainly outlines and defines the speaker’s attitudes toward death and aging (Shmoop, 2010). In contrast, in “Because I could not stop for Death”, it is the kindness of death, the exclusive attention to the speaker that leads her to effortlessly surrender her life and its components. Furthermore, death is illustrated as a male human being. This is clearly affirmed, as it is “For His Civility” that the speaker puts away her “leisure” and her “labor”, which is the author utilizing metonymy to stand for another alliterative word, her existence. Certainly, the subsequent stanza indicates the life as not being so tremendous, as this quiet, sluggish carriage travel is compared with what the speaker observes as they go. A scene of children playing in the school, which is supposed to be emotional, is as an alternative, only an example of the hard times of life (Vendler, 2004). Even though children are playing “At Recess”, the speaker uses the verb “strove” to emphasize the pains of being alive. Also, the employment of anaphora with “We passed” lays emphasis on the strenuous monotony of daily routine. These highlights a contrast in the manner in which these two contrasting speakers perceive death. The third stanza of “Because I could not stop for Death” goes on to portray an extra regular vision of death. Things start to be more sinister and cold, the dress of the speaker is not thick enough to protect or warm her. In addition, it rapidly becomes evident that though this element of death, the coldness, and the image of the grave as home in the following stanza, may not be ultimate, it is essential, because its leads to the closing stanza, which concludes with immortality (Lundin, 2004). On the contrary, at the start of the second stanza of “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”, the speaker claims, “Though wise men at their end know dark is right” (Lundin, 2004). The speaker is trying to inform the reader that an intelligent man, most probably an old man, is aware that death is nearing and that it should be taken as factual. Moreover, the speaker continues with the statement, “Because their words had forked no lightning they / do not go gentle into that good night” (Lundin, 2004). This highlights his opinion that they have lived for a long period but are now helpless, even though words were on one occasion their greatest helper. This urge to be heard, known, and comprehended means that the old people are likely to contest death, maybe because they feel they can do more (Dylan, 2001). The views of the speaker in “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” are reiterated in the stanzas in which the speaker talks about “good men” who cry “how bright their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” and “Grave men, near death who see with blinding sight / Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay” (Shmoop, 2010), and how men who lived such fulfilled lives continue to fume against the “dying light” because they feel they existence could have been more. Also, men who were initially unruly, for example, those depicted in the third stanza recognize when it is extremely late their lives meaning and consequently, should not fade away (Shmoop, 2010). The speaker persuades men who are like this to fume against death merely because they are extremely unique in a way or the other to go tenderly into the “night” of death, which explains the phrase, “Do Not Go Gentle” (Shmoop, 2010). Conversely, in the third stanza of “Because I could not stop for Death” the reader is informed of the world that the speaker is originating from, with fields of grain and children playing. Also, her death suddenly becomes physical after she discovers her new position in the world. “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” is a poem with a villanelle form, which contains two rhymes and two irregular refrains in verse organized into three-lined stanzas. It also has a closing quatrain in which the two refrains are combined as a couplet at the tail end (Shmoop, 2010). In contrast, “Because I could not stop for Death” has four feet in the first line, three feet in the second, four feet in the third, and three feet in the fourth line of each stanza. The meter interchanges between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. The pair of syllables has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable in iambic meter. Conclusion “Because I could not stop for Death” is evidently about death. Nonetheless, instead of being miserable about it, the speaker wants the reader to perceive death as being an expected change, instead of an end to life. She makes it serene and relaxing by personifying death (Bernhard, 2000). Conversely, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” informs readers to “rage” against death. It also gives numerous examples of men who presume their lives were not fulfilling, but it does not provide reasons why raging is better than anguish or serene acceptance of death (Dylan, 2001). Both poems employ vivid metaphors, rhythm, and imagery to play out in the mind of the reader. References Bernhard, F. (2000). Dickinson's Because I could not stop for Death. Explicator 58(2), 4-82. Dickinson, E. (2009). Because I could not stop for Death. Read, 20. Dylan, T. (2001). Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. Literary Cavalcade, 53(4), 26. Lundin, R. (2004). Emily Dickinson and the art of belief. Michigan: Grand Rapids. Shmoop. (2010). Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night: Shmoop poetry guide. California: Shmoop University Incorporation.   Vendler, H. H. (2004). Poets thinking: Pope, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Read More