Compare And Contrast Thanatopsis And Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Thanatophobia is the scientific term for the fear of death, and it is a very common fear among people. In the two poems “Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That good night” by Dylan Thomas, it is obvious that the authors of these poems deal with the fear of death in different ways. William Cullen Bryant shows that death is something that should be accepted while Dylan Thomas shows death as something that should be resisted. This is shown through their themes, tones, and rhyme schemes. Both of these authors discuss death in their poems; however, they both have different outlooks on death. In the poem “Thanatopsis,” the theme is that death is peaceful because “heaven” is “shining on the sad abodes of death”

The tone in “Thanatopsis” is peaceful because Bryant welcomes and accepts death. Bryant sees death as a “couch” that one “lies down to pleasant dreams” on (83-84). Lying down on a couch is comfortable and peaceful like death. This line also shows that death will be a time that you can rest from a stressful life like laying down on a couch after a hard day. Bryant describes death in this way, to show that death will be as soothing and relaxed as laying down. You can also see the tone of this poem when Bryant writes, “She has a voice of gladness, and a smile / And eloquence of beauty” (4-5). The words “gladness,” “eloquence,” and “beauty” are positive words that help allude to the peaceful tone. The tone of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” however, is very different than “Thanatopsis.” Thomas does not want to die,so he showx the tone of anger throughout his poem. He believes that death should “burn and rave at the close of day” (2). This theme is also very obvious in the line “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (3). This line is repeated at the end of each stanza, which emphasizes the tone. The word “rage” is a negative word that shows that Thomas hates death. Werry writes about this theme as well. Werry writes, “he stabs us with the reality of death in a way that no poet I know has done before” (Werry). The

Earth, that hourished thee, shall claim Thy growth, to be resolv'd to earth again;” (18-25).

You can see that none of these lines rhyme. The blank verse rhyme scheme helps to show the peacefulness of death. It gives the poem less structure, and it gives the reader a sense of freedom in death. This is very different from the rhyme scheme in “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” In this poem there is a rhyme scheme of aba. This means that in each stanza the first and third line rhyme. One example of this is in the first stanza. “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (1-3).

In these lines “night” and “light” rhyme. This rhyme scheme gives the poem a sense of order which helps to establish a feeling of anger towards death for the reader. These two different rhyme schemes help to establish how the reader feels as they are reading the