Death is an aspect of life that everyone encounters sooner or later. Everyone dies, but people have different attitudes towards death. In the first poem "Death, Be not Proud" John Donne takes the power away from death. Donne says, death is like a short sleep and nobody should be scared of death. Donne also argues that death cannot kill his soul; because his soul is a path for eternal life. In the second poem, "Do not Go Gentle Into that Good Night" Dylan Thomas encourages people to live complete lives before death comes and to fight death. Even though, they both speak about death, Thomas places emphasis on fight against death, while Donne takes the power from death.
In "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," Thomas speak about death to encourage people not to give up into death and fight for life. Thomas describe different types of men to tell that they should not take death so easily. For instance, he says, "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright their frail deeds might dance in a green bay" (Thomas Lines 7-8). It appears that Thomas gives an example of men who cried after death even though they were good and cannot accept the truth why it's happen to them. Consequently, he says, "Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (3-4). It appears that Thomas telling that people should have all their dreams and happiness before their death, and also fight against death. Therefore, he believes, people should live complete life and be happy before die.
In contrast, in "Death be not Proud" describes the death as powerless and a pathway to eternal life. Donne believes that death doesn't have any power to kill human souls. Donne repeated the word of "death" to show that it does not have any right to be proud. So people should not scare of death, since it is just a short sleep and not important.