Singh 1

Priyamvada Singh
Mr. Asijit Datta
English Literature 10
4/23/2014
Death: The end or a new beginning?
Death, the invincible devourer of lives, is someone everyone is familiar with and
expects to meet one day, yet are afraid of and try their best to stave this unwanted guest off.
Scientifically, religiously, and spiritually many definitions are given to the scary 'd' word.
Death, as described in the Bible and in the various definitions given to the word by various
communities, is the seperation of the organism or it's physical body from something. In
Christianity, death comes when an organism is seperated from God in time or when the soul
and spirit leave the physical body of the organism, though these events don't mark the
perishment of the organism forever, that occurs only when the organism has been seperated
from God eternally. In medicine, a person is considered dead when his/her brain can no
longer perform life functions resulting in the cessation of heartbeat and respiration. Death is
a rather multidimensional subject to be explored. The meaning and usage of death in
different pieces of literature depends on the definitions of death, it's causes and the effects of
the event on the deceased as well as the bereaved, all of which are greatly influenced by the
religion and beliefs of the author. The theme of death is well explained and explored in
various circumstances in the six poems, My Last Ducchess by Robert Browning, He
wishes his beloved were dead by W. B. Yeats, Because I could not stop for death by
Emily Dickinson, Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas, On the death
of Anne Bronte by Charlotte Bronte, and Remember by Christina Rosetti. While
Remember and Because I could not stop for death are in the voice of the dead, Do not
go gentle into that good night speaks about the dying. And while Yeats imagines a fulfilling
life after the death of his beloved in He wishes his beloved were dead, Browning and

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Bronte in My Last Duchess and On the death of Anne Bronte describe the realities of the
life of the bereaved which could not hae differed more from that fantasized about by Yeats.
W.B. Yeats liked to imagine his lover, who rebuffed him and married another man, as
being dead. The poem He wishes his beloved were dead captures the vividness and ferity
of a lover's fantasy about the life after the death of his beloved. The fact that the poem is
about his imagination, a scenario he wishes to be true but isn't, is made obvious through the
repetitive use of the word 'would' and the title itself. And lights were paling out of the
West, West symbolizes freedom, her freedom is decreasing or is gone because she is dead.
And the fact that the word is capitalized emphasizes the fact that her freedom is highly
precious to her. She has to stay with him and cannot run away. Under the dock-leaves in the
ground, Dock leaves are used to heal wounds and stings, and for conserving butter. The
body of the beloved lying under those leaves is being healed by his love, in his presence. The
poet also might be comparing her to butter because she's slippery. While lights were paling
one by one. This line, again, symbolizes that freedom is going away gradually. Nor would
you rise and hasten away, Though you have the will of wild birds, Now that she's dead she
can't run away from him. Due to her restless nature, she cannot commit to someone and stay
with him. She likes to be free, like a rolling stone, gathering no moss, attaching to nothing.
You would come hither, and bend your head, And I would lay my head on your breast;
Even after death, Yeats imagines that his beloved would come to him and let him rest his
head on her chest. Or it might just be symbolizing the fact that since she has no other option
now, she will perhaps give him attention and at least a chance to love her. He had a
philosophy that people make their own hell or heaven depending on their characteristics and
personal experiences, and hence do what they want after death. Unlike most other poems,
this poem portrays death as something positive for the person who loves the dying and
negative, as always, for the person dying. For Yeats, the idea of the death of Maud Gonne,

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the beloved he wishes were dead, is liberating. The suffering he's been through, remembering
her or watching her with the other man she married will finally come to an end if she dies
and not only that, he will finally have her to himself. But as for the beloved, death is as
horrible a thing in this case as in any other since she will be deprived of all her prized
freedom and will be like a mere possession to Yeats, a man she does not wish to be with.
Though as the poem is written by Yeats and not by Maud Gonne, this poem shows a whole
new dimension of death, one that is beautiful and liberating.
My Last Duchess is a poem in the form of a dramatic monologue about the last
duchess to a Duke. The duchess was killed on orders by the duke himself. A very
magnificient painting, painted by Fra Pandolf hangs on the wall of the duke's room and is a
very realistic image of the Duchess, almost bringing her back to life. It captures perfectly her
face, color, and smile. The Duke opens the curtains of the painting everyday for himself and
others to see. And closes when he wishes to, which gives him a sense of complete control
over the duchess. The duchess, as described by the Duke, was very ungrateful for his true
love, the love of a man with a renowned, age-old title and gave her smiles and words of love
to about everyone. Anyone could flirt with her and impress her and this enraged the Duke.
He wanted to have her all to himself and thus ordered to kill her one day.
In both the poems, The Last Duchess and He wishes his beloved were dead the
men want their ladies all for themselves and thus wish the ladies were dead so they could
have power and control over them. But unlike in 'The Last Duchess', Yeats in He wishes
were beloved were dead does not kill his beloved on his own. He is simply imagining what
would have been the scenario if she were dead but does not have the intentions to make it
come to life by killing her like the Duke in The Last Duchess. Death is accepted almost
painlessly by the bereaved. They see it as a way, the only way to get what they want, to end
their pain and longing. Death is usually seen as the end to life, freedom, a person's time in

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this world, his/her life but in both these poems it's seen as an end only to the men's pain that
they had to go through watching their beloved with other men. But since both the poems are
like a dramatic monologue and only the point of view of the person speaking is presented,
the readers don't get to see the unwillingness of the ladies to die and lose their freedom, to be
trapped with the Duke in My last Duchess and with Yeats in He wishes his beloved were
dead.
In the poem On the death of Anne Bronte Charlotte Bronte, the author, intricately
and delicately describes the death of her younger sister and her own struggles post the death.
The poem begins with the poet pronouncing in the second line of the first stanza that she is
not afraid of death little terror in the grave; Struggle in life alone now that sister is dead.
She saw a loved one die, someone she would die to save. Ready to die to meet the one she
lost. She's aware of her sister's suffering, second stanza, waiting for death to come. And
then to thank God from my heart, To thank Him well and fervently; Now she's thankful to
god that death has finally come to end her sister's sufferings. Being thankful to god and
knowing that her sister's suffering has ended shows acceptance of death but in later stanza
she says life will be a tiring struggle and she's waiting to die now. The one being deceased
has less suffering than the one staying behind in this world. Though for a brief amount of
time similarities can be seen in the form of acceptance of death. The author in Remember
accepts death with open arms as long as she's certain her beloved will keep her alive in
his/her memories. Bronte in On the death of Anne Bronte, in the 3rd stanza also accepts death
as it is the only way her sister's sufferings will end. Starts seeing life as long and weary and
sad. Longs for death now to reunite with the deceased.
Remember is a sonnet in iambic pentameter with a ABBA ABBA CDE CDE rhythm.
The author keeps repeating the word remember, so as to not let her beloved forget her wish.
She is afraid or anxious about it. She wants her loved ones to remember her and not forget

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her. And even when they do start forgetting her she still wants them to remember her.
Though Rossetti wants them just to remember her, not to pray for her or discuss any opinions
about her. Later though she wants them to forget her and move on because remembering and
being sad is bad in comparison to forgetting and being happy. Rossetti is going into silent
land, where she will be alone without her loved ones. Her fear of lonliness is greater than
fear of death. She has accepted her death well. Pre-raphaelitian philosophy suggested
physical pain and struggle are nothing in comparison to those of the mind so they had their
minds in acceptance with death, no struggle accepting their own deaths. She has no pain of
leaving her physical form and her material, earthly possessions. And is rather afraid of being
forgotten by the ones she loved. She's satisfied to live as a memory in her loved one's heart
after her death. If her loved one forgets her it would be a greater n more painful death than
her physical one. Irony comes in the last stanza, when she is not afraid anymore and says that
if her loved one needs to forget her in order to be happy, they should. In accordance with preraphaelite belief systems which suggested people not to be selfish and give up their own
personal desires for the happiness of others. This shows her true love for her beloved by
allowing the beloved to forget her. Author does not want her physical existence to define her
complete existence. Even if her body dies, she wants her eternal soul to live through the
memories in the minds of her beloved.
She's doing exactly what the narrator in Remember wants, remembering the deceased
and not letting go of his/her memory. But in Remember the poet wants her beloved to forget
her later on and be happy which is a selfless thought but not so common and easy to do for
the beloved who has lost someone to death. One main difference is that, in Remember the
poet wants her beloved to remember her and not to grieve upon her death but in On the death
of Anne Bronte, the author begins to drown in a sea of grief due to her sister's death. Bronte
isn't only remebering her sister but also devoting her entire life into grieving over her death.

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While, Rossetti in Remember believes that her beloved will soon forget her and smile.
Do not go gentle into that good night is a villanelle with 19 lines. Poetic devices:
Simile is found in the line, Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Personification
is seen in the line, Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Assonance can be
seen in the line Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Figurative language is
found in the line, Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, Repetition can be seen
when the word rage is used repeatedly to show the anger towards death. To show the
energy with which they should approach their life in the old age. Poet's asking people to fight
death with aggression and not give in easily. Do not go gentle into that good night portrays
the night or death as calm and peaceful and easy as it will end all struggle but poet's
asking the people to live life to the fullest and not stop living even until the last minute. Don't
die easily without putting up a fight is his message. Dying kicking and fighting for what life's
worth. Dying just like you were born as a baby, crying and kicking and struggling to breathe.
Thomas uses the allegory of a day for a life. Night could also mean the latter part of peoples'
lives and to not go gentle into it would mean to not slow down and be enthusiastic and just
suck the marrow out of life. Just like at night people become lazy and start to prepare to go
to bed or rest n do something relaxing rather than work, similarly, old people in the last 20 or
25 years of their life become discouraged and work less and live dull lives. In the poem, 4
different kinds of men are compared: wise, grave, kind, and wild. Different people deal with
the idea of dying in various ways. According to Thomas, the wise, intelligent ones are aware
of the fact that death is inevitable and have accepted their end but yet fear death because they
do not want to die before achieving something, before making a difference. The good, kind
men in the poem are described as Good men, the last wave by which gives the idea that the
race or generation of good men is like a wave in a sea which will eventually crash against the
rocks at the beach, thus symbolizing death. Through the lines that follows these words in the

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poem, it can be concluded that these men have not accepted the coming of death so well.
They fear and curse death as they believe they still have more good deeds to do in this world.
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, This line simply hints at the idea that
the men and their actions have become weak due to age as suggested by the word frail and
the phrase might have danced in a green bay emphasizes the fact that these men could've
done a better job and more good in this world had not death come to take them with it. And
therefore, the author encourages this kind of people to rage, rage against death and not let
death take them away so easily. The third kind of people mentioned in the poem are the
wild ones. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, As Thomas describes them,
these are the people who lived their lives lively, not confining themselves in heaps of rules or
boundaries and just going with their free will. But these men were so involved in living their
own adventurous lives that by the time they realized that death was coming to fetch them, it
was too late to prepare for it. And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Though death
is inevitable and known by all, these men did not have time to think about death, they ran
wild all their lives and now that death is knocking on their door they do not have time to do
more or even cry over their deteriorating condition. And for these men too, Thomas has the
same piece of advice, Do not go gentle into that good night. The fourth, and the last kind
of men Thomas talks about are grave men, now this could mean that either these men are
serious and/or dying. Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, These men are weak
and not fully functional in all their motor skills for example, they are losing their eye-sights
but yet they believe that they have the strength to fight against death. These men are the ones
who are most prepared for death and have accepted it as their future without much fear.
Death in this poem is the end of everything ever possesed by the men- freedom, the
oppurtunity to bring about change, their lives, and even their very existence in the fabric of
time.

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In the poem, Because I could not stop for death, Emily Dickinson capitalizes Death
to personify death as a man, a suitor who's come to take her for a ride in his white horsedrawn carriage. She cannot stop for death because she doesn't know when it might come.
The fact that Dickinson says that death kindly stopped for her is suggesting that she is
calm and accepting about her own death. Unlike Do not go gentle into that good night
wherein the poet encourages the men to fight death and not accept it easily, Dickinson is
ready for her death and thinks that perhaps it might even be a joy ride. The Carriage...And
Immortality. In the third line, Dickinson says that in the carriage is waiting immortality
and hence a new beginning, a new journey out of this world while Thomas in his poem
portrayed death as the absolute end of everything that there is to men. While the men in Do
not go gentle into that good night are afraid of death and striving their best to hurry and do
as much as they can before dying, Dickinson is in no haste driving around with Death. The
charm and politeness of Death has made her forget all her worries, and she's given up all
work and free-time activities for it or him. While it's still daytime she sees all the lovely
scenes of children playing and the bright sun at the horizon and finds Death quite
surprisingly beautiful but as the sun sets and it starts to get dark and cold she sees death as
described by Thomas in his poem, a lonely world full of darkness, deprived of all warmth.
Death in these 6 poems Remember by Christina Rossetti, My last Duchess by
Robert Browning, On the Death of Anne Bronte by Charlotte Bronte, Do Not Go Gentle
Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas, He wishes his beloved were dead by William
Butler Yeats, and Because I could not stop for death by Emily Dickinson is personified,
objectified and subjectified. While Rossetti sees it as an end to her physical self and her time
on earth but is assured of the fact that she will live through people's memories, Dylan
Thomas sees it as the absolute end to everything that there is to man and therefore asks
everyone to fight against it when death comes to take them. And while Yeats fantasizes about

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the death of his lover and sees it as his only way to obtain and possess her physically,
Browning writes about the life after the death of the lover and sees death as the only way to
obtain and possess the beloved metaphysically and eternally.