"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas died at the early age of 39. He was both a
writer and a poet who at the age of 16 became a journalist. He was a Welsh poet
and was said to have been one of the most important in the 20th
century.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
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.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Thomas conveys a very emotional message in this poem. He asserts
that old men at the ends of their lives should resist death as strongly as they
can. In fact, they should only leave this world kicking and screaming, furious
that they have to die at all. At the end of the poem, we discover that the speaker
has a personal stake in this issue: his own father is dying. Although his
message is very passionate he doesn't stray away from his very strict writing
form. He divided the poem into six stanzas, each three lines a piece, and all
containing iambic pentameter. The poem throughout has an A B A rhythm scheme,
except for the final lines of each stanzas. These lines are either “Rage, rage
against the dying of the light” or “Do not go gentle into the good night.” They
follow their own pattern, once more helping the reader to understand Thomas’
point. By ending the each lines with either of these sayings the use of repetition
adds to the idea of not giving into the temptation of death. This strict form
of three lines drives home his beliefs in death and are constantly being reinforced.
Although he is passionate his tone does not come off at someone who is intensely
angry and aggressive. He is more trying to convey his point and persuade others
to believe in what he is saying. Emphasizing his point once more, Thomas adds
both of his infamous sayings to the end of the last stanza. By adding both of
these, it adds an extra line to the last stanza separating how one reads it
from the rest.
