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Agunoy,MarianneCarmelB.
Lit126.2
Dr.Ruiz
January15,2013
FromSunrisetoSunset
AComparativestudyofTheodoreRoethkesTheWalkingand
DylanThomasDoNotGoGentleIntothatGoodNight

Onethingthatthesetwogreatpoetsshareisthetimeanderaoftheirexistence.
TheodoreRoethkelivedfrom19081963whileDylanThomaslivedfrom19141953.
Dyingattheageof55and39respectively,itcanbesaidthattheylivedrathershortlives.
However, even though their lives were brief, both poets were still able to establish
themselvesasnotablewritersintheirowncountriesandtheyevenachievedfameand
criticalacclamation.Giventheirpassionforpoetry,accesstoeducationanduniqueway
withwords,theirworksdidnottakelongtogetpublishedandtheywereundoubtedly
consideredasgreatpoets.
Roethke and Thomas grew up in rather progressive and advanced countries.
RoethkewasaGermanbuthegrewupintheUnitedStates.Thomasontheotherhand
was born and raised in a small town in United Kingdom. Their writing styles were
inevitably influenced by their very different social environments and local writing
industry.

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BothTheodoreRoethkeandDylanThomaslivedinanerawhereinpeoplegave
littleimportancetolifeandgreeteddeathlikeafriend.Thethemesoftheirpoemshave
similaritiesprobablybecausetheybothlivedthroughtheWorldWarII.Thus,theywere
both witnesses of the wars massive destruction of life and nature. They also saw
peoples struggle for life and this inspired themto have a deeper andmore genuine
understandingofthemeaningoflife.Themelancholicandcontemplativetonesintheir
poemscanalsobetracedtothewarandtheirpersonalexperiencesaswell.

TheWalkingandDoNotGoGentleintoThatGoodNightwerewrittenina
villanelleform1.Atfirstreading,theyappeartobeverysimpleandspontaneousbecause
thepoets,especiallyDylanThomasstyleisalmostlikeprose.Thepoemsalsogive
emphasistocertainlinesthatareconsideredasrefrainsandareconstantlyrepeated.
Asstatedearlier,thepoemshaveanumberofsimilaritiesandoneofthemisits
melancholicandcontemplativetone.WeseeinTheWalkinghowthenarratortalks
abouthisjourneyinlife.Ontheotherhand,DoNotGoGentleIntothatGoodNight
presentsachildgivinghisfatherreasonstofightforhislife.Thepoemsdonotgive
explicitinsightsandconclusionsbutrather,theyinvitethereadertojourneyandreflect
abouttheirownlives,inthelightofthepoem.
Thepoemsarealsofullofparadoxesandmetaphors.ItisinTheWalkingthatI
particularlysawanumberofextremeironies.WeseehowRoethkeusedwakeandsleep
1 Nineteenlinepoemwithtworepeatingrhymesandtworefrains.Theformismadeupoffivetercetsfollowedby
aquatrain.Fromhttp://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5796#sthash.wmONdYwC.dpuf

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(1),twototallyopposingwordstostarthispoem.Inthesamepoemhealsousedfateand
fear(2),thinkandfeel(4),anticipationandfear(16)toexpresstheironyoflife.Ithinkit
isjustpropertouseparadoxesinthepoemsinceitsmainthemeisthegreatestparadox
forushumanslifeanddeath.InDoNotGoGentleIntothatGoodNight,weare
presentedwith more metaphors than ironies. Here life is presented as a light, which
eventuallythroughtime,burnsout.Giventheseinterpretations,itcanbesaidthatthe
poemscentralthemeisonlifeanddeaththoughtheyhaveverycontrastingviewsonthe
later.
Thetwocompositionshaverepeatedlinesthatareconsideredtobetheheartofthe
poems.InRoethkesTheWalking,therepeatedlinesareIwaketosleep,andtakemy
wakingslow(1,6,12,18)andIlearnbygoingwhereIhavetogo(3,9,15,19).Onthe
otherhand,inThomasDoNotGoGentleIntothatGoodNighttherepeatedlinesare
Donotgogentleintothatgoodnight(1,6,12,18)andRage,rageagainstthedyingof
thelight (3,9,15,19).Fromtheselinesalone,wecanseethedifferencebetweentheir
viewsonlifeanddeath.
InTheWalking,thenarratorseesdeathassomethingthatisanessentialpartof
nature.AsshownbythelineIfeelinfateinwhatIcannotfear(2),ithasbeenaccepted
thatdeathisinevitableandshallnotbefeared.Deathisportrayedassomethingthatis
partofourfateashumansandthus,somethingthatwemustallacceptfullyforitisin
deaththatweachievethefullnessoflife.ByrepeatedlysayingIlearnbygoingwhereI

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havetogo,thenarratorexpresseshisfullacceptanceofdeathassomethingthathewill
facesoonerthanlater.

InTheWalkingwealsoseealotofreferencestonature.
GodblesstheGround!Ishallwalksoftlythere(8)
.....................................
GreatNaturehasanotherthingtodo
Toyouandme;sotakethelivelyair(1314)
.....................................
Whatfallsawayisalways.Andisnear.(17)
Itisinterestingtonotehowthewordsgroundandnaturewerecapitalizedinthe
poem.Roethkeclearlyseesnatureassomethinggoodandassomethingthatmanshould
longtobeandwilleventuallybeapartof.Forhimlifedoesnotendindeath,ratherit
continues,ashebecomesapartoftheGroundandNature.Deathisnotjustsomething
thatheplainlyacceptsasapartofhumanfatebuthegoesbeyondandseesdeathas
somethingnecessaryforthefullnessoflife.Deathisnotsomethingfeared.Rather,itis
greetedlikeanoldfriend.Thushiswholepoemisfullofparadoxesbecauseitsmessage
isaboutanevengreaterparadoxoffindinglifeindeath.
DoNotGoGentleIntothatGoodNighthasaverydifferentunderstandingof
death.Firstofall,itisimportanttoestablishthatthetwopoemshaveverydifferentpoint
ofviews.TheWalkingisanexpressionofthepersonasviewtowardshisownjourney

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throughlifeanddeathwhileDoNotGoGentleIntothatGoodNightisasonspleafor
hisfathertoresistdeath.Thusthepoemismadedifferentbyaveryspecialrelationship.
Justlikethefirstpoem,Thomassawdeathalsoassomethingnaturalandapartoflife.
However,thedifferenceisthatforhimitisnotsomethingthatpeopleshouldjustaccept.
Asherepeatedlysaid, Donotgogentle.Yes,deathissomethinginevitablebutwe
shouldlivetothefullestaslongaswecanandtrytobeboldaslongaswelive.Whathe
wantsisforhisfathertogainstrength,gatherhiswillandexperiencemoreofwhatlife
hastooffer.Throughoutthepoem,hetriedtoconvincehisfatherbygivingreasonswhy
heshouldresistdeath.Thewiseaimtoleaveamark(46),thegoodaimtodomoregood
(79),thewildaimtoseemore(1012).Healsousedaverystrongword,rage.This
suggestshowpassionateheisaboutlifeandhowheiswillingtofightforit.
Thetwopoemsshareacommoncentralthemeoflifeanddeathandeventhough
theyseemtohaveaverydifferentviewondeath,theydohaveacommonoutlookonlife.
ForRoethkedeathissomethingnatural,somethingtobeacceptedandanticipated.For
Thomasontheotherhand,itissomethingtoberesistedwithrage.Theircommonground
isthattheybothunderstandthatdeathisinevitablethus,theysharethesamevisionon
howoneshouldlivehislife.Fromthelinesofthepoemswecanseehowtheygive
utmostimportancetolifeandhowtheybelieveitshouldbelivedtothefullest.Their
understandingofdeathassomethinginescapablegavewaytotheideathattemporallife
onEarthshouldnotbewastedandeachmomentshouldbetreatedasanexperienceanda
chancetolearn.InTheWalking,themostimportantparadoxformeisThisshaking

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keepsmesteady(16).Hisknowingofdeathasapartofhumannaturekeepshimtothe
groundandgiveshimthepeacethatallowshimtolivefullyandwithoutworries.Do
NotGoGentleintothatGoodNightontheotherhandismoreexplicitinsendingthis
message.Giventheexamplesofthegood,thewiseandthewild,humanscanneverhave
enoughofwhatlifehastoofferandthereforeweshoulddoasmuchaswecouldwhile
westillhavethechance.
Another common theme that the two poems have is that they both transform
sorrowfulsituationsintohappyonesorattheveryleast,theyarenumbedfromthefear
andpain.InTheWalking,theoftenfeareddeathhasbeenconceivedtobeanatural
learning process instead. In Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night, though the
narratorwasscaredanddownheartedbyhisfatherscondition,hestillmanagedtoputup
afightandgivewordsofencouragement.

Though they lived in different countries and were exposed to different

environments, Theodore Roethke and Dylan Thomas were able to deliver the same
messagethroughtheirrespectiveworksTheWalkingandDoNotGoGentleintothat
Good Night. Through two very different perspectives they talk about the reality of
humanmortalitybutmorethandeath,theyalsotalkaboutlife.Thetwopoemspresenta
deeperunderstandingofthesignificanceoflifeandhowweshouldntgowithoutlivingit
tothefullest.Knowingthatlifeistemporaryshouldnotlimitusbutinstead,pushusto
makethemostoutofeveryday.Itisbylivingfullythatwewillalsobeabletoleave

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fully,atpeaceandwithoutregrets.Wewillallreachoursunsetsbutwemightaswell
enjoywhilethesunisup.Tosumitup,liveforthepresent,carpediem.

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WORKS CITED
Dylan Thomas. The McGraw-Hill Book Of Poetry. DiYanni, Robert and Rompf,Kraft. USA:
McGraw Hill, 1993: 733-744.
Roethke, Theodore. The Walking. The McGraw-Hill Book Of Poetry. DiYanni, Robert and
Rompf,Kraft. USA: McGraw Hill, 1993: 709-710.
Thomas, Dylan. Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. The McGraw-Hill Book Of Poetry.
DiYanni, Robert , and Rompf, Kraft. USA: McGraw Hill, 1993: 744.