Old age is often associated with calmness and even weakness, but the speaker has a very different view of it. Both sets of men commit to not facing death with acquiescence, in hopes of leaving enough of a legacy to be remembered by. For example, in the second stanza, “wise men” mourn the fact that their words haven’t had enough influence, and in the third, “good men” lament how much their deed would have stood out had they been stronger. Yet the poem suggests that despite death’s inevitability, one can overcome it in some sense by leaving behind great words and actions, which requires resisting the temptation to yield to death.
The speaker acknowledges that death is impossible to evade, but urges his father to fight it for as long as he can. The poem expresses a complex attitude towards death.
Death is the central theme of “ Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.” Throughout the poem, the speaker likens death to darkness and nighttime-the “good night” of the poem’s title-while comparing life to light.
0 kommentar(er)
