Comparing Dylan Thomas's poem Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night and John Milton's poem When I consider How My Light Is Spent
Dylan Thomas's poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" and John Milton's poem "When I consider how my light is spent" were written during times of trouble in their respective poet's life. Thomas was faced with losing his father to death; Milton was dealing with becoming completely blind at the age of forty-three. As each poet struggles to deal with the crisis occurring in his life, he makes a statement about the relationship between mankind and God, the reasons that God gives and then takes away certain gifts, and the proper way to live life. Thomas and Milton ended up with contrasting answers to these fundamental questions about life.
The poets' use of personal events in their lives as a topic and their use of the personal pronouns "I" and "my" resolve possible questions of voice in both poems. Because Thomas refers directly to "my father" (line 6) and Milton opens his poem with the line "When I consider how my light is spent" (1), the reader can, with some basic knowledge of the history of each poem, reasonably assume that the poet and the speaker are interchangeable. Both Thomas and Milton chose to share their private thoughts on intensely personal matters with the world through their poems. By drawing from their own experiences, the poets give these works a tone that resonates with the reader because he/she can connect the words of the poem with his/her own life.
Thomas and Milton present contrasting views of the relationship between mankind and God or the inevitable events of life. Thomas sees humans as having some degree of control; his father may not be able to live forever, bu...
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...erent men at very different points in history, but both poets were struggling with difficult situations and trying to decide how they should react. Although their final conclusions are completely opposite , the raw emotion behind each poem resonates with the reader whether the poem is 45 or 345 years old. The human struggle to understand life, regret, and why God gives and withholds certain gifts will continue as long as humanity exists; each person who considers these questions will come to his/her own personal conclusions just as Thomas and Milton did.
Works Cited:
Milton, John. "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent." The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Compact Edition. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Longman, 2000.
Thomas, Dylan. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.” Literature and Ourselves. Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 1997.
After reading the book which mentions the maternal and neonatal situation in Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, is pitiable. (1) Child birth takes place under lantern light, in Mud bricks with profuse sweating without electricity, no running water, no emergency backup. With only the grace of God and the skill of a midwife that child birth takes place in remote villages in the country of Mali, West Africa, having the third highest total fertility
In the poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," written by Dylan Thomas, emphasizes resistance towards death as he repeats this exhortation in the last line in every stanza. Imagery is used by Thomas to create the theme of his poem and what it means. Although readers are unaware of the details behind the on coming death of Thomas father, the motives of the author for writing this poem are very obvious. Thomas intends to pursuit his father to resist against death and for him to fight for life. Through "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," Thomas conveys resistance towards death with images of fury and fighting to symbolize the great anger and rage Thomas feels towards the thought of loosing his dying father, though upon first reading then seem banal.
The British interest in India grew as the need for new world markets and trading ports expanded. Many western Europeans longed for the distant goods of the East, but did not care for the expensive prices that international trade had to offer. Rather than allow for the creation of a global exchange, many countries developed their own system and cooperations for importing rare goods. One of these was East India Company. However, in 1858, England, no longer wishing to pay for the extra expenses charged by the Company, established a colonial control over India (Kaul, BBC News).
Because of this, Ms. Banks was reported to the authorities and was arrested. In addition to arresting Ms. Banks, law enforcement searched her house and found materials often used for bomb creation, a ski mask, and two shotguns and a rifle. So the question remains—did Ms. Banks’s website post incite violence, and, is it protected by the First Amendment. The simple answers are no, her post did not incite violence and is therefore protected by the First Amendment.
Hamartia is a fatal flaw leading to a person’s downfall. The desire for wealth rose greatly during the 1920s after World War I. The standard of living increased in the twenties due to new technology that allowed a greater ability to manufacture and distribute goods (Amidon Lusted). During this time America experienced “the greatest economic expansion in its history” (Gross). Mass production was possible through the assembly line, which allowed for products to be produced faster and more efficiently (Amidon Lusted). Along with mass production, advertisements of the time attracted Americans to buy more products and in order to buy more products, more money was needed (Amidon Lusted).
Thomas' poem made more of an impact on me because it is so much more
“The death penalty is popular among politicians and the public in response to the escalating fear of violence. However, capital punishment actually makes the fight against crime more difficult. Executions waste valuable resources that could be applied to more promising efforts to protect the public. Additionally, innocent people are sometimes executed and the brutalizing effect executions have on society may result in more murders. For these reasons, the death penalty should be opposed.” (Morgenthau 14)
“The question of whether the death penalty is a more effective deterrent than long-term imprisonment has been debated for decades or longer by scholars, policy makers, and the general public” (Radelet & Lacock, 2009).
Many people find it hard to imagine their death as there are so many questions to be answered-how will it happen, when, where and what comes next. The fact that our last days on Earth is unknown makes the topic of death a popular one for most poets who looks to seek out their own emotions. By them doing that it helps the reader make sense of their own emotions as well. In the two poems “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickenson and “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, the poets are both capturing their emotion about death and the way that they accepted it. In Dickenson’s poem her feelings towards death are more passionate whereas in Dylan’s poem the feelings
2 Stein, Burton (2001), A History of India, New Delhi and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xiv, 432,
The two poems, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas and, “Because I Could Not Wait for Death”, by Emily Dickinson, we find two distinct treatments on the same theme, death. Although they both represent death, they also represent it as something other than death. Death brings about a variety of different feelings, because no two people feel the same way or believe the same thing. The fact that our faith is unknown makes the notion of death a common topic, as writers can make sense of their own feelings and emotions and in the process hope to make readers make sense of theirs too. Both Dickinson and Thomas are two well known and revered poets for their eloquent capture of these emotions. The poems both explore death and the
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Frenchmen and Dutchmen. They were drawn to India for different reasons. Some were traders, others
But take note, just take the right amount of food only to sustain the needs of your body to keep going, too much is not good for your body
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