What do Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop, and William Shakespeare all have in common? The answer is death! No not the fact that all three of these poets are dead, but the way in which they dealt with the morality of there loved ones. They all new there loved ones would die so they encased there loved one memory in literature forever. Thomas and Bishop both use a villanelle format which means there are two repeative lines in though ought the poem. Shakespeare uses the sonnet format which is a poem with fourteen lines, three quatrains and one couplet.
In Dylan Thomas Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, he is lamenting about his fathers death. He is almost commanding his father to fight the powers of death in the lines Do not go gentle into that good night and Rage rage against the dying of the light. This poem isnt just about the struggle of fighting death, it is also about different people and how they do not live life to the fullest. He talks about four categories of men and why they fought death.
The Wise men whose "words forked no lighting" this means that they didn't accomplish anything with there life, and they were smart for nothing. Good Men whose "frail deeds thats danced in the green bay mean they did good and noble deed, but they were little things and went unnoticed by the masses. Wild men who "learned too late" means they enjoyed life and partied but wasted there talents. Grave Men who "see with blinding sight" means that they lived life were unable to see the good things in life so. The Grave men line could also have another meaning because grave men could be a man close to death. Dylan Thomas then talks about his father saying "curse, bless me now" implying that death is not just a curse but its a blessing too. It is a curse because it is the end of life on earth and I interpret it that Thomas believes his father will live on in the afterlife.
In Elizabeth Bishops On Art she is talking about the loss of her lover, her homes, and a part of herself. I She is telling us about her loss by saying that in many ways, it is easier not to care when things get lost as things so often do and she tries to teach herself the art of being nonchalant and detached ,accepting losses as not a disaster. I think that the poet goes on to express how after being good at losing small things she loses more significant objects , memories and places but still she does not care because she had numbed herself to the pain which is usually felt when one loses something important to themselves or loved ones but in the end when she loses a loved one she feels the pain and misses that person but doesn't allow herself to admit it.
In Shakespeares Sonnet 18, Shakespeare starts the poem with a question to his lover "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" the question is anwered in the next eleven lines with comparisons. Line two the what differentiates his lover from the summer's day. His lover is "more lovely and more temperate." Summer's days are shaken by "rough winds" and are too hot too hot the eye of heaven shines. Summer is fleeting, fading , short and it leads to autumn when things die, as "every fair from fair sometime declines." The last six lines of the sonnet he tells us how his lovers beauty will last forever "Thy eternal summer shall not fade" and never die. By the end of the sonnet we see how he preserves is lovers beauty not perish because it is described in the poem, which will last forever live as long as people read the poem.
The difference between the three poems is how each author deals with the death and mortality of their loved one. Dylan Thomas clamors with a riotous ruckus of emotion pleading for his father to fight death as if it is a beast attacking. Elizabeth Bishop tries to act indifferently toward her situation but in the end realizes that loss is hard. William Shakespeares sonnet a memento of his lovers beauty and a way to keep him or hers memory and beauty alive.
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