Notes 2 & 3

1. The lyrical, chronological account of the speaker's emotions in "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas ultimately create a sort of encouragement to prompt Death to lower its scythe. The poet contends that "wise men" must fight their impending death valiantly despite knowing death is inevitable; the "wise men" attempt to "rage against the dying of the light" in order to avoid Death's punishment. The "wise men" refuse to resign to their fates as dead men because they have not yet accomplished what they set out to do, endlessly striving to make their mark on the world unsatisfied with their subjectively "frail deeds." The metaphor "lightening" proves to represent the goals set forth by the strong sense of motivation that drives men to continue living robustly, only confirming the poet's "rage against the dying of the light." As the poem closes, it is evident that the poet's true message is directed for his father; he is unconcerned with what his father chooses to fight for or against, as long as he stands for something before he is extinguished. 

2. Vivid imagery, along with the shadowy embodiment of death presented in Donald Justice's poem, "Incident in a Rose Garden," underscore that humans have no way to predict when their life is ending, even though they use various factors in attempt. After a peaceful day of gardening, an "old man" runs to the speaker, driven solely by "fear"; the man claimed that he had "encountered Death...among the roses," "thin as a scythe" and cloaked in black. The old man claims that he "want[s] to see [his] sons/Once more before [he] die[s]" and ran off, leaving the speaker alone in the garden, awaiting Death "like a Spanish waiter." As the poem closes, and the speaker encounters Death himself, death announces that the "old man mistook [his] gesture," and that Death's purpose was to take the speaker with him. Due to the fact that the old man mistook Death's gesture, it is evident that humans cannot always predict what will occur in their lives, because much of it is controlled by outside forces.  Humans often view death as an enemy, however Death states that he "knew [his] father, And [they] were friends at the end," meaning that, by the time Death took the life of his father, the father knew him well enough as a friend. This goes to show that the way Death arrives cannot be predicted, left only as an afterthought as life continues forward.