Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Poem by Dylan Thomas
Uploaded by tyson_626 on Dec 22, 2004
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, by Dylan Thomas
This is a very personal poem, written by Dylan to his dying father, and pleading him not to give in, but to fight death. However, even without knowing the background of the poem, the content is very self-explanatory.
The poem is written in six stanzas, the first of which explains the purpose, and motivation of the poem. It uses very strong, and powerful words such as "burn", "rage", and "rave", and therefore suggest a sense of urgency in Thomas' plea. It also includes the term "close of day", which suggests night, and may be Thomas' way of writing about death in an easier way, as he must have found it painful. The poem opens with the title, and ends in its parallel "Rage, rage, against the dying of the light." These two phrases are used alternately to close each of the following stanzas, to emphasise Thomas' point, and both are used to end the poem on a compelling and gripping note.
The following four stanzas each begin with a description of a certain type of person. For example, "wise men", "good men", "wild men", and "grave men". These are all qualities Thomas admires in his father, and uses them to make a different point, and reason for fighting death.
The second stanza declares that although a wise man expects and understands the inevitability of death, he should not give up until his words and actions in life had made a real impact. Obviously Thomas felt his father still had much to give. Thomas uses a large amount of light and dark imagery to express life and death, and he uses it in this stanza to explain that death happens to everyone:
"Though wise men at their end know dark is right."
This is an unusual comparison to draw, as dark usually signifies evil, and fear, however in the poem Thomas uses it to describe death as similar to sleep, and therefore softens the impact for himself, and his father. However, the symbolism of life being light, and death being dark is still a strong and thought provoking image, and therefore he hopes it will be enough to persuade and inspire his father to fight.
The third stanza describes how "Good men" will regret that they may have been more appreciated elsewhere, however if his father...