Dylan Thomas’ father had been a robust, militant man most of his life, and when in his eighties, he became blind and weak, his son was disturbed seeing his father become “soft” or “gentle.” In this poem, Thomas is rousing his father to continue being the fierce man he had previously been.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
The major task of mourning the death of a loved one is acceptance. That is, accepting the reality that the loved one is no longer with you and accepting the multiplicity of changes that are taking place in your life due to the loss. Resisting inevitable change only leads to more pain.
There remains some controversy about how to best help people survive the loss of a loved one. While many forms of support are used and do help certain individuals, little scientific research has shown clear benefits for any particular approach.
people with depression either may not recognize that they have a treatable disorder or may be discouraged from seeking or staying on treatment due to feelings of shame and stigma. Too often, untreated or inadequately treated depression is associated with suicide.
Alcohol and depression do not mix well, however. Alcohol itself is a depressant and can exacerbate existing cases of depression. On the other hand, many alcoholics drink to “self-medicate” in order to cope with things like depression.
Dylan Thomas died in the United States on a tour on November 9, 1953. His death resulted much from his alcoholism
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I enjoy reading the explanations you found and how they relate to his writing. I would imagine there would still be some controversy about how to help people deal with the loss of a loved one, it's not an easy thing to do. Good job on the length also- it was easy to read.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used the poem to interpret Dylan Thomas’s life, and used it to show that he was depressed. You found some really good information about depression in general and about its affect on Thomas. It seems you understood that Thomas used this poem as an express of his severe depression over his father’s death. You used the information well to develop a good explanation.
ReplyDeleteI like your choice of poem for this blog and i think you did a good job in relating Dylan Thomas's life to the poem he wrote. I also like how you the part where you address the controversy that stills remains in how to help people handle the loss of a loved one.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoy how relate-able and human your entry on Thomas' poem is. You hit upon the psychological process a person goes through when losing a loved one, which was a good read. Perhaps to add to the entry, you could have included a historical aspect by writing about Thomas' father's accomplishments and why Thomas admired him as much as he did.
ReplyDeleteI found it humorous how quickly you went from stating the negative effects of alcohol to Thomas' (unfortunate) reason of death when you wrote "alcohol and depression do not mix well" and concluded with "his death resulted much from his alcoholism". That tickled (in a sad way, of course)!
I do agree, though, that it is a bad idea to "self-medicate" and hopefully people cope with depression in other ways.
This is a great, unique post!