Which statement best describes how the structure of these excerpts helps to develop the themes? The refrains of "An Irish Airman
Foresees His Own Death" stress that life and death are balanced, while the parallel structure of "Do not go gentle into that good night" stresses that men of all ages should fight against their oncoming demise. The repetitions and refrains in both excerpts develop the theme that death cannot be avoided, no matter how hard one struggles against it. Both the parallel structure in the excerpt of "An Irish Airman Foresees His Own Death" and the repetition in the excerpt from "Do not go gentle into that good night" emphasize the inevitability of death. The parallelism in "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" emphasizes the idea that the speaker identifies himself as an Irishman, while the refrains in "Do not go gentle into that good night" emphasize the speaker’s vehement opposition to death.
In my opinion, the correct answer is D: <span>Both the parallel structure in the excerpt of "An Irish Airman Foresees His Own Death" and the repetition in the excerpt from "Do not go gentle into that good night" emphasize the inevitability of death.
The main point of both poems is that death is inevitable. However, in Yates' poem, the airman willingly faces death, because of an inner impulse that he finds hard to describe. In this excerpt, he tells us that he is more or less indifferent toward those who are below, on Earth. He is interested in death itself, as a dark phenomenon that haunts him. On the other hand, in Thomas' poem, the inevitability of death is human tragic destiny. We should cling to life as best we can precisely because death is inevitable. These two poems have the same topic, but opposite directions of thought: Yates' speaker goes to meet death, embracing it, whereas Thomas' speaker encourages his dying father to try and postpone death, if possible.</span>
