Question

Write a short paragraph comparing and contrasting the themes in "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" and "Do not go gentle into that good night." Your response should include at least one example of how each poem uses sound or structure to develop its theme.

Answer 1

Both poems focus on the topic of death, but they convey opposite messages. In "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," Thomas uses the refrain "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" to develop the theme "No matter what, it is important to struggle to stay alive." Yeats, on the other hand, uses parallelism throughout "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" to show that life and death are balanced. This helps develop the theme of the poem: "Because death is inevitable, it does not matter if one lives or dies."

Answer 2

Although both poems address the topic of death, they do so in very different ways. The poem "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" tells us of the last moments of an airman during WWI. The poem uses parallelism in order to contrast everything that the man thinks about before his death. He realizes his sacrifice will not make the people of his country any better, but he also realizes they will not be hurt by it. Moreover, he realizes he does not love or hate the other country,a nd he is not sorry for his past or future. Everything in his mind balances out.

On the other hand, "Do not go gentle into that good night" presents a less peaceful view of death. The speaker does not feel things balance out, or that death is neither good nor bad. Instead, he urges the person dying to resist. He tells him he needs to fight as much as possible to remain alive.