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Alexis Krahling

Ms. Gelso

Brit Lit 3

March 14, 2014

How does the poem “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” relate to John Keats

background and biography?

The background of a person’s discuses a person’s past life and the experiences they went

through. The biography of a person’s life is the story of a real person’s life written by someone

other than that specific person. In “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” by John Keats,

published in 1848, parts of Keats background and biography are seen. Keats’s poem was written

during the literary time period of Romanticism. Romanticism was a time when writers

emphasized feeling and when individual experiences were highly valued. Keats expresses his

feelings and his individual experiences in life in “When I Have fears That I May Cease to Be.”

In the poem, Keats expresses his fear of dying before he accomplishes his goals and before he

sees a specific woman again. He talks about how he feels alone in the world and how love and

fame have no value. Knowing about John Keats’s life helps one understand the poem “When I

Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” because it relates to John Keats’s background and

biography by expressing his fears of death, his past experiences with death, and Keats’s

ambitious attitude.

John Keats was a well-known British author who wrote poems, like “When I Have Fears

That I May Cease to Be”, during the Romantic Period. Keats suffered from many loses in his

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family which affected his poems like “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be.” Keats

father was a “livery-stable manager” (“Keats, John”) who did not make much money, therefore

Keats received very little formal education. Keats’s early home life was “happy, the family

close-knit, the environment full of the exuberance and clamor of a big-city stable and inn yard”

(Kipperman). Keats’s father later died from falling off a horse. Eldest of five, Keats was fairly

close to his siblings, sister Fanny and brother George and Tom. Later in his life, Keats loses one

of his brothers as well as his mother to tuberculosis. Once his mother’s second marriage ended

“the Keats children lived with their widowed grandmother” (“Keats, John”) who died later in

Keats’s life. Living with his grandmother allowed him to attend school which was run by John

Clarke whose son, Charles Cowden Clarke, “did much to encourage Keats’s literary aspirations”

(“Keats, John”). Without school, Keats would have never had to courage to write poetry. Keats

picked up different jobs like becoming a surgeon but “after 1817 he devoted himself entirely to

poetry” (“Keats, John”).

Due to his ambitious attitude and interest in poetry, John Keats devoted his life “to the

perfection of a poetry marked by vivid imagery, great sensuous appeal, and an attempt to express

a philosophy through classical legend” (“Keats, John”). Encouraged by Charles Cowden Clarke,

Keats became a well-known English Romantic lyric poet who wrote many poems about his

experiences and fears of death. Keats “published fifty-four poems” (Kipperman) and wrote

many letters in his short life of 25 years. Keats’s ambitious attitude came from his “outgoing

[and] high-spirited” (Kissane) personality which caused “each point in his development he took

on the challenges of a wide range of poetic forms from the sonnet, to the Spenserian Romance, to

the Miltonic epic, defining fusion of earnest energy, control of conflicting perspectives and

forces, poetic self-consciousness, and, dry ironic wit” (Kipperman). While working as a

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surgeon, “Keats grew restless and lonely” (Kipperman) which causes him to lose some of his

determination to do things like write poetry. He turned towards books which he “devoured

rather than read” (Kipperman). Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser was the book that

“awakened his love of poetry” and caused him to become aware of his “powers of imagination”

(Kipperman). This book sparked up Keats’s determination and his ambitious attitude.

Throughout Keats’s lifetime, he went through a lot of suffering which caused many of his poems

to be about death and suffering like “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be.” Keats

suffered from deaths, heart aches, brutal criticisms and more. Keats later got tuberculosis, like

his mother, and died shortly after.

The Romantic Period lasted from about 1785-1837. John Keats lived from about 1795-

1821 (“Keats, John”) which was right around the Romanticism Period. Romanticism

“emphasizes nature as a guiding, elevated force, recognizes the central significance of individual

experiences, and… uses diction focused on rural and idyllic country life” (Imbarrato and

Berkin). Romantic literature was centered on “nature as a source of poetic inspiration” (Quinn).

Feeling and imagination was emphasized through literature and art as well. Keats uses feeling

multiple times in his poems to show how he felt about death. The point of Romanticism was

“the interaction of the poet’s creative imagination and the underlying spirit of nature” which

produces “an intense, subjective experience, communicated to readers in fresh, spontaneous

language” (Quinn). William Blake, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, John Keats, and Jane

Austen are some of the authors who wrote during the Romantic Period. Intuition was valued

much more over structure which was often abandoned in works of literature. The lower class or

the common people were the topics of art and literature during this time period. The

supernatural elements began to show up in works and were now allowed to be used. The

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Romantic period was a literary time period when authors, like John Keats, could focus on

individual experiences and expressing imagination and feeling through nature.

Keats’ background and biography are related to “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to

Be” because the poem expresses Keats’ fears of death. Throughout the poem, Keats fears death

because he believes he will die before he accomplishes all of his goals. Keats fears that he will

die before his “Before high pil’d books, in charact’ry, / Hold like rich garners the full-ripen’d

grain” (3-4). “high pil’d books” (3) suggests Keats’s fear that he will die before he reads all of

the books there are to read and that he will die before “he has expressed the many feelings in his

brain by writing books” (King). Keats has goals that he wishes to accomplish and fears death

will come before he is able to even try some of these things. The simile used in line four points

out that the language in the books are like wheat in a grain Keats later mentions “Huge cloudy

symbols of high romance” (6). The Romantic element of the use of nature indicates “Keats fear

that he will die before he can ‘trace / Their shadows’” (King). “cloudy symbols” (6) show Keats

fear of failing at expectations and therefore not accomplishing his goals. The idea of failing

frightens him which causes his fear of death to be even greater. The fear of dying an early death

causes Keats to have smaller fears like failing at expectations or not accomplishing a goal. Keats

also fears he will die “before he has copied the hidden truths of art and before he has fully

experienced love” (King). Keats mentions his fear “That I shall never look upon thee more”

(10). Keats fears that he will die and never experience love with that one special person. Keats

also says “Never have relish in the faery power / Of unreflecting love” (11-12). The word choice

of these lines indicates what Keats fears he will not accomplish. The word “relish” means enjoy

which means that Keats fears that he will never enjoy “an unmediated experience of love”

(King). In the final line of the poem, Keats says “Till love and fame to nothingness do sink”

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(14). Although this line has some ambiguity, it could indicate Keats’s overall fears about death.

The word “fame” could indicate his fear that he will die before accomplishing his goals and

therefore failing expectations and the word “love” could indicate Keats fear about never finding

a woman to love. Keats fears that he will die and will lose his fame and love.

Keats’ background and biography are related to “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to

Be” because the poem relates to Keats’s past experiences with death. Throughout Keats’s

lifetime, he suffered from multiple deaths in his family. By the time Keats was around the age of

15, “he had lost a brother, his grandmother, and both his parents” (Carroll). As a form of

grieving, Keats portrayed his feelings and individual experiences about death through his poetry.

The speaker “stand alone, and think / Till love and fame to nothingness do sink” (13-14). The

speaker in this poem is “isolated” and “unable to do anything” (Carroll). Keats has experienced

death so many times that it is mostly a negative feeling for him. The repetition of “when I”

throughout the poem indicates Keats personal fears of death. The Romantic element of

discussing his individual experiences shows that Keats has experiences with death and his fears

have come from these experiences. “Of the wide world I stand alone, and think” (13) was how

Keats felt. Keats felt alone and feared death. After seeing many close friends and family

members die, Keats fear of an early death continued to grow which caused his poems to be

affected. “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” (1) indicates that death can come at any

time of one’s life and end it. When Keats was about the age of 8, “his father, a stable keeper,

died after a fall from his horse” (Kissane) and when Keats was 14 “”his mother, after an

evidently unsuccessful remarriage, died of tuberculosis” (Kissane). Keats has experienced many

unexpected deaths in his life which causes his fears to increase like dying “Before my pen has

gleaned my teeming brain” (2). Losing multiple family members is also why Keats feels

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“alone.” Keats has lost so many family members that he feels by himself and fears he will be

next to die.

Keats’ background and biography relate to “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be”

because Keats ambitious attitude is seen throughout the poem. Keats was described as “an

outgoing, high-spirited, and even somewhat pugnacious schoolboy rather than a dreamy or

moody one” (Kissane). As a young boy, Keats was generally a happy child. As mentioned

before, Keats feared “he will die without achieving his life’s ambitions and without seeing his

lover again” (Carroll). Throughout the poem, Keats talks about the things he wants to

accomplish before he dies. In “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be,” Keats mentions

“Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, / And think that I may never live to trace / Their

shadows with the magic hand of chance” (6-8). The “cloudy symbols” mean Keats’s goal to

uncover “further truths hidden in the myths and stories we imagine” (King). The use of

personification and imagery in lines 6-8 demonstrates how Keats “hopes to write (‘to trace’)

poetic tales (‘high romance’) that have in them spiritual truths of which we only know their

‘shadows’” (King). Keats determination to do all of these things is one of the reasons he was

such a successful author. His ambitious attitude allowed him to push on through his fears and

accomplish some of his goals. Although Keats does fear dying, it does not stop him from

wanting to do all of these things. His main fear is dying before he can do all of these things.

Keats wishes to express “many feelings in his brain by writing books” and he wants copy “the

hidden truths of art” (King). Keats ambitious attitude did help with trying to push through the

fear of an early death but it also causes his fear of dying to increase because he fears he will not

accomplish all of the goals he wishes to achieve.

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Knowing about John Keats’ life helps one understand the poem “When I Have Fears That

I May Cease to Be” because it relates to John Keats’ background and biography by expressing

his fears of death, his past experiences with death, and Keats’ ambitious attitude. Having a

general understanding allows the reader to fully understand Keats poem and what it is about.

The message of the poem is much clearer when one has knowledge about the author’s

background and biography. Background and biography generally are two important things to

know when reading an author’s work or even looking at an artist’s painting to fully understand

the purpose of the piece.

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Work Cited

Carroll, Siobhan. "death in the poetry of John Keats." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc.

Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Imbarrato, Susan Clair, and Carol Berkin. "Romanticism.” Bloom's Literature. Facts On File,

Inc. Web. 9 Mar. 2014

Keats, John. "When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be." Poetry Magazine. Poetry

Foundation, Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

"Keats, John." Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield, MA: Merriam-

Webster, 1995. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

King, Bruce. "An overview of When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be." Poetry for

Students. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

Kipperman, Mark. "John Keats." British Romantic Poets, 1789-1832: Second Series. Ed. John R.

Greenfield. Detroit: Gale Research, 1990. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 96.

Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.

Kissane, James. "John Keats." British Romantic Prose Writers, 1789-1832: Second Series. Ed.

John R. Greenfield. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol.

110. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Mar. 2014

Morse, Lucy. ""When I have Fears that I may cease to be"." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File,

Inc. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Quinn, Edward. "Romanticism." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 9 Mar. 2014

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Robert O’Hara O’HARA 1

British Literature

Ms. Gelso

3/12/14

This is for You (me), Dad, a Critic of Dylan Thomas’ Poem, “Do Not

Go Gentle Into That Good Night”

How Does Dylan Thomas’ life and experiences reflect the theme of his 1951 poem, “Do Not Go

Gentle Into That Good Night”?

O’HARA 2

Selfishness is a feeling characterized by intense emotion to keep something close to one's

self. Dylan Thomas, the author of the 1951 poem "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”

conveys this feeling with great passion. Thomas draws on personal experiences in his life, most

notably the death of his father. Thomas wrote "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" to

convey the feelings pushed upon him at the side of his fathers death bed. The immense love felt

for his father by Thomas is felt with each passionate line. Thomas could not stand to lose

someone that had been such an integral part of his life. The selfishness portrayed is that of a son

that wants to keep his father alive; however, in the same poem, Thomas paints death as an

ultimate end, a final rest, something welcome. This struggle between life and death portrayed by

Thomas in "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" is best highlighted through his use of

repetition, analogies, and the juxtaposition between the struggle for life and the acceptance of

death, which will be examined after first looking at Dylan Thomas's life.

In spite of his humble roots, Dylan Thomas of Swansea, Wales became one of the most

influential poets of the century. With a mother who was a seamstress and father who was a

teacher, Thomas had an average middle class childhood. However, it became apparent that his

father, David, would have the greatest influence on young Dylan. With a honors degree in

English, Dylan’s father David introduced Dylan to writing. Even as Dylan advanced into his later

career, many of his poems were centered around his childhood, particularly his summer trips to a

relative’s farm. It is clear that Dylan developed a close relationship with his family from a young

age, especially, a close relationship with his father. At the age of 16 Thomas began to write

poetry in a private notebook, which was later published. After publishing a poem in a local

O’HARA 3

newspaper contest, Thomas rose to fame, and the beginning of the development of his world

class poetry came into being.

In 1950, Thomas embarked on a poetry tour to America, with a kickoff event in New

York. The tour last three years and allowed Thomas to bring his poetry across the pond. Dylan

Thomas’ father died in 1952 of a severe illness, Thomas who was in the states began writing his

helpless plea for his father’s life, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”, in 1953, the same

year it was published. As much as the plea was directed towards his father, it is evident through

much of Thomas’ word choice that a portion was direct towards him and his wild habits and

deadly drinking problem. Sadly, the message to himself did not resinate in time. Thomas was

found dead following a drinking session in which he consumed eighteen straight whiskeys.

Dylan Thomas utilizes repetition to bring about and enhance his theme of the struggle

between life and death in his poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”. Appropriately,

due to the fact that the poem is a villanelle, the first example of repetition in his poem is in the

first line, “Do not go gentle into that good night”(1). Gentle, or moderate in action, is exactly

how Thomas does not want his father, or himself for that matter, to enter death, or as he refers to

it “the good night”. Critics of Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” believe, “the

specific addressee is Thomas's sick father. In this poem he never sent, the son entreats his father

not to accept death quietly, but instead, to fight it”(Hochman 1). However, due to evidence

presented in the poem and Thomas’ life, it is clear that he himself is as much the addressee of the

poem as Thomas’ father. The word “night” is repeated exemplifies not only the repeated days in

a life time, but the definite state of death in relation to the definite state of night. This passion of

O’HARA 4

emotion transfers into the next point of repetition, “Rage, rage agianst the dying of the light”(9).

Thomas’ repetition of “rage” instills a feeling of power and weighted struggle into the reader’s

mind set. Furthermore, the fact that this weighted struggle is against “the dying of the light”, or

the end of one’s life only further instills the emotion conveyed through this repetition. Lastly, the

repeated and constant rhyme scheme reiterates messages listed above, such as the repetition of

days in their orderly fashion, the sun rising and falling. The break in the rhyme scheme in the

final two lines also represents the the sudden end that is death. Repetition is essential to

conveying and heightening the theme of struggle between life and death.

Thomas’ life provides clear insight into his use of repetition in “Do Not Go Gentle Into

That Good Night”. Begging, often characterized by repeated pleas to change, alter, or accept

one’s opinion is evident in Thomas’ own life as well as in this poem. Thomas pleas with his

father in this poem to struggle for life and against death; however, at the time of its writing,

David Thomas had already died, meaning the pleas that Dylan made were directed towards

himself. The desperation to cling to life is evident through the repetition of words characterized

by the intense emotion they imply, such as “rage”. Thomas’ repeated raging against his own

impending death give insight into the internal struggle of a man battling for life, when all he

desires is peace.

In “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Thomas’ use of metaphors and similes

provide detail into the struggle between the “light” and the “dark”. Thomas refers to life as “the

light” and constantly makes an analogy about the state of this life. He writes that the light is

“dying”, and he believes that one must not let their light die. Immediately after stating that one

O’HARA 5

must fight for their life, he states that “the dark is right”(4). Darkness is the absence of light,

accompanied by a sense of unknown and unfamiliarity, it provides the perfect metaphor to death.

the done of this darkness is both a positive and negative tone. While Thomas pleas to rage

against death, he establishes it is right, why wrong a right? Thomas answers with his following

metaphor, “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it

on its way”(10-11). “Wild men” who Thomas believes to be himself, are so preoccupied with

focusing on the everyday pleasures of life that they can only “grieve it on its way”. This

grievance represents a personal statement that he is tired of fighting the fight against death for

life. Metaphors provide much needed detail to give an intimate feeling to the poem, “Do Not Go

Gentle Into That Good Night”.

As Thomas’ life comes to a close he begins to realize the central struggle of not only this

poem, but his own life. The metaphors created by Thomas provide readers with an illustration of

“the dying of the light” which is a representation of his father’s and his slow coming deaths. This

metaphor is furthered by another, one that describes the a struggle between his wish to enter

death, it being a “right”, and his plea to his father to push on and live. He recounts his lost life,

he is living only to die as he envisions himself watching, “grieving” the fading of his own life,

knowing at the bottom of his heart and soul it is definite.

The juxtapositions created between the struggle for life and the acceptance of death are at

the heart of the poem’s theme. Though critics believe that Thomas wrote “Do Not Go Gentle

Into That Good Night” for his father, it is clear when Hochman explains, “Thomas called his

poems “statements on the way to the grave” and “two sides of an unresolved argument,” both

comments

O’HARA 6

relevant to “Do Not Go Gentle.””(2). To begin the opening side of the juxtaposition, Thomas

creates a mental image that slowly “burn[s]” in the reader’s mind throughout the poem, “Old age

should burn and rave at close of day”(2). Drawing analogy from the “close of day” to “death”,

Thomas states that the closer one gets to death, the more they must “burn” and “rave”. These two

powerful words exemplify struggle. Thomas tells his readers why one must struggle, “Though

wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do

not go gentle into that good night” (3-6). To know death is “right”, yet vow to “not go gentle into

that good night”, can only be because they have not yet made a difference. This is an attempt to

convince himself to learn that he must not die until his “words” his poems have moved people,

“forked lightening”. He looks to his father for guidance, “And you, my father, there on the sad

height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the drying of the light”(16-20). He addresses his father from where his father

now sits, on his “sad height” or heaven. He begs for his father’s tears to move him in the

direction of not “go[ing] gentle into that good night” and “Rag[ing], rag[ing] against the dying of

the light”.

Found to have drunken himself to death in New York two years after its writing, Dylan

Thomas was unable to beat his own death wish. He raged and raged against the time he knew

would come sure as day. He watched as his life faded away and grieved his oncoming death.

Critics of Thomas recognize a lack of detail uncharacteristic of his writing surrounding his

father, “Adjectives used for men in “Do Not Go Gentle”? Was the father all of these? None of

O’HARA 7

them?”(3). “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” represents Thomas looking to his father

for one last plea of help, only to find himself unable to do anything but meet the “right”.

In his final years, Dylan Thomas was confronted with the worst of struggles one could

face, he was ready to die, but doing everything he could to live another day. His poem, “Do Not

Go Gentle Into That Good Night”, shows how he wishes and pleas for his own father to fight the

struggle he himself fights, and upon his father’s death, the struggle he no longer has the

willpower to fight. Dylan Thomas, in his 1951 poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”,

utilizes personal experience, and numerous literary devices, most notably repetition, metaphors,

and juxtaposition to form the central theme of struggle for life against death.

O’HARA 8

Work Cited Page

Heaney, Seamus. "Dylan the Durable? On Dylan Thomas." Salmagundi 100 (Fall 1993): 66-85. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Ed. David M. Galens. Vol. 52. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. Hochman, Jhan. "An overview of “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”." Poetry for Students. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. Stade, George, and Karen Karbiener. "Thomas, Dylan." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 1800 to the Present, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Thomas, Dylan. "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night."The Norton Anthology of English Literature.9th Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, et al. Vol. F. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &Company, Inc., 2012. 2703. Print.

Does Dylan Thomas support the movement in early 20th century Wales toward socialism?

Whether the mixed market economy gives freedom to the hand of all citizens or allows

the capitalists to oppress the impoverished has been a question facing counties, government,

and people since the early industrial revolution. During the time of poet Dylan Thomas, this

question was ever more apparent with the growing of communist movement and a growing

class divide. The conditions that Thomas lived, Machine Age United Kingdom,(Dylan’s Life-­ The

Early Years) featured a high wealthy class and unrepresented lower working class. Both of

these elements, the haves and the have nots, are in his 1951 poem “Do not go gentle into that

good night”. In it he describes the plight of the impoverished, and the need to fight to keep

themselves alive in face of oppression in the face of growing darkness. Although many do not

read his poem through this lense, it is equally or even more logical than contemporary readings,

believing the poem was an ode to the death of his father. Instead, Thomas uses different literary

tools and to accomplish the message of fighting the system to protect everyone.

Many read the poem as simply as Thomas writing an ode to his father, whom had

recently passed on at the time the poem was written. Jonathan Westphal suggests that Thomas

references his fathers death not only allegorically, but also as part of a larger sequence, pointing

out that “old age... at close of day wise men... at their end good men... the last wave by wild

men... too late grave men... near death” are all coupled together. He also suggests that in the

final stanza of the poem, Thomas makes this same sequence apply to his father, with the lines

“"And you, my father, there on the sad height,", linking Father and the Sad height. While this is

completely logical, Thomas could have used it to communicate a larger message about

socialism. Westphal believes that the “Sad Height” refers to not just death, but the slow decline

leading up to death. This slow decline is felt by none more than those in poverty. It still applies to

his father, because even though he was better off he was still a working man. Thomas’s poem

does refer to the death of his father, as not only Westphal but many others have reasoned, but

the working class as a whole as well.

Dylan Thomas was born in 1913, growing up in a small industrial town in Wales,

England. (Dylan’s Life-­ Early Years). Although his father was an english teacher, and his mother

a seamstress, Thomas was undoubtedly exposed to socialist ideology;; only two years before his

birth had the South Wale’s Miner’s Federation fought and secured the 8 hour day, and by the

time he was 8 years old, the traditionally industry dominated parliament had a majority of Labor

Party members. (Beverly Smith) Dylan’s hometown was home to many miners, as the Copper

industry flourished in Swansea (Dylan’s Life-­ The Early Years). Many of Dylan’s early sights and

sounds would be dominated with Miners and their plight. Even though he is not directly linked to

the move toward socialism, Thomas was undoubtedly exposed to a very socialist environment.

In the opening lines of his poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night”, Thomas

establishes his pro-­socialist view. His reference to “old age” that should “burn and rave at the

close of day” is a reference to a problem that many workers would have faced during the height

of industrialization;; retirement. Many workers would be able to support themselves after work

was over, and Thomas adamantly believed that they should be given the chance to “burn and

rave” after they end their carriers in the mines or factories. Even in the next line, “ Though wise

men at their end know dark is right” is still supporting a socialist retirement agenda. Although all

die in the end, as wise and often older people know, they should still be given the chance to live

in the light before they truly go into the “dark”.

The mistreatment of workers was also addressed by Thomas, with him adapting the idea

of fair workers rights, very close with socialist and bolshevik policies at the time. In the third

stanza of his poem, he uses a metaphor for factory work, "Good men, the last wave by, cry how

bright, their frail deeds might have danced in a Green Bay." The good men, trapped in the

factory, "cry" at how bright their lives could have been. The "Green Bay", a reference to water, is

teeming with life and possibility (and is thusly “Green) whilst the "good men" are in the last wave,

crashing away from the world at the shore. Thomas believed that man should have a higher

purpose, rather than being suppressed by the capitalists and trapped in the factories, simply

crashing against the rocks. His concluding line in the stanza, "Rage, rage against the dying of

the light", calls for a chance in this order. The dying light is the dying light cultivated by the

rennessiants, the light and ability of man. It is dying because of new formed industrialization, and

Thomas urges the men to change and rage against this new order.

During the 1930’s, while many were out of work Dylan was working his hardest. He

produced almost thirty poems, and worked on a great deal more (Dylan’s Life-­ The 1930’s). This

was at a time in which his country was ailing, as Wales lost almost 450,000 workers and their

families to emigration. There was widespread unemployment, with many struggling to find

meaning. (Beverly Smith). Dylan was in his hometown to witness the devastating effects of

poverty, as mining and industry were the heaviest hit. Dylan was witness to all of the many

misfortunes of those unemployed during the great depression, seeing the plight from his travels

to London. (Dylan’s Life-­ The 1930’s).

There was still hope for the worker, even if they were in dire need of help or unemployed.

In the second to last sanza, Thomas writes about the worker using a metaphor and imagery. It

states that “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like

meteors and be gay”. The worker, the Grave Men that are near death, can still be “gay” and there

is still hope. The blaze that he refers to is not just the light, but the need for change in the

workers life. This notion of revolution, as the “blaze like meteors” is a metaphor to, reinforced

with the closing line of the stanza, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Just like how the

old men deserve to live in the light before the dark, as do the “grave men” deserve to live in the

light to begin with.Thomas believes that the workers deserve this chance, and that they need to

fight for it.

Dylan Thomas’ poem references that many plights of the workers, ranging from

unemployment and lack of retirement to lack of opportunity in their lives. Dylan lived a colorful life,

and was apptly exposed to the plight of the worker. His poem shows this leaning towards the

plight of the worker, and his socialist leaning ideas that are on display in the poem. Even though

others may see it differently, reading “Do not go gentle into that good night” through a Marxists

perspective shows a clear socialist leaning.

Resources

Smith, J(enkyn) Beverley. "The 20th Century." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia

Britannica, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Westphal, Jonathan. "Thomas's 'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.' (Dylan Thomas)." The

Explicator 52.2 (1994): 113+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

"Dylan's Life – Early Years." Dylan Thomas Com. Dylan Thomas Centre, n.d. Web. 11 Mar.

2014.

Dylan's Life – The 1930s." Dylan Thomas Com. Dylan Thomas Centre, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

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Rhetorical Play between Marlowe and Ralegh

Alicia D. Fenney

Course: English 313, Early Modern English Poetry Assignment: Compare two sixteenth-century English poems that use the carpe diem theme. Most poets in Queen Elizabeth’s court wrote about love by objectifying women; some poets ostracized them as superficial, materialistic and manipulative beings, while others preyed on them as ornamental, virtuous and submissive goddesses. Either way, or with any number of variations, the representation of most women in Renaissance poetry is in relation to a male gaze. This conventionally misogynistic view is challenged by courtier Sir Walter Ralegh in his poem “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” a direct response to Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” However, although Ralegh promotes an anti-misogynistic view which destabilizes the traditional framework of female representation in content, his intentions are visible in the poem’s form. In his shrewd reply, he challenges Marlowe with rhetoric, a tool shared by the educated, and carefully concealed from others behind the often elaborate content of the poem. The life of a shepherd offers an opposing parallel to the life of a courtier, so it is no surprise that Marlowe chooses the lowly shepherd as the speaker of his poem. Traditionally, a shepherd was of the lower class; his occupation required little skill and virtually no formal education, despite the difficulty and importance of his job. On the other hand, the courtier was of the upper class that often entailed both a formal education in Latin, Greek, and English grammar, and a mastery of the coveted skill sprezzatura, “manipulating appearances and masking all the tedious memorizing of lines and secret rehearsals that underlie successful social performances” (Abrams 577). A courtier would have viewed the shepherd’s lifestyle as one of relative ease, and a shepherd himself would have been seen as a harmonious and humble man who lived a life of pastoral beauty. Marlowe uses the idealized pastoral scene to evoke a similar response from his readers, and more specifically, to persuade his female companion into a relationship which, like the poem itself, is not all it appears to be. In the first quatrain of Marlowe’s poem, the shepherd delineates an alluring pastoral scene, inviting a presumed woman to taste his lifestyle. He writes “And we will all the pleasures prove/ That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, / Woods, or steepy mountain yields,” and tempts her with a haven from the regular courtly life (ll. 2-4). The shepherd offers this vast landscape to her as if it were his own, enticing her to try the pleasures of nature as he does daily. Using the ending consonance of “s”, the list of boundless places the shepherd has access to seems limitless as the “s” rolls off the tongue seductively. The consonance of “s” continues to create the pastoral mood in the second quatrain. Marlowe writes:

And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,

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By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. (5-8)

In this image of rest and relaxation, the emphasized “s” aurally simulates the hissing of running water portrayed in the poem’s pastoral content. Observation is key to the pastoral theme; the mood is complete when both the senses of the eyes, “seeing,” and the ears, “sing[ing],” are met in natural harmony. Even within nature harmony exists, literally, as birds sing melodies to the sounds of falling water. Ralegh’s response to Marlowe is double-sided; upon first glance, he appears simply to favor realism over idealism, but beneath the content he is manipulating Marlowe’s shepherd with a clever syllogism. Originally introduced by Aristotle, a syllogism is an ancient form of logical argument consisting of two premises and one conclusion. The premises on which Ralegh forms his argument are the poem’s opening lines: “If all the world and love were young, / And truth in every shepherd’s tongue,” which he sets up to disprove Marlowe’s carefully crafted carpe diem scene (1-2). Ralegh, the true speaker cloaked beneath a female façade, insinuates that Marlowe’s intentions are purposely unclear. Time is the conceit here, with age as a signifier for wisdom. Ralegh suggests that the world and love are experienced with Marlowe’s sort and are wise to his artifice. When the nymph indirectly addresses Marlowe as a “shepherd,” Ralegh himself acknowledges that he sees through the veneer, and rather seems to be calling Marlowe a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” In the conclusion of the syllogism Ralegh writes “These pretty pleasures might me move/ To live with thee and be thy love,” essentially disproving Marlowe’s entire argument based on the false premises (3-4). Only the educated would understand the purpose of the syllogism and the importance of Ralegh’s speaking through a female voice. Ralegh’s speaker-choice of a “Nymph” in place of Marlowe’s “Love” is clever, since a nymph could be seen as “a prostitute; a woman regarded as a means of sexual gratification” (“Nymph”). By choosing to respond as a woman who knows from first-hand experience that the world and love are not ideal, Ralegh gives a common prostitute an authority which makes a powerful counterstatement to Marlowe. The very idea of a prostitute’s replacing Marlowe’s “Love” implies that Marlowe is using the woman he courts for sexual gratification. Ralegh manipulates his chosen speaker, the nymph, in the same way Marlowe that manipulates his chosen speaker, the shepherd. In quatrain two, Ralegh works from a framework of realism to portray the effect of time’s passage on the idealized courting relationship Marlowe suggests. He writes: Time drives the flocks from field to fold

When rivers rage and rocks grow cold, And Philomel becometh dumb; The rest complains of cares to come. (5-8)

Ralegh destabilizes the harmonious scene with alliteration similarly to the way Marlowe reinforces it; while Marlowe uses a similar sound throughout, Ralegh’s alliteration changes line by line, creating a separation of ideas. Using the destructive figure of “Time,” Ralegh draws on the seasons’ changing from spring to fall with a change in temperature, “grow[ing] cold,” and

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flocks that are no longer grazing but are pent up. Philomela, a Greek mythological character who sings a mournful song in springtime, represents the death of Marlowe’s idealized spring as she, literally, is no longer able to sing. Her silence could also represent the submissiveness of women, as according to myth she was raped and then silenced by her attacker, a possible analogy to Marlowe’s overture to his love. In this sense, Ralegh is commenting on the two-faced shepherd, whose seemingly harmless temptations may result in the rape, silencing, and perhaps, ultimate rejection of his love. In quatrains three through five, Marlowe’s shepherd offers his love aspects of nature touched by the hand of man, which, although unrealistic, are suggestive of his idealized role. He writes “And I will make thee beds of roses/ And a thousand fragrant posies,” a proposition which is paradoxical (9-10). On the one hand, a bed of roses and posies would make for fragrant relaxation; on the other hand, a bed in itself would be used by both the speaker and his love for sexual intercourse. By coaxing her with a tribute of a thousand hand-picked flowers he could presumably sway her into sexual intercourse, which suggests that she is a stereotypical female. Yet if the bed of petals doesn’t win her over, her similarly stereotyped fascination with fashion will. He writes: A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs. (11-18)

Each of these items would conventionally be desired by women: a cap, hand-embroidered gowns, slippers with gold buckles, and a belt with coral and amber buttons. Unfortunately, these propositions start at possible realism and plunge into certain idealism; although a poor shepherd would have some of these items at hand, like wool, flowers, and straw, for instance, the ready availability of pure gold, coral, and amber is improbable. However, this is an idealized scene: a courtier would have believed shepherds had free time to cater to their loves. Furthermore, the image created by hand-pulling the “finest wool” is enchanting as the shepherd has all the tools literally at his fingertips. Finally, Marlowe’s shepherd seems to be prepared for Ralegh’s suggested death of spring when he offers his love “slippers for the cold.” Again Ralegh replies with the destruction of “Time” but more specifically, the waning of love after the initial courting period is concluded. When he writes “The flowers do fade, and wanton fields/ To wayward winter reckoning yields,” he is saying that flowers die, but love and devotion should remain in the heart long afterwards (9-10). Using a farming conceit, he suggests the shepherd’s love will wither like an undisciplined field; in other words, he is interested while she interests him. Since the speaker fulfills the purpose of a prostitute, when Ralegh writes “A honey tongue, a heart of gall,/ Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall,” he is suggesting that the shepherd is really manipulating the woman for his own sexual needs (11-12). In the spring, or beginning of courting attraction, the shepherd’s tongue is like honey: his words are sweet and

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persuasive. In the fall, towards the sad end of the courting love when their physical love has resulted in a “harvest,” to return to the farming conceit, or child, the shepherd’s heart becomes the bitterness of sorrow in his pursuits.

In quatrains four and five, Ralegh reiterates the items which Marlowe’s shepherd has offered his love and describes how time destroys them; he writes “soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten—/ In folly ripe, in reason rotten” suggesting that, again within a farming conceit, these materialistic items were foolish and unreasonable (15-16). In the final lines of quatrain five, the nymph directly replies to the shepherd, using Marlowe’s own words, and firmly states that none of these “pleasures,” referring to the shepherd’s pleasure in her, would convince her of his loyalty in love. In the final quatrain of Marlowe’s poem, he returns again to a sensual scene enhanced by alliteration to finalize the pastoral mood. He writes “The shepherd’s swains shall dance and sing/ For thy delight each May morning,” and the alliteration of “s” ties together the senses of the eyes, “dance,” and ears, “sing,” in pastoral harmony (21-22). In this idealized scene it is springtime, and as the figure of “Spring” is the herald of love, it seems appropriate that Marlowe ends with this image. When he finalizes his plea with “If these delights thy mind may move,/ Then live with me and be my love,” he is using a shortened syllogism in courtly persuasion (23-24). However, the syllogism is rhetorical, because in theory an idealized pastoral scene is presumed to move the minds of all. Ralegh ends with a formal syllogism similar to his first which adds symmetry to his poem. His premises, “But could youth last and love still breed,/ Had joys no date nor age no need,” use the image of destructive time again (21-22). He suggests that love is a function of age, decreasing with time, that pleasures such as Marlowe suggests have a terminal date, and that with age, more than courtly love is desired and needed by women. Since none of these things are true in the mind of Ralegh, he writes “Then these delights my mind might move/ To live with thee and be thy love,” essentially poking fun at Marlowe for suggesting such an outrageous idea by using his very words (23-24). The poems of Ralegh and Marlowe reveal the court of Queen Elizabeth as the site of an educated interplay of ideas. To take a Renaissance poem out of its original context would not do justice to the sprezzatura required to execute such a witty task. The play with speakers, alliteration, and syllogism in both men’s poems is proof of such sprezzatura, and the poems themselves are social performances by the poets. These poems would have been read among members of the court and so challenges would resonate throughout the court since the readers knew the writers, thus amplifying the power of their arguments. Ralegh seems to be an exception to the male gaze in this Renaissance poem; however, beneath the surface he, like Marlowe, is a courtier glorifying himself through his shrewd use of rhetoric.

Works Cited

Hoby, Sir Thomas. “From Castiglione’s The Courtier.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2000. 577.

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Marlowe, Christopher. “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Eds. Ferguson, Margaret, Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2005. 256.

“Nymph.” Oxford English Dictionary Online: http://dictionary.oed.com/. 2006. Ralegh, Sir Walter. “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd.” The Norton Anthology of Poetry.

Eds. Ferguson, Margaret, Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2005. 152.

Appendix A

Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”

Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove

That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,

Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses

And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull;

Fair lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,

With coral clasps and amber studs; And if these pleasures may thee move,

Come live with me and be my love.

The shepherds’ swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each May morning:

If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me and be my love.

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Appendix B

Sir Walter Ralegh’s “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd”

If all the world and love were young, And truth on every shepherd’s tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move

To live with thee and be thy love.

Time drives the flocks from field to fold When rivers rage and rocks grow cold,

And Philomel becometh dumb; The rest complains of cares to come.

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields To wayward winter reckoning yields;

A honey tongue, a heart of gall, Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.

Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,

Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten—

In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and ivy buds, Thy coral clasps and amber studs,

All these in me no means can move To come to thee and be thy love.

But could youth last and love still breed,

Had joys no date nor age no need, Then these delights my mind might move

To live with thee and be thy love.