Death in Don't be kind into that good night and Death don't be proudThe poems "Don't be kind into that good night" and "Death don't be proud" "both deal with the theme of death. These poems seem to contain contradictory messages about death, but at the same time they have similar attitudes towards it. "Death Be Not Proud" talks about how death has no power over people, while "Do Not Go Kindly Into That Good Night" states that it is part of human nature to fight against death. Both "Do Not Go Kindly Into That Good Night" and "Death Be Not Proud" see death as an adversary; however, one sees him as an already defeated opponent while the other sees him as an enemy who must be defeated. In “Let Death Not Be Proud” Donne says “those you think you overthrow / Die not, poor Death, nor can you kill me” (lines 3-4). This passage shows Donne's belief that people will always overcome death. In Thomas' poem, he writes "Good men, the last wave passes, crying how bright / Their frail deeds might have danced in the green bay, / Anger, anger against the dying of the light" (7-9). Even "good men" are ultimately defeated by death according to Thomas. The tone of both of these poems is that of resentment towards death, albeit in different ways. In "Death Be Not Proud" Donne hates death because he thinks it has power over human beings and according to him exactly the opposite is true. Donne says that death is "the slave of fate, of chance, of kings and desperate men." (9). He thinks that Death has no reason to be proud because it relies on these things for its power, so in reality people have power over Death. Thomas, however, thinks almost the opposite. He sees death as a power over people and says that people don't... middle of paper... his father does the same. Although “Death Be Not Proud” is ostensibly directed at the personification of death, it seems like it could also be directed at people who treat death as if it were “powerful and terrible” (2). He wants to convey this message to those who fear and respect death, that death is controlled by people, not the other way around. These two poems can each be summarized by one line each. In "Do Not Go Softly into That Good Night" the main point of the poem is "Old age should burn and rave at the end of the day" (2), and in "Death is not proud", "death will be no more; Death , you will die" (14). When you look at these two lines, the essence of these two poets' disagreement on death is exemplified. Thomas believes that one should not "go gently into that good night", while Donne believes that death is the "rest of their bones and the surrender of the soul"." (8).