Shakespeare sees the death of his friend as a fast approaching truth he must accept. While he cares for his friend, he admits that death cannot be stopped. In Sonnet 73, death is represented by the passage of time. In the first quatrain, Shakespeare uses images of late fall or early winter, such as when he mentions “where late the sweet birds sang.” In the second quatrain, Shakespeare uses imagery to depict day turning into night. The uses of these images evoke feelings of cold and depression, which parallel the feelings one often experiences before the occurrence of a death. The first quatrain is a changing season, while the second is a changing day. This gives the feeling that time is getting shorter, but for both changes, the sun will shine bright again at a later time. The final quatrain is about a fire which is being put out by its own ashes. Fire only burns for a short amount of time, intensifying the fact that death is approaching fast. Unlike a changing season, or an ending day, once a fire is gone, it will not rise again. This last quatrain finalizes the death of his friend, making it more real than before. In Shakespeare’s heroic couplet, he notes that his friend “must leave ere long,” accepting that his friend must die, and becomes more concerned about his own well being after the friend leaves him behind.
Unlike Shakespeare, Thomas did not see the death of his father as something he had to accept, but as an obstacle his father should fight against. In “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” Thomas pleads with his father to “rage” against death and to not give up so easily. His method of persuasion consists of telling his father about the “wise,” “good,” “wild,” and “grave” men, all of whom have reasons to fight against death. This, Thomas hopes, will convince his father to be like these men and fight until his last moment. This poem is written in the Villanelle form, which strengthens Thomas’s plea to fight against death. Despite the fact the Thomas is facing an emotionally hard time because the father he idolizes is dying, he forces himself to follow the strict form. Following the strict form shows that even in the toughest of times people are able to force themselves to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. As Thomas forced himself to write a Villanelle, he hoped his father would fight to live.
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I like your analysis on both poems. I like how you broke down "Sonnet 73" into three quatrains and explained the imagine each tried to portray along with your insight. For example, day turning into night. As night falls, we perceive cold and sadness. When one nears death, similar feelings arise. Your reasoning on Thomas' poem was not as detailed as Shakespeare's, but you got a point across. What do you mean by,"This poem is written in the Villanelle form, which strengthens Thomas’s plea to fight against death"? I think you should explain a little more on how this structure strengthens Thomas' plea.. Overall, I think you did a good job.
ReplyDeleteI reall like your analysis of 'Sonnet 73'. I like how you broke down each quatrain, and picked out key words or phrases and related them to the overall meaning. I agree that Shakespeare's tone is one that comes off as accepting, he is more okay with the fact of this person dying. I also agree that the tone is sad and depressing, both of these are common feelings that one goes through after the death of a loved one.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' is also done well. I agree with Jenny's comment; that by going more in depth about how Thomas' plea is strengthened, the analysis of this poem would have been made a little stronger.