Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"
Dylan Thomas

In this poem, the speaker urges his father to stay alive. The phrase "Do not go gentle into that good night"(Thomas) reminds me of the phrase 'don't go towards the light'. The speaker is urging his father to fight to stay alive by telling him to rage against the light and to not go gentle into that good night. The speaker tells his father of other men who have stayed alive for various reasons. Wise men refused death because they had yet made a discovery. Good men though that their good deeds could have come undone. Wild men thought death came too soon, and Grave men realize that their lives could have been more. The speaker hopes that his father will fight death so that they could spend more time together. Often, people believe that before death they will see a light which will lead them to death. The speaker must have believed this because he urged his father to rage against the light. The speaker seemed to truly love his father because of the passion with which he urged his father to fight death.

The phrase "Don't go towards the light" reminds me of a scene from A Bug's Life where two mosquitoes were flying around a bug zapper! Enjoy

Death Be Not Proud

"Death Be Not Proud"
John Donne

This poem relies on the use of anthropomorphism. Death normally is an inanimate and abstract object. In this poem, Death is given different characteristics. Donne uses adjectives like proud, mighty, and  dreadful to describe death. In addition, Donne states that "Thou (death) art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men"(Donne). This image vividly describes death in a manner such as one would describe a human. Normally people view death as an intimidating, wild, and very powerful force. By describing death as a type of human slave, the author makes death less frightening by describing it as an inferior person. This seems like Death does not decide when one's life is over, but fate, chance, kings and desperate men do. Donne further lessens the fear of death by showing that death could die too. This would occur when people reach eternal life. "One short sleep passed, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die" (Donne).

Crossing the Bar

"Crossing the Bar"
Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This poem seems to explore death through a metaphor comparing death to sailing. In this poem, the act of crossing the bar is the act of dying. The speaker wants people not to mourn his death. This desire is suggested in two places. "And may there be no moaning of the bar When I put out to sea," and "And may there be no sadness of farewell When I embark" ( Tennyson). The moaning of the bar could represent mourning over the speaker who died by going out to sea.
Another aspect of death represented in this poem is the afterlife. Although not described, the speaker mentions the idea of an afterlife by expressing his desire to meet his Pilot face to face. The Pilot symbolizes God or the Creator. For this divine reason, the word Pilot is capitalized. By expressing his desire to see his Pilot, the speaker alters the mood of the poem from the sadness of death to hope for an afterlife.

A Rose for Emily

A Rose for Emily
William Faulkner

This short story explores the connection between life and death and their effects on the living. Emily was burdened by death. Her fathers death caused a great amount of grief for Emily. Emily even refused to give up his body for a few days saying that he was not dead. "She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body" (Faulkner).  Later, Emily faced the death of Homer. This suspicious death suggests that Emily killed Homer, but if so, why would she do this? Perhaps Emily felt like her father was taken away from her, so in order to stay forever close to Homer, she killed him and secretly kept his body in her house. Emily again denied his death by keeping his body in her house. An even more disturbing denial of death was that Emily layed next to Homer's body. "Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair" (Faulkner). Emily wanted to keep Homer close, but she killed him to do so. Emily refused to accept death. In a way, this is slightly ironic because ultimately death accepted her even when she would not accept the death of others.

The Lottery

The Lottery
Shirley Jackson

This short story contained multiple pieces of foreshadowing. One example of this is the little boys collecting stones. This example could be easily overlooked because the reader could simply see the collection of stones as child's play, but as the end of the story approaches, the reader realizes the significance of gathering the stones. The little boys protected the pile of stones until after the lottery when the townspeople then took the stones to use against Mrs. Hutchinson. Another use of foreshadowing  was in Mrs. Hutchinson's late arrival at the lottery.  One quote that suggests her demise is "Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie''(Jackson). This may seem insignificant, but this suggests that her family will have to live without her in the future. After being stoned, presumably to death, Mrs. Hutchinson's family will have to carry on with their lives without her.