Exploring Death's Perception in Classic Literature

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Eternal is defined as lasting or existing forever; without end or beginning. There comes a time in life where everyone must face the reality of death. Death is a stage of life that is often feared by many. Some view death as the beginning of a new chapter in their life beyond the physical world rather than it being an ending. On a daily basis death is both experienced and avoided. The understanding and acceptance of death comes with time. The theme of death can be seen in Dickenson 's "Because I Could Not", Donne 's "Death, Be Not Proud and Thomas 's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" through acceptance, optimism and age respectively.

Death is shown through acceptance in Dickenson 's "Because I Could Not". The speaker knows that death is a apart of life that cannot be evaded. Dickenson states "Because I could not stop for death / He kindly stopped for me" (1-2). The speaker is referring to how he or she had hopes of having an immortal life in the physical world. The use of the word kindly shows that the speaker views death as something that shouldn’t be feared. There is an optimistic approach that is being taken by the speaker as it relates …show more content…

The speaker personifies death as being "mighty and dreadful" due to the preconception that often comes along with death. In the poem, Donne says, "From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be / Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow" (5-6). He doesn’t think of death as being mighty or dreadful, but thinks of it as being peaceful like another version of sleep and rest that one can have eternally. When the person awakes after they have exited the physical world, they will awake on the other side in the eternal world. By the speaker being optimistic about a stage of life that some may fear shows that the speaker feels there is no reason to fight death. Instead, it should be seen as a beginning to eternal life and

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