A Network of Comparisons and Contrasts in Dylan Thomas's

A Network of Comparisons and Contrasts

In Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” and Catherine Davis’s “After a Time,” there is a very clear concept of differences and similarities between the two poems. From a reader’s standpoint, they seemed to be quite a bit more alike than dissimilar. Through an investigative analysis, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” and “After a Time” were proven to be comparable in almost every aspect in poetry, such as structure, rhyme scheme, and meter.

At a first glance, both poems strike as death related pieces of writing. That is where the contrast of the two is distinguished. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” sees death as something we can fight to avoid. If one is able to “rage, rage against the dying light,” he or she will be able to shy away from this life-ending situation. This author states that no matter the person or circumstances, everyone should envision death as a negative thing and resist as long as possible. This does not necessarily give a positive twist on death, but it does give one some insight into why there is a reason to rage until the end.

In a stanza-by-stanza analysis, there was a more complex interpretation of the meaning. First in “Do Not Go…,” the first stanza states that one should be able to feel old age creeping up on our bodies, yet we must fight against it. The author also informs us that wise people know when death is near because of a lack of interest in their words, and good people cry out their deeds to make them known. Explained in 4, crazy men, who do wild things, learn too late and are forced to grieve as the time comes. Even in times of known death, one should fight for every breath. In the concluding stanza, one is able to see why the author has all of this anger built up – his father is dying. With this situation, he wants nothing more than for his own father to not go easily out of this world.

In “After a Time,” there is not much of a happy twist. This work, in simple terms, finds death and loss to be inevitable and repetitive. “All loses are the same” (Davis 1414) is heard throughout this selection. In the author’s viewpoint, we will go out of this world just as we came in – stripped. No matter how long and hard we struggle with the losses, these acts will come and lives will be claimed. All are completely equal in this life game, so it is not worth the struggle.

This poem, in order to find a ...

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This poem, in order to find a complete meaning, needed to be thoroughly examined by sections. The more death and loss that occurs signifies less that is still to come. In stanzas two and three, wit is discussed. One can use his or her wit to shame others, but that luck is unable to beat the game of death. One can rage as much as one wants, but in the end it is still all there. These facts are talked about in both stanza four and stanza five. The final stanza puts a quite depressing view on death. The author bluntly tells us to go gently because we will no longer need the things of today. Also, it expressed that all death is the same, and one will go out of the world just as he or she came in - equal.

As far as structure goes, these two poems are almost identical to one another. Iambic pentameter is both of their foot arrangements. With five feet, they each included one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. As an overall unit, the poems stand as villanelles. A regular pattern of aba cdc perfect rhyme is very evident in “Do Not Go Gentle…” as well as “After A Time.” Differing consonant sounds being followed by identical stressed vowel and other sounds rhyme the first and third lines of each stanza. As six stanza poetic selections, five stanzas were tercets (containing three lines) and one was a quatrain (containing four lines) at the end. In being villanelles, these are then also classified as fixed because of the very firm guidelines that are met.

Another parallel between the two is their classification as poems. They are both lyric and elegy for a few reasons. First off, they deal with death, which is one of the inclinations that they are elegy. Also, they are contemplative and mournful. Dealing with emotions and pouring out the author’s feelings on the subject in these selections are very easily spotted clues of a lyric piece.

Imagery is used in these poems. In “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” only one true simile was used – “eyes could blaze like meteors.” (Davis 1412) This gives us an idea of how strong their blind eyes could see as they fought away from death. There wasn’t any vivid use of similes in “After a Time.” There are a few examples of metaphors, however. Thomas uses light instead of life to signify the liveliness in us all while talking about raging against death. Also, “blind eyes…be gay” (Davis 1412) is another illustration where eyes cannot really be happy, but would theoretically be if they could see again after blindness. In “After a Time,” this author found good fortune to be a hoax. These are not completely comparable.

Repetition is a key factor in this comparison. Although the words are completely different, the arrangement is in complete correspondence. With the villanelle structure still intact, one finds every other line to end with the same phrase. The two phrases in “Do Not Go…” are “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Dylan 1412) and “Do not go gentle into that good night.” (Dylan 1412) In “After a Time,” there is “And we go stripped at last the way we came” (Davis 1414) and “After a time, all losses are the same.” (Davis 1414) The last stanzas also end with the same as the first in both poems even though that does not meet the pattern to perfection. Another interesting point is that the second stanzas last line in both poems contains the title of that particular selection.

In conclusion, these poems, “Do Not Go into That Good Night” and “After a Time,” are not completely the same, but they do prove to have a vast amount of similarities. Opposite meanings do not always signify a conflict in structure. The arrangement of the poems is nearly exact to one another, and they can be picked apart to find even more complex likenesses. A deeper understanding can be found of both of these pieces just by going into a detailed comparison and contrast.