Do not go gentle into that good night (page 4)

John Doe

Anyone who says they don't like poetry just hasn't been around good poetry.

Hortensia

I think I should change my avatar. The old girl doesn't look right next to this thread. Too grim. I actually feel pretty lighthearted tonight.

amicus

Hey pop, don't go! Curse me, cry over me, live!

Yeah, but not even that extreme...it dosen't have to be death, a slow withdrawal from life would fit. Common today in our society, perhaps not as common, but still bemoaned by our ancestors.

When ones way of life is challenged, one uses every resource available. This is an extreme example, but it still fits.

Hortensia

watching someone you love just give up on life is painful. I see what you mean.

amicus

UNDER the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie:
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you 'grave for me:
5 Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

That's beautiful. I've always believed that life should overrule any fear of death (even in my pre jw days). This makes me wonder though.

There's focus in that poem.

Could I say the same?

I've always liked that poem because looking at stars gives me the same sort of feeling other people get from the ocean or mountains. I feel soothed and reassured somehow when I look at the stars. And I like the goal of being satisfied with life and therefore not afraid to give it up

The best lines are

Home is the sailor, home from the sea,

And the hunter home from the hill

Home from working, striving, voyaging. sounds peaceful, doesn't it?

amicus

And I like the goal of being satisfied with life and therefore willing to give it up.

Yeah, or dying for a good cause...almost the same. We never really want to see the end. Sometimes we can look back though and say, "I'm ok with this, things turned out pretty well."

The difference between the two would be "tribalism" vs. "self-determination"?

Hortensia

not sure where you're going. Does tribalism produce less fear of death, more acceptance? I don't think anyone wants to die, no matter what lovely poetry they write about it. But the idea that a satisfying life makes it less painful to give up life makes it sound better.

amicus

Tribalism, to me, implies a way of life most of us here have abandoned. Self determination is the antithesis.

Hortensia

I think a tribal life, very intimate connection with and dependence upon everyone else in the tribe, might be very comforting. However, when you are used to self-determination I don't think you can go back. It's isolated but compelling.

Do not go gentle into that good night

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