O captain my captain and do not go gentle into that good night
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In Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” and in Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”, the reader is presented with two venerable characters of different backgrounds; both which have deep admiration for the poem’s character. With the authors use of diction, figurative language and tone, the reader is able to see just how much some people have an effect on others and what their death brings upon the author and the reader’s mind.
In Whitman’s poem, the reader is able to see the heavy use of metaphors throughout the poem. Whitman’s entire poem is a metaphor. “Captain” is the metaphor for Abraham Lincoln, but on a first reading or without the footnote that is provided, this poem would be very ambiguous. The author’s tone throughout is very prideful and full of admiration towards the President. He writes “for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills;/for you bouqets and ribbon’d wreaths” (10-11). In these lines the author repeats “for you” several times. The words “for you” need to be emphasized because he is accusing or endowing the President directly with an honor no other man deserves. Whitman seems to be saying FOR YOU these people are here, they have seen the success of your life, and they are here to fare you off into the next world. Why though do we have so many people? He explains in his last stanza that the “ship is anchor’d safe and sound, it voyage closed and done;/ from fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won”(19-20). Again, this is another metaphor for the Civil War and slavery that was going on during Lincoln’s time. The “fearful trip” for America was the Civil War and when it’s all over, it is able to maintain the nation together and abolish slavery. Another important metaphor that he uses is the “O the bleeding drops of red,/where on the deck my Captain lies,” (6-7). This is referring to Lincoln’s assassination during the play he was attending. He does not say from what he was bleeding, but as the reader may know, they may begin to put into context Lincoln’s life with what the author is writing and they will see how more and more the poem is true. Throughout this poem we get a feeling of very deep respect towards the President and even greater after his death because Whitman might have expected even greater things from Lincoln. In the next poem, we do not see as great an admiration towards or in death but rather there is a longing and admiration of life.
In Thomas’ poem the reader is presented with a more personal situation because the author is writing of his father and his quickly approaching death. From the first stanza the reader is hit with three examples of metaphors, “good night”,“close of day” and “dying of the light”, all metaphors for death. So from the beginning we know that the author is condemning death in his poem. With his choice of the following words “do not” and “rage, rage against” the author shows his disdainful and bitter tone about death. He’s ordering different types of men in this world to not let go of life so easily for it is such a precious thing that needs to be enjoyed no matter what age or situation your in. In his last stanza:
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light (16-20)
The reader can almost feel the author’s sadness and the anguish he is feeling for his father’s approaching death. He’s pleading for his father to fight at all costs because he knows his father has been one of energy and life during his early years and he wants to see the same person as he once saw in his youth. This stanza is full of deep meaning that can be applied to anyone who’s final days are approaching, with “sad height” the author may be referring to the death bed in which one lies and everyone looks down upon to care for you or the life and experiences one had throughout time and its futility in “forking [any] lightening”. In the second line of this stanza he’s hoping for his dad to curse him or bless him anything at all that shows that there is still life in his body. Thomas admires life and all it has to offer so much his only thing is for other to do the same and not give death the joy of taking a defeated soul. Death can separate and bring people together and for Thomas and Whitman its one thing that both poems have in common.
In Whitman and Thomas’s poem they are dealing with admiration towards a certain character and their effect was. Both authors have an extremely heavy use of metaphors in their poems. Whitman’s metaphors explain and time line the life of one of our most famous Presidents, while Thomas’ metaphor refers us to different times of people’s live and how one should learn to live and “rave” life. In Thomas’s poem he writes “good men, the last wave by, crying how bright / their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay.” (7-8), this line could fit for either author’s character because their death brings about an end to the person’s capabilities and the contributions that their life could have brought to the world. These poems differ in that one is respecting a man life in death while the other hates with a passion just how bad death is. Although these poems are slightly different they both use metaphors that are applicable to anyone’s life. Its true that in death we honor the good works of men and their long struggle with adversity or whatever obstacle they may have faced, but it is also true that we as humans hate to see loved ones or admired ones depart from this earth. We want to hold on to them or immortalize them for ever in our lives but this is not possible. To sum up everything in my opinion would be Thomas’ line “wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,/…learn to late they grieved it on its way” (10-11). Humans want to do the impossible or the most basic but sooner or later we know no matter how crazy or important our lives may have been and the impact it had, we all must exit the world and have enjoyed it until the last minute.
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