When death knocks on your door

Death is inevitable. Death can be taken differently depending on each person. But when death knocks on your door there is nothing that will stop it from coming in. To confirm this theory that different people deal with death differently we can consider “Sonnet 73”, written by William Shakespeare, the speaker is upset and disappointed because the person he is addressing is going into an eternal sleep. Death is one of Shakespeare’s most common topics in poetry. “Sonnet 73” is a Shakespearean sonnet written in iambic pentameter with an iamb meter. In this poem time has been compressed by Shakespeare to emphasize the end of something which ultimately is death. For example in the first quatrain Shakespeare references the end of a season in this case fall “that time of year”, “When yellow leaves, or none, do hang”, “Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.” From his use of words we can conclude that fall is ending just like in his next quatrain where day turns into night. We know that the day is ending because he uses words like “after sunset”, “black night”, but not only does Shakespeare incorporates the night as the end of the day he also speaks about death. Shakespeare uses a metaphor to convey the reader that death is sleep it is an eternal sleep, “Death second self.” In Shakespeare’s final quatrain he speaks about fire and ashes. The purpose of time compression in these three quatrains is to emphasize the fact that death is something that one cannot evade it just like the fire and ashes that cannot commence another fire because it is done. Shakespeare is writing to someone that is facing death and we can establish this fact because of his word usage in his heroic couplet “This thou perceiv’st.” Shakespeare does not want this person to die, but not because he believes that the person should fight to continue living rather for his own benefit. He believes that the person does not appreciate him since he is dying. Death in this poem is viewed as something that is used against Shakespeare for he sees it as an act against him not something that will eventually happen. “Sonnet 73” is similar to Dylan Thomas’s poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” for they both talk about death but they also differ in the significance of death. In this poem Thomas is frustrated because he can’t do anything to help his father as he approaches death. Thomas describes different type of men in his poem who have fought to leave a trace of greatness before they died. Thomas wishes his father would fight against death. Unlike Shakespeare’s poem Thomas is concerned for his father and not so much about his father leaving him. An example of his frustration he is experiencing would be the title “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” for the title itself is ironic and is a paradox. Such that the “Good Night” refers to death but death is not good. In conclusion both poems “Sonnet 73” and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” use death as their main topic but death affect Shakespeare and Thomas differently.