Dylan Thomas and Emily Dickinson’s Interpretation of Death

The theme of death and impermanence has permeated literature for millennia. Poets Emily Dickinson and Dylan Thomas, like countless poets before and after them, attempt to explain death through their work. Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and Thomas’ poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” present the reader with contrasting perceptions of the same subject matter. Both poems evince that fact that, although death is inevitable, it is basic human nature to resist death until it comes. However, the speaker in Dickinson’s poem is relating the details of her own death after it has occurred, and the speaker in Thomas’ poem describes the dying moments of his father. These different perspectives give each poem a drastically different tone. Since the speaker in Dickinson’s poem is already dead, she has a serene acceptance of death, unlike the speaker in Thomas’ poem who cannot come to terms with his father’s impending fate and assumes a stance of desperate resistance.

Both Emily Dickinson and Dylan Thomas acknowledge that death is inescapable. Thomas’ poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” presents the idea of death as the coming of night. The inevitability of death is mimicked by the inevitability of night. Just as night follows day, death follows life. Furthermore, Thomas writes, “wise men at their end know dark is right” (Clugston, 2010, para 2). This description of death as being “right” reinforces the idea that death is both a natural and inescapable occurrence. The speaker in Thomas’ poem also describes his dying father as being “there on the sad height” (Clugston, 2010, para 6). This “sad height” has been interpreted literally as a bier that the speaker’s father’s body has been placed on to be carried to his funeral. However, literary critic Jonathan Westphal (1994) suggests that:

The sad height is not a place at all, bier or mountain, but a time, a metaphorical plateau of aloneness and loneliness before death. It is not the end of life, the moment of death, or a time beyond it, but the ending of life a phenomenologically distinct period before death when it is seen, at last, to be inevitable. (p. 114)

Whether the “sad height” is interpreted literally, or as a metaphor for the conscious state of loneliness that a person experiences once they have accepted the inevitability of death, it serves as a memento mori. The analogy between night and death, the idea that death is “right”, and the description of the “sad height”, all evince the idea that the attributes of death are immutable facts that every person must endure. The idea of the inescapable nature of death is also present in Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”.

Dickinson’s poem reminds the reader that death is inevitable by presenting death as an integral part of every person’s life cycle. The speaker rides in a carriage with Death and relates what she sees during the ride:

We passed the school, where children strove

At recess, in the ring;

We passed the fields of gazing grain,

We passed the setting sun. (Clugston, 2010, para. 3)

These three images may symbolize different stages of life. The children at play represent childhood, the fields of grain represent middle age, and the setting sun represents a person’s elderly years. Once the carriage has passed the “setting sun”, the speaker is alone with death. By placing death as the final stage of a person’s corporeal experience, Dickinson has reinforced the permanent nature of death. Though Thomas’ poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” and Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” both evince the inevitability of death, the reader is presented with this fact in different ways.

Thomas’ analogy between night and death presents the inevitability of death in a strictly binary manner. Just as there is a stark contrast between day and night, there is also a stark contrast between life and death. The approach to Dickinson’s interpretation of a person’s transition from life to death includes many more stages. Unlike Thomas’ poem, Dickinson shows that life is broken up into different stages of growth and even offers a suggestion that a person’s experience does not suddenly halt after they are dead. Thomas’ binary interpretation of death does not allow for any explanation of the afterlife. There is only life and death, and the latter should be fought tenaciously. Dickinson’s interpretation includes the idea that, after death, a person’s soul experiences immortality. This idea is related to the reader in the opening stanza of her poem:

Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality. (Clugston, 2010, para 1)

Dickinson’s assurance that death is not the end to a person’s experience contrasts Thomas’ binary interpretation of life and death where there is no mention of an afterlife. This contrasting representation is due largely to the fact that the perspective of the speaker in the two poems is different.

Dickinson’s “Because I could Not Stop for Death” depicts the speaker’s death experience as a carriage ride to the grave. The opening lines reveal to the reader that the speaker has already died and is experiencing the afterlife. Literary critic Ren Xiao-chuan (2009) notes that “dying has largely preceded the action, and its physical aspects are only hinted at” (p. 98). The only reference to the speaker’s mortal body occurs briefly before the carriage reaches the speaker’s grave. The speaker suddenly feels cold and notes:

The dews grew quivering and chill,

For only gossamer my gown,

My tippet only tulle. (Clugston, 2010, para. 4)

These lines are a reference to the physical coldness of death. The speaker’s dress and scarf are made of delicate, soft fabric which is indicative of a woman’s burial garb. Though this is a vague reference to the speaker’s physical body, the speaker never strays from using the present tense making it clear that her physical body is gone and she is speaking from beyond the veil of death. It is important to note that the speaker in Dickinson’s poem is relating the details of her own death. This personal perspective of an experience after death has occurred is quite different from the perspective of death presented by the speaker in Thomas’ poem.

The speaker in “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” is not experiencing his own death. Rather, he is experiencing the dying moments of his father. Furthermore, unlike Dickinson’s poem, the action in Thomas’ poem occurs entirely before the actual moment of death. This differing perspective gives these two poems strikingly different tones. The speaker in Thomas’ poem does not want his father to succumb to his inevitable death. He urges his father to resist death with every fiber of his being:

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Clugston, 2010, para. 1)

The speaker frequently returns to the phrases that bookend this opening stanza. The speaker’s constant solicitations to fight death give the poem a desperate and pugnacious tone. Literary critic Marc Cyr (1998) describes this desperate tone by noting:

The speaker of "Do not go gentle" is caught between his desire that his father continue to live, and live vividly, and his recognition that death is "that good night," perhaps inherently "good" because it is the order of life/nature, perhaps more immediately "good" as the agent for stopping pain, whether physical, mental, or spiritual.” (p. 215)

The speaker seems unwilling to accept the fact that his father is on the verge of death, even though death will relieve his father’s suffering. This tone is quite different from the speaker’s tone in Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”.

Dickinson’s poem has a serene quality. The ghostly images and the interpretation of death as a carriage driver give the poem a dream-like quality. Literary critic Mary Shaw (1991) notes that “by anthropomorphising Death as a kind and civil gentleman, the speaker particularizes Death's characteristics with favorable connotations” (p. 20). Unlike the speaker in Thomas’ poem, the speaker in “Because I could Not Stop for Death” seems to have accepted death and, moreover, is comforted by it. This difference, as aforementioned, can be attributed to the differing perspectives of each poem. The speaker in Dickinson’s poem accepts death and is more peaceful because she has already died. The speaker in Thomas’ poem cannot accept death because he is not the one experiencing death and his father is still alive.

Though the serene acceptance of death in Dickinson‘s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is the polar opposite of the fierce resistance to death present in “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”, there is a validation of Thomas’ resistance present in Dickinson’s poem. This validation lies in the opening lines of Dickinson’s poem, “Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me” (Clugston, 2010, para. 1). English professor Patricia Engle (2002) describes the importance of this line:

We are not given "Because I would not stop" here, so stopping, for this speaker, is not discretionary. It is simply not her nature to stop for Death. She realizes that she cannot recognize Death's power over her. Once she reckons with that eternal or divine bent within her, Death stops; that is, Death ceases to be what Death is--an end. (p. 74)

The speaker in Dickinson’s poem cannot stop for death while she is still alive. This shows that it is human nature to eschew death until the moment it is upon you. Perhaps if Dickinson’s poem took place before the speaker’s death, she would exhibit the same fierce resistance to it that is characteristic of the speaker in Thomas’ poem. In this sense, though the tone of each poem is strikingly different, both poets acknowledge the idea that a person innately rejects death until it is upon them. Once death has occurred, the only option is quiet acceptance.

In conclusion, though the tones of Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” are very different, this is merely a matter of perspective. The speaker in Dickinson’s poem has already died while the speaker in Thomas’ poem is dealing with the impending death of his father. This differing perspective causes Dickinson’s speaker to be accepting of death while Thomas’ speaker refuses to acknowledge that his father is about to die. These poems represent different sides of the same coin, however, both poems reinforce the idea that death is inevitable and that a person who is alive will resist death until their last breath.

References

Clugston, W. R. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc.

Cyr, M. D. (1998). Dylan Thomas's `Do not go gentle into that good night': Through `Lapis Lazuli' to King Lear. Papers On Language & Literature, 34(2), 207-217. Retrieved from the EbscoHost database.

Engle, P. (2002). Dickinson's because I could not stop for death. Explicator, 60(2), 72-75. Retrieved from the EbscoHost database.

Ren, X. (2009). Death and immortality: The everlasting themes. Canadian Social Science, 5(5), 96-99. Retrieved from the EbscoHost database.

Shaw, M. N. (1991). Dickinson's because I could not stop for death. Explicator, 50(1), 20-21. Retrieved from the EbscoHost database.

Westphal, J. (1994). Thomas's do not go gentle into that good night. Explicator, 52(2), 113-115. Retrieved from the EbscoHost database.