Green University of Bangladesh

Assignment on

Introduction to Poetry

Program: B.A. (Hons.) in English

Course Title: Introduction to Poetry

Course Code: ENG 202

Prepared by Prepared for

H.M. Tanvir Tuhin MS. Syeda Masnuna Rumi

ID: 212020002 Lecturer

Department of English Department of English

Green University of Bangladesh Green University of Bangladesh

Date of Submission: 29-08-2022

 Critical Appreciation of

“Because I could not stop for Death”

Subject Matter
“Because I Could not Stop for Death” is an Elegy poem by Emily Dickinson. In this poem,
the poet anticipates her own death. She describes her journey of leaving earth with “Death”.
She notices school, fields of gazing grain and the setting sun on her journey. The concept of
death is boldly treated without a bit of fear, anxiety or pain. Poet personifies death as a kind
person who is taking her on a ride to eternity. She represents death very sweetly throughout
the poem.

Theme
There are several themes in this poem- Death, Immortality and Eternity.
In the poem, the poet herself takes a ride with “Death” in his carriage heading towards her
place in the afterlife. In the first line of the poem, she tells death that she herself could not
"stop for Death,", but "Death" intends to stop for her. Notably, "Death" is portrayed as a
gentleman here, "kindly" pausing his carriage so that the speaker can climb in. This shows
that she is at ease with death, even though death is not desirable for anyone.
There is another one in the carriage, “immortality”. From the idea of the poem, it is clear that
the poet incorporates immortality as a companion in her journey to heaven.
Poet tells about eternity in the last stanza of the poem. A whole century seems shorter than a
day to her. He sees the horses riding into eternity. Basically, here he explains the eternal
journey of man after death.

Symbol
In this poem, Dickinson uses some symbolic words like school, gazing grain, and setting sun.
In the third stanza, the school symbolizes the morning or the early part of life. The gazing
grain indicates the midday of life. Finally, the setting sun indicates the evening of life and the
death of life.
Form & Structure
This poem is formed with six stanzas that are divided into sets of four lines, known as
quatrains. The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABCB. The first and third lines of each stanza
are in iambic tetrameter while the second and fourth lines are iambic trimeter.
Literary Devices
Emily Dickinson used so many literary devices in this poem. The poem is enriched with the
use of personification, alliteration, anaphora, paradox and different types of imagery. First of
all, death is personified throughout the whole poem. There is some use of alliteration such as
“He knew no haste”, “Gazing Grain”, “Setting Sun”, etc. Besides, there is a use of anaphora
in the third stanza. Each sentence started with “we passed”. Paradox used in the last stanza,
“‘tis centuries- and yet feels shorter than the day”. There are lots of conceptual images in this
poem. In addition, a kinesthetic image is here in the line “where the Children strove”, and
“setting sun” indicates a visual image. There is a perceptual image(tactile) in the line “The
Dews drew quivering and chill”.

Critical Appreciation of
“Do not go gentle into that good night”

Subject Matter
“Do not go gentle into that good night” is a villanelle poem by Dylan Thomas. It is a poem
about death. In this poem, the poet urges not to accept death easily. He asked everyone to
fight against death. He says to everyone that no one should welcome death calmly and
peacefully. The elderly should passionately fight against death as their lives come to an end.
The principal idea of this poem is that human beings should resist death with all of their
strength before the end.

Theme
The main themes of this poem are Death and Old Age.
In the poem, the speaker accepts that death is unavoidable- everyone dies, sooner or later.
However, this does not suggest that people should simply give up and die. Instead, the
speaker contends that humans should fight against death with zest and bravery. Indeed, the
speaker believes that death clarifies the truth that life is precious and worth fighting for.
The speaker says in the fourth line, “wise men at their end know dark is right.” In other
words, they recognize that they can’t escape from death. But that doesn’t mean that these
“wise men” simply accept death. Instead, the speaker inspires, “do not go gentle into that
good night.” He requests them to resist death, trying to win more time and more life. The
speaker wants people to “rage, rage” against death: they should “burn and rave” and fight
fiercely and bravely as their lives approach the end.
In the final stanza of the poem, the speaker suddenly switches things up. Although he
addresses different types of people throughout the poem such as “wise men”, “good men”,
and “Grave men”, he suddenly addresses someone specific who is his father. This changes the
feeling of a reader. A reader will be sympathetic at that point. The poem offers advice about
how to face death with dignity, but it is also an intimate and heartfelt message from a son to
his dying father. Moreover, we can feel that it is a poem about family, grief and old age.

Symbol
In “Do not go gentle into that good night”, Dylan Thomas uses light, meteors, and lightning
as symbols.
Light: Light is the most important symbol used in this poem. In the poem, “light” is a symbol
of life itself. In line 3, the speaker urges the reader to “rage, rage against the dying of the
light.” In other words, the speaker wants the reader to fight against death, to try to preserve
life.
Meteors: In the fifth stanza, the poet describes “Grave men, near death” and how blind eyes
“could blaze like meteors and be gay.” They can still experience joy like a bright flash across
the sky. The meteor symbolizes hope and the potential for a lasting effect on the world.
Lightning: In this poem, lightning symbolizes inspiration, a flash of insight that could
change the world, at least one's own life. In lines 4-5, the speaker notes that “wise men”
realize that their “words had forked no lightning” and so they fight against death.

Form & Structure

“Do not go gentle into that good night” is an example of a villanelle, a form of poetry. It is a
poem written in six stanzas, where the first five are with three lines, and the final one is a
quatrain. Furthermore, it has two repeating refrains. The first refrain is always the first line of
the first verse and is repeated at the end of the second and fourth verses. The second refrain is
the last line of the first verse and is repeated at the end of the third and fifth verses. Finally,
the two refrain lines are paired up, forming a rhyming couplet at the end of the poem.
Villanelles follow a specific rhyme scheme. Indeed, there are only two rhymes in the whole
poem: words ending in either "ight" or "ay." The first five stanzas of the poem are all rhymed
ABA. For example, in the first stanza, the final words are "night"/"day"/"light" The final
stanza of the poem is rhymed ABAA. Villanelles are mostly written in iambic pentameter
and this poem is not differently structured.

Literary Devices
There are many literary devices used in this poem. There is the use of metaphor, alliteration,
synecdoche and also some imageries. A metaphor is used in the last line of the first stanza-
“dying of the light”. Also, death is compared to “good night” in the first line, which is a
metaphor. Synecdoche is used in the second line of the second stanza. There are two refrains
in this poem. Besides, alliteration is seen through the repetition of the same consonant sound
at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “learn” and “late” in line two of the fourth
stanza and “Blind” and “blaze” in line two of the fifth stanza. There is a use of simile in the
fifth stanza where “blind eyes” are compared with “meteors”. Oxymoron is used in several
places. For example, “blinding sight”, and “fierce tears”. Most of the imagery used in this
poem is conceptual. For example, in the first line death is stated as “good night”. Further, all
three lines of the second stanza are contains conceptual images. Moreover, there is a visual
image in the second line of the fifth stanza.

Compare and contrast between two poems

The main concept of both two poems is the same, that is death, but they portrayed that in
different ways. In the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” Emily Dickinson presents
the idea of acceptance of death, whereas in the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night”
Dylan Thomas presents the idea of refusal and opposition to death. Despite the differences in
theme, these two poets both use similar figurative language devices, such as metaphors,
personification and alliteration as they explore their contrasting ideas pertaining to the
concept of death.
Emily Dickinson is composed of six quatrains or four-line stanzas. All the odd number lines
are written in iambic tetrameter. Meanwhile, all the even number lines are written in iambic
trimeter. On the other hand, the poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan
Thomas is a form of villanelle with two important refrains; “Do not go gentle into that good
night” and “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” This poem is also composed of six
stanzas. However, the leading five stanzas are tercets (three-line stanzas) with an ending
stanza as a quatrain. Also, this poem is written in a consistent iambic pentameter form.
Dickinson structures her poem to present her theme of accepting death calmly and willingly
whereas, Thomas structures his poem using a simple and tight formal structure to convey a
sense of command to his father in overcoming death. The theme undoubtedly revolves around
death but approaches the refusal of death, encouraging readers to “rage” against the absurdity
of death. Conversely, the theme of the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” pertains to
accepting death peacefully. It is surprising that she shows no signs of fear or grief. On the
other hand, Thomas demonstrates a different point of view on death.
Thomas provides examples of wise, good, wild, and grave men to extend his idea of rejection
to death. For example, “wise men” should not accept death so easily until their words and
actions have “forked lightning”.

In conclusion, although both of the poems consist of death, the attitudes and beliefs are
evidently different. From these two poems, we can say that no matter what one's point of
view on death is. Death is still inevitable and everybody has to face it, but one has to choose
to either accept it peacefully as Dickinson suggests, or fight against it as Thomas.