essay on do not go gentle into that good night

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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Summary & Analysis by Dylan Thomas

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is a poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, first published in 1951. Though the poem was dedicated to Thomas’s father, it contains a universal message. The poem encourages the dying—the sick and the elderly—to fight bravely against death. The poem also celebrates the vibrancy and energy of human life, even though life is fragile and short.

• Read the full text of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”

The Full Text of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”

“do not go gentle into that good night” summary, “do not go gentle into that good night” themes.

Death and Defiance

Family, Grief, and Old Age

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “do not go gentle into that good night”.

Do not go ... ... of the light.

Though wise men ... ... that good night.

Good men, the ... ... of the light.

Lines 10-12

Wild men who ... ... that good night.

Lines 13-15

Grave men, near ... ... of the light.

Lines 16-19

And you, my ... ... of the light.

“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Symbols

• Line 3: “light”
• Line 9: “light”
• Line 15: “light”
• Line 19: “light”

• Line 5: “lightning”

• Line 8: “green bay”

• Line 14: “meteors”

“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

End-stopped line.

• Line 1: “night,”
• Line 2: “day;”
• Line 3: “light.”
• Line 4: “right,”
• Line 6: “night.”
• Line 8: “bay,”
• Line 9: “light.”
• Line 10: “flight,”
• Line 11: “way,”
• Line 12: “night.”
• Line 14: “gay,”
• Line 15: “light.”
• Line 16: “height,”
• Line 17: “pray.”
• Line 18: “night.”
• Line 19: “light.”
• Lines 5-6: “they / Do”
• Lines 7-8: “bright / Their”
• Lines 13-14: “sight / Blind”
• Line 3: “,”
• Line 7: “,,” “,”
• Line 9: “,”
• Line 11: “,,” “,”
• Line 13: “,,” “,”
• Line 15: “,”
• Line 16: “,,” “,”
• Line 17: “,”
• Line 19: “,”

Alliteration

• Line 1: “n,” “g,” “g,” “n”
• Line 3: “R,” “r”
• Line 6: “n,” “g,” “g,” “n”
• Line 7: “b,” “b”
• Line 8: “d,” “d”
• Line 9: “R,” “r”
• Line 10: “s,” “s”
• Line 11: “l,” “l”
• Line 12: “n,” “g,” “g,” “n”
• Line 13: “s,” “s”
• Line 14: “Bl,” “bl,” “b”
• Line 15: “R,” “r”
• Line 18: “n,” “g,” “g,” “n”
• Line 19: “R,” “r”
• Line 2: “O,” “a,” “a,” “o,” “a”
• Line 3: “a,” “a,” “y,” “i”
• Line 4: “ou,” “i,” “o,” “i”
• Line 7: “y,” “y,” “i”
• Line 8: “ai,” “ee,” “ee,” “a”
• Line 9: “a,” “a,” “y,” “i”
• Line 10: “a,” “a”
• Line 11: “a,” “i,” “i,” “ay”
• Line 13: “e,” “ea,” “i,” “i”
• Line 14: “i,” “eye,” “a,” “i,” “e,” “e,” “e,” “ay”
• Line 15: “a,” “a,” “y,” “i”
• Line 19: “a,” “a,” “y,” “i”
• Line 1: “D,” “n,” “t,” “g,” “n,” “t,” “nt,” “t,” “g,” “d,” “n,” “t”
• Line 2: “l,” “d,” “r,” “r,” “l”
• Line 3: “R,” “g,” “r,” “g”
• Line 4: “n,” “n,” “r,” “k,” “r”
• Line 5: “c,” “s,” “r,” “r,” “s,” “r,” “k”
• Line 6: “D,” “n,” “g,” “nt,” “nt,” “t,” “g,” “d,” “n,” “t”
• Line 7: “b,” “r,” “b,” “t”
• Line 8: “r,” “r,” “d,” “d,” “d,” “n,” “r,” “n”
• Line 10: “s,” “s,” “n,” “n”
• Line 11: “n,” “l,” “n,” “l”
• Line 12: “D,” “n,” “g,” “nt,” “nt,” “t,” “g,” “d,” “n,” “t”
• Line 13: “r,” “n,” “n,” “r,” “d,” “s,” “bl,” “n,” “d,” “s”
• Line 14: “Bl,” “nd,” “c,” “d,” “bl,” “l,” “k”
• Line 16: “th,” “r,” “th,” “r,” “th”
• Line 17: “r,” “s,” “ss,” “r,” “c,” “r,” “s,” “r”
• Line 18: “D,” “n,” “g,” “nt,” “t,” “g,” “d,” “n,” “t”
• Line 14: “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay”
• Line 1: “Do not go gentle,” “good night”
• Line 2: “Old age should burn,” “close of day”
• Line 3: “the dying of the light”
• Line 5: “forked no lightning”
• Line 6: “good night”
• Line 7: “the last wave by”
• Line 8: “danced in a green bay”
• Line 9: “the dying of the light”
• Line 10: “caught and sang the sun in flight”
• Line 15: “the dying of the light”
• Line 16: “the sad height”
• Line 18: “good night”
• Line 19: “the dying of the light”
• Line 3: “Rage, rage”
• Line 9: “Rage, rage”
• Line 15: “Rage, rage”
• Line 19: “Rage, rage”
• Line 1: “Do not go gentle into that good night”
• Line 3: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
• Line 6: “Do not go gentle into that good night”
• Line 9: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
• Line 12: “Do not go gentle into that good night”
• Line 15: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
• Lines 18-19: “Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Parallelism

• Line 4: “Though wise men at their end know dark is right”
• Line 7: “Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright”
• Line 10: “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight”
• Line 13: “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight”
• Line 17: “Curse, bless”
• Lines 10-12: “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.”

“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• (Location in poem: Line 1: “go”; Line 6: “go”; Line 12: “go”; Line 18: “go”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”

Rhyme scheme, “do not go gentle into that good night” speaker, “do not go gentle into that good night” setting, literary and historical context of “do not go gentle into that good night”, more “do not go gentle into that good night” resources, external resources.

Go Gentle Into That Good Night — An article at the Herald Mail calls into question the advice Dylan Thomas gives to his dying father.

Dylan Thomas Reads "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" — In this brief video, the poet Dylan Thomas reads aloud his own poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."

'Rage Against The Dying Of The Light': How Entrepreneurs Can Persevere — At Forbes Magazine, Mike Templeman thinks about how Thomas's poem might serve as an inspiration to contemporary business leaders.

Dylan Thomas's Life — A detailed biography of Dylan Thomas from The Poetry Foundation.

The Story Behind "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." — Maria Popova tells the story behind "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."

LitCharts on Other Poems by Dylan Thomas

A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London

In My Craft or Sullen Art

Poem in October

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower

The Hand That Signed the Paper

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Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas Essay

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Introduction

Works cited.

The poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” is a desperate plea to a man who can do nothing but postpone the inevitable. His father is dying but the narrator wants him to fight this state. Through the use of imagery, the poet conveys the futility of his protagonist’s wishes, and makes one relate to the hopelessness of his father’s situation.

Dylan Thomas uses plenty of imagery to evoke emotions of desperation. The second line in the poem epitomizes this aspect. “Old age should burn and rave at close of day.” (Thomas 194). In the analysis, the author believes that one should fight for life in spite of one’s age. The metaphors ‘burn’ and ‘rave’ stir up images of violent motion. They cause one to think of an intense fight or wild movements. Thomas is associating these images with old age. Immediately, one can see the irony of the two concepts because passivity and resignation typify old age. If the protagonist calls for the raving of old age, then he is advocating for something that directly contravenes the norms of old age. It is unlikely that his father has the will-power or energy to follow these instructions. Furthermore, his raving and burning will not change anything as he will inevitably die.

The third line in the poem carries the theme of hopelessness even more profoundly. “Because their words had forked no lighting…” explains why many dying, old people find themselves in this state of desperation (Thomas 194). Individuals in this situation often realize that their time has ended, yet they have not left a mark in society. Consequently, they will fight death in a last-minute attempt to create a legacy in their society. When the writer connects ‘words’ to ‘forking’, he means that the assertions made by dying men, earlier on their lives, did not stick into the minds of their listeners. In other words, they had no lasting impact. The words were meant to cause enlightenment, hence the use of the term ‘lighting’ in the phrase. Such individuals may attempt to undo this predicament by fighting death. Once again, it is quite clear how futile such attempts are. When death is imminent, it does not matter how strongly one tries to oppose it because it will still triumph. If the dying man had lived an insignificant life, then eleventh-hour attempts to rewrite history are bound to fail.

In line seven, the poet describes how good men’s frail deeds might have danced in a green bay. Thomas uses personification to illustrate the inescapability of death. In this line, he is talking about an extinct class of men who lament upon the greatness of their actions in the past. He calls their great deeds frail and then claims that they can dance in a green bay. A green bay is an endless sea; therefore, the word green bay invokes feelings of endlessness. Anything that is compared to this physical feature also shares the same traits of continuity.

On the other hand, Thomas does not just liken their great deeds to an endless sea; instead, he affirms that the deeds dance on the sea. The fact that he calls good men’s deeds frail implies how flimsy they are. When they dance on top of an endless sea, then they have even fewer chances of survival. The writer thus proves that even good men, who belong to a dying breed, cannot change death’s relentlessness. Society will still forget a person’s actions even when their achievements were great. Trying to emphasize one’s actions in life is similar to floating fragile items on the sea. Therefore, dying men are not doing anything productive by counting their accomplishments.

Dylan Thomas employs figurative language in the form of metaphors when he addresses another category of dying men. These individuals were wild and free. In line ten, he asserts that “the wild men caught and sang the sun in flight” (Thomas 194). In this verse, the word ‘sun’ evokes feelings of happiness, pleasure and excitement. On the other hand, by adding the term “in flight” at the end of the line, the author demonstrates that these feelings were transitory. The dying, wild man eventually realizes that he has wasted away his life on these adventures. The person learns too late that he is a mortal soul. In order to right one’s wrong, a dying, wild man will hold onto to life. This will be a futile attempt to remember one’s youth and hopefully change one’s past. Such an attempt is like trying to chase after the sun, as this meaningless.

The author also employs imagery to bring out the theme of desperation in another category of men. Here, the poet talks about “grave men who see with blinding sight” (Thomas 194). The term grave refers to people who have lived their life with a lot of sadness. It could also encompass nearness to the grave. These individuals have failing bodies that do not function well. However, by using the expression ‘seeing with blinding sight’, the author shows that these men have a clear understanding of what life is about. ‘Blinding sight’ evokes feelings of very clear vision. The perception of a person with blinding sight is so sharp that it could cause physical effects in one’s body.

In line 14, the author likens these men’s blind eyes to meteors. Thomas wanted to stress the passion in their minds regardless of their failing physical bodies. It is likely that the protagonist wanted to urge his father to hold onto life because even grave men, like him, had something unique in them. Vanity still exists in such an argument because failing physical body parts precede the failure of one’s whole system. Grave men are in an irreversible position, so nothing can save them from death; even their passion and clear understanding of life.

Line seventeen is a plea from the protagonist to his father to fight for life. Once again, the poet uses imagery to emphasize the futility of this endeavor. The caring son asks his father to bless or curse him with fierce tears. The assonance ‘fierce tears’ makes one think of the passion and pain of the speaker. If tears are fierce, then the person shedding them is not doing so out of resignation; his crying is like a fight. To the protagonist, fierce tears can scare away death. However, it is obvious that death cannot be scared because it is not an animate creature.

The stanzas in the entire poem either end with “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” or “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Thomas 194). In the latter phrase, the word ‘night’ symbolizes a quiet and dull time. This is a moment when one has completed the day’s responsibilities and is highly subdued. Therefore, the word invokes images of passivity, relaxation as well as dimness. The author probably calls the night good because it is an opportunity for people to forget about their responsibilities and relax. On the other hand, the phrase “rage, rage against the dying of light” makes one think about the opposite situation. People are often quite busy during the day.

They find purpose and meaning in their lives during the day when they engage in various activities. Therefore, when they let go of light, which is synonymous with day time, then they are also letting go of meaning and purpose in life. The poet is contrasting these situations and asking his father to choose light. The imagery of the two lines creates a contrast and emphasizes the value of having purpose in one’s life. On the other hand, they also further the theme of hopelessness because one cannot change time. Day will always precede night irrespective of what one does. Therefore, if one is old and about die, fighting these changes will not yield any effective results.

The protagonist in the piece encourages his father to approach his death with enthusiasm. It is a desperate plea to a father who can do little to change his circumstances. Through imagery, it is possible to see the futility in his requests. All the examples he uses only reinforce the irreversibility of one’s youth and the fleeting nature of human existence. Wise men, wild men and grave men cannot change death even if they rage and fight it.

Thomas, Dylan. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction. Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. 4th Ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2006. 194. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2020, May 21). Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas. https://ivypanda.com/essays/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night-by-dylan-thomas/

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Bibliography

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A Short Analysis of Dylan Thomas’s ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ is probably the best-known villanelle in English poetry . If you’re not sure what a villanelle is, don’t worry – it’s not important right now. But it’s one reason why the poem is worth reading. The other is that ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ is one of Dylan Thomas’s most famous, and finest, poems. You can read it here . What follows constitutes our analysis of this poem of brave defiance in the face of certain death.

A number of Dylan Thomas’s poems offer a sinewy, unsentimental approach to death: in another poem, he offers his reasons for refusing to mourn the death of a child in the London Blitz . In ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’, the death he concerns himself with is somewhat closer to home: his own father’s. But Thomas’s own demise would follow not long after he composed these defiant words for his father, so the poem might also, oddly, be analysed as autobiographical, in a quasi-prophetic sort of way.

‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’: summary

The best way to begin analysing ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ is, perhaps, by offering a summary – or paraphrase – of Thomas’s taunt, gnomic statements and commands to his father. Paraphrase might be more useful than summary, given the strong, confident, and imperative voice we hear from the poet here, so here goes:

First stanza: ‘Father, do not allow death to take you without putting up a fight. Old people, as they approach the end of their lives, should be filled with fire and anger.’

Second stanza: ‘Even though wise men know, as they die, that it is fitting for them to die, having lived a long life, they refuse to go gladly into death because they know that a wise man’s words (about accepting one’s death) are all well and good, but are useless in practice.’

Third stanza: ‘Never mind wise men. What about good men? When they are close to death, crying how all their good deeds came to nothing, like so many bright glimmers on the surface of water in a green bay (i.e. beautiful and bright, but frail and of little lasting worth), rage against their imminent deaths.’

Fourth stanza: ‘Okay, what about wild men, then? They lived their lives to the full, and learned all too late that such bold and exciting living only ends in grief, refuse to accept their deaths with meek acceptance.’

Fifth stanza: ‘Serious and sincere men – but also, men who are shortly for the grave, i.e. “grave” men – when approaching their own deaths, realise in a moment of terrible insight that their lives could have been bright and exciting (like the wild men’s lives), and regret not having taken more chances when they had the opportunity, rage against their imminent deaths and the loss of opportunity.’

Sixth stanza: ‘And now let’s turn to consider one man in particular – you, my own father. There, on the edge of death, please show some sign that you still live and are imbued with all the signs of life – I don’t mind whether you bless me with your angry grief or whether you curse me, as long as you do something.’

Of course, such a paraphrase reduces Thomas’s poem to its bare meaning (where a single ‘meaning’ can be divined), and destroys his beautiful use of double meanings (e.g. ‘Grave men’), alliteration ( ‘Blind eyes could blaze’), and repetition (the powerful return of the same two sloganistic phrases which the villanelle has built into its structure). But, with any luck, such a summary helps to get a handle on Thomas’s meaning.

‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’: analysis

As we mentioned at the beginning of this analysis, ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ is a villanelle, a poem divided into a series of three-line stanzas where the same two repeated lines of verse comprise the last line of each alternating stanza.

So ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’, as well as providing the poem’s opening line, also concludes the second and fourth stanzas; ‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light’ – its counter-refrain, if you will – concludes the first, third, and fifth stanzas. Both lines then conclude the sixth and final stanza of the poem by forming a rhyming couplet.

The villanelle, as the name of the verse form implies, has its origins in French poetry: the form dates back to a late sixteenth-century poem ‘Villanelle (J’ay perdu ma Tourterelle)’ by Jean Passerat, but it was in the twentieth century that it became a great English verse form. (Indeed, it appears that Passerat invented the form himself with this poem).

And a number of English poets – especially Anglophone poets, writing after, and partly against, the high moment of modernism – had a go at writing villanelles in the mid-twentieth century. For other widely anthologised examples, see W. H. Auden’s ‘ If I Could Tell You ’ and William Empson’s ‘ Missing Dates ’.

This poetic form enables Thomas to use the title within the poem as both an instruction (or request) and a simple indicative statement. So although the poem opens with a clear command: ‘Do not go gentle …’ (and note Thomas’s irregular use of ‘gentle’ as an adverb: ‘gently’ would have been to smooth over the realities of dying all too gently), when the mantra recurs at the end of the second stanza it follows a run-on line describing wise men (‘they / Do not go gentle’), and so becomes indicative rather than imperative.

This shifts the poem between the two modes, between asking his father to put up one last fight against the terror of death, and talking of how ‘wise men’ and ‘wild men’ (among others) have provided an example to follow by their defiant actions, using their last breaths to contest their own annihilation.

It is that first stanza which shows Dylan Thomas’s way with vowels (and, for that matter, consonants) so wonderfully: ‘age’ and ‘rave’ play against each other with their long ‘a’ sounds, only to coalesce into ‘rage’ in the next line – decidedly apt, since the rage Thomas describes is a result of old age and, in Philip Larkin’s words, ‘the only end of age’.

‘Rage, rage’ offers a nice example of the spondee (or heavy iamb, depending on your perspective on spondees), where two syllables are sounded with a similar amount of emphasis. Such emphatic words convey the disordered rage which Thomas wants his father to allow to overcome him.

The rhymes, too, cleverly reflect Thomas’s desire that his father allow a little daylight into his darkest final hours: ‘night’ plays off ‘light’ in terms of rhyme and meaning, but ‘day’, sandwiched between them, semantically opposes ‘night’ (just as Thomas’s father is being asked to oppose its oppressions) before giving way to ‘light’.

You can hear Dylan Thomas reading ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ here . It really is an unmissable experience. And perhaps these words of analysis have shed a little light on the workings of the poem, and how it manages to produce such a powerful incantatory effect.

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Do not go gentle into that good night

By Dylan Thomas

‘Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night’ is Dylan Thomas’s most famous work, penned in response to his father’s death. This powerful poem urges resistance against the inevitable nature of death, encapsulating Thomas’s rich imagery and universal themes.

Dylan Thomas

Nationality: Welsh

His poetry often explored themes of life, death, nature, and the complexities of human emotions.

Key Poem Information

Unlock more with Poetry +

Central Message: One should fight against death till the last moment.

Themes: Aging , Death , Journey

Speaker: Mostly likely Dylan Thomas, although anonymous

Emotions Evoked: Bravery , Confidence , Courage

Poetic Form: Parable , Triplet

Time Period: 20th Century

This poem explores the human experience of aging and death, with a message of resistance and defiance that continues to inspire readers to this day.

Poem Analyzed by Andrew Walker

B.A. Honors in Professional Writing and Communication (Minor in Historical Studies)

‘ Do not go gentle into that good night’ was initially published in a literary journal in 1951.  It later appeared in one of Thomas’s own volumes the next year. It is a noticeably dark poem, concerning itself with the end of life and the personal struggle to hang onto that life for as long as possible. Fans of Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems ) have speculated that the poem was written for his ailing father, who passed away the year after the poem was first published. But, without clear evidence, it’s important to consider the speaker as potentially separate from the poet.

It is interesting (albeit very sad) to note that in the two years following the poem’s publication, Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems ) himself, along with his father, unborn son, and three of his friends, would also pass away, giving the work a grim, real-world aspect of foreshadowing to it.

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Explore Do not go gentle into that good night

• 6 Structure and Form
• 7 Literary Devices
• 8 Detailed Analysis
• 9 Why Did Dylan Thomas Write ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’? 
• 10 Similar Poetry

‘Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems )  is a moving poem that defines death and tells readers to defy it and rage against it for as long as possible.

The speaker spends most of the poem telling readers, and it as it turns out their own father, not to give into death peacefully and calmly. One shouldn’t just accept that it’s coming and go to it willingly. Good people resist until the last moment, knowing that there’s more that they could to improve the world. The same can be said for daring and energetic people who know how exciting and beautiful life can be. In the final stanza , the speaker turns to address someone personal in their lives– their father. This person is facing old age, and the speaker wants them to “rage” against the dark like everyone else.

The principal idea for this poem is that human beings should resist death with all of their strength before the end.

The poem includes the repetition of the line “do not go gentle into that good night” several times, a great example as a refrain . These lines act as a mirror for each other concerning their connotation . The first refrain has a calmer and more positive connotation to it, specifically by using the phrases “gentle” and “good night.”

The second one, on the other hand, repeats the word “rage” and references “the dying of the light,” two much more grim ideas that are both expressions of the same idea as in the first one. The repetitive nature of these lines, as previously mentioned, conveys an aspect of obsession from the narrator on the topic.

If the narrator is meant to be the voice of Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems ) himself, then this could make sense in the light of his father’s illness at the time of his creation for the work.

Thomas engages with themes of death, defiance, and old age .

All three of these themes are wrapped up in the speaker’s declarations about death and how one should confront it. Throughout the first five stanzas of the poem, the speaker spends the lines generally talking about death and how one should stand up in the face of it. One should not “go gentle” into the darkness but “rage” against the “dying of the light.”

Despite this, the poet acknowledges that death is universal. There’s no way for someone to avoid death forever. It’s always going to catch up in the end. The speaker tries to teach the reader, and it turns out, one specific person, how to deal with death.

It’s not until the last stanza of the poem that the subject goes from broad to specific. It becomes clear that the poet is addressing his or her father and had him in mind the whole time. The poem is at once universal and specific. It applies to everyone, but at this moment, it is for one person–the speaker ’s father.

In  ‘Do not go gentle into that good night,’  Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems ) uses light, meteors, and lightning.

• Light . Light is the most important symbol used in this poem. It symbolizes a will to live and a desire to change the world for the better. When the listener and reader fight against death, they are headed towards the light and away from the darkness. Light symbolizes the best parts of life and everything worth fighting for.
• Meteors . In lines thirteen through fourteen, the poet describes “Grave men, near death” and how blind eyes “could blaze like meteors and be gay.” They can still experience joy like a bright flash across the sky. The meteor symbolizes hope and the potential for a lasting effect on the world.
• Lightning . Lightning symbolizes inspiration and is seen in lines four through five when the wise men realize that their “words had forked no lightning.” They realized there was no they could’ve done to improve the lives of those around them. The men continue to fight for their lives with the hope that they’ll experience that flash of lightning and be bettered because of it. Lightning also symbolizes power. It is beyond the touch of death, just like these men would like to be.

Even though Thomas is often cast as the speaker in  ‘Do not go gentle into that good night,’  the speaker is actually anonymous. They do not have a name, gender, or age. The only piece of personal information available is that they have an ailing father whose near death. They care deeply about this person and use the broad descriptions of death in the first five stanzas as a prelude to their main intention–speaker to and about their father.

Structure and Form

‘Do not go gentle into that good night’  is an example (and probably the most famous English example) of a villanelle , a form of poetry first conceived in seventeenth-century France .

Today, it is an uncommon poetic form but still an effective one when used properly. The villanelle has a rigid form to it: it is a poem written in six stanzas, where the first five are tercets , and the final one is a quatrain . Furthermore, it is characterized by the appearance of two repeating refrains .

The first refrain is always the first line of the first verse and is repeated at the end of the second and fourth verse; the second refrain is the last line of the first verse and is repeated at the end of the third and fifth verses . The first refrain is also the third line of the fifth verse.

The refrains must rhyme with each other; as well, the second lines of each verse must rhyme with each other, and the first lines must rhyme with the refrains. As such, the rhyming pattern of a villanelle is always ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA.

The villanelle is an uncommonly seen form of poetry because of the rules and requirements associated with it. Typically, this kind of poem takes advantage of its rigid repetition and is used to express some form of obsessive thought process. This poem is a strong example of the latter.

With regards to the meter , the poem is primarily in iambic pentameter , featuring notable metrical variations and irregular rhythms . Such irregularities include the emphasis on “rage” against death. Opening with spondees and balancing with pyrrhic feet, it conveys a passionate, insistent plea to fight death, mirrored in its recurring metrical disruptions.

Literary Devices

Dylan makes use of several literary devices in  ‘Do not go gentle into that good night.’  These include:

• Refrain : the two repeating refrains in this poem, naturally enough, form the primary message that informs the meaning of the work. When Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems ) references “that good night,” he is using it as a metaphor for the end of life and as a parallel to “the dying of the light,” which is a symbol for the same idea.
• Alliteration : seen through the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “learn” and “late” in line two of the fourth stanza and “Blind” and “blaze” in line two of the fifth stanza.
• Enjambment : occurs when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point—for example, the transition between lines two and three of the second stanza.
• Imagery : occurs when the poet uses especially effective description. For example, these lines from the third stanza: “ Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright / Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay.” 

Detailed Analysis

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.

In each stanza of ‘ Do not go gentle into that good night ,’ Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems ) addresses a different aspect of the dying process before repeating one of the central refrains of the work.

In the first stanza, the speaker expresses the desire to live as something fierce . Old age, they say, is a process of “burning and raving,” two images that are not commonly associated with old age. The conflicting images create a call to action early in the piece because Thomas and his speaker are willing to challenge typical associations in the minds of the readers.

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.

The second stanza takes on a different approach, reminding the reader that despite the earlier commands, death is both inevitable and natural.

It uses lightning as a symbol to describe the feeling of incompleteness that can accompany the aging process — when the wise men referenced feel that their words have “forked no lightning,” they are feeling as though they have not accomplished everything they set out to in their life. Because of this fact, they “ do not go gentle into that good night .”

Stanzas Three and Four

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.

The next two stanzas succinctly discuss a nearly opposite idea, namely that resisting death is also a natural phenomenon.

Wise men, good men, and grave men all resist dying. Thomas continues to use a wide variety of symbols , with both positive and negative connotations , to reinforce the image of an aged man looking back on his life and realizing they have more to contribute to the world. In the third stanza, the good men cry, imagining how much more they could have done, too late, now that they’ve realized they’re dying. Following that, the grave men realize something similar, seeing with their blinding sight — looking back on their lives now that their mortality has granted them perfect clarity in retrospect.

Stanzas Five and Six

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.

The poem concludes with an address to the speaker ’s father , with a conflicting plea to both curse and bless them with his tears.

The conflicting images of the father’s tears being both a curse and a blessing echo the earlier idea that death is something that is both natural and something to be railed against. The tears of the father are a curse because they strike the fear of mortality into his child and a blessing because they remind that child to live their life to the fullest extent possible.

Ultimately, ‘ Do not go gentle into that good night’  is a poem that attempts to describe the author’s complex relationship with his own mortality. This is certainly one of the most complex emotions an artist can attempt to describe in their work, and yet ‘ Do not go gentle into that good night’ remains one of Thomas’s most famous poems for how well it succeeds in that endeavor.

Why Did Dylan Thomas Write  ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’? 

As mentioned above, Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems ) is thought to have written this poem while considering his father’s impending death. His father, David John Thomas, died in 1952, the year after Thomas published the poem. Due to the fact that the speaker mentions a “father” specifically in the final lines has led many to believe that this is Thomas’ father, making Dylan Thomas ( Bio | Poems ) the speaker of the poem .  There is no complete evidence that this is the case, though. More likely than anything, Thomas probably wrote this poem as a way of dealing with mortality more generally. It’s something that everyone, no matter their profession, social status, or personal history, has to face. This is also the primary reason the poem has withstood the test of time and is as popular today as it is.

Similar Poetry

Readers who enjoyed  ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’  should also consider reading other Dylan Thomas poems . For example:

• ‘ Fern Hill ‘ — depicts time, the speaker’s past, and views times gone by with nostalgia .
• ‘ And Death Shall Have No Dominion ‘ — looks at the way death controls humankind and the fact that even though it is powerful, it can’t control everything.
• ‘ Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines ‘ — describes the effect of hope that springs in a place where there is total hopelessness.

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“Fans of Dylan Thomas( Bio  |  Poems ) have speculated that the poem was written for his ailing father, who passed away the year after the poem was first published. But, without clear evidence, it’s important to consider the  speaker  as separate from the poet.

> is this not clear evidence who the subject is when the speaker says;

And you, my father , there on the sad height,

Hey Thomas, You are right with what you said and this is why poetry is great – so many interpretations! The explicit reference to “my father” in Dylan Thomas’s poem does strongly suggest a personal connection. This line, coupled with the historical context of Thomas’s father’s failing health, implies that the poem is indeed an emotional response to his father’s mortality. While the speaker is technically anonymous, many interpret the speaker as a representation of Dylan Thomas himself, particularly given the autobiographical elements of the poem. What I would say ultimately is that the fact the speaker is seemingly anonymous and not specifically named, is purposeful from Thomas. He purposefully made the speaker vague, so it could easily be applied to anyone, and is not specific to Dylan Thomas himself. I tend to find the poems that speak broadest are the ones that are ambiguous, allowing the reader to apply …  Read more »

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Walker, Andrew. "Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas". Poem Analysis , https://poemanalysis.com/dylan-thomas/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night/ . Accessed 6 September 2024.

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Full Expert Analysis: "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas

General Education

Learning to read and understand poetry is tricky business. Between the tough terminology—what is synecdoche , anyway?!—and complicated structure, it can sometimes feel impossible to understand what a poet is trying to say. Unfortunately, if you're going to take the AP Literature exam, you're going to have to figure out how to quickly read and understand poetry.

One of the best ways to get a handle on poetry is to read a poem along with a detailed explanation of both what the poem means and how the poet conveys that meaning.

To do this, we're going to take a look at Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night," one of the most famous poems of the 20th century. Not only will you have a handle on the poem's overall message, but you'll also understand the most important techniques Dylan Thomas uses to convey that meaning to the reader.

We promise: by the end of this article, poetry will seem a lot less scary. So let's get started!

Meet the Poet, Dylan Thomas

Just like with a novel, play, or short story, knowing a little bit about an author can help you better understand their work. While there's no way you can learn about every important author ever before you take your AP literature test, you should definitely know a bit about a few of the major players in the literature world. ( Taking a look at our AP literature reading list is a good place to start!)

Dylan Thomas is definitely a literary figure you should know. Born in Swansea, Wales in 1914, Thomas began writing poetry at an early age. In fact, many of his most famous poems—including " And death shall have no dominion" and "Before I knocked" —were written when he was still a teenager! In fact, his poetry was so good that it caught the attention of English literary greats like T.S. Eliot , Geoffrey Grigson , and Stephen Spender , who helped him publish his first book of poetry, 18 Poems, at the age of 20.

Thomas, unlike many poets, had the fortune of being both well-known and well-acclaimed during his lifetime. His poetry collections were critical hits, and he participated in multiple tours—both domestically and abroad—to talk about his work.

And yet, despite his success, Thomas found it difficult to make a living from his poetry alone. Along with securing the funding from wealthy patrons, Thomas also wrote and recorded pieces for BBC radio, and he performed in BBC radio dramas as well. Thomas even dabbled in film and scripted at least five movies, including This Is Colour (1942) and Conquest of a Germ (1944).

Despite Thomas' personal success, his personal life proved difficult. He suffered from breathing issues from childhood, and they plagued him throughout his life. (His breathing problems are what spared him from being conscripted into the military in World War II.) Thomas had married young, and his marriage to Caitlin McNamara was contentious. Thomas was a very heavy drinker and carouser, and his alcoholism and multiple affairs put a strain on his relationship with his wife.

It also put a strain on his body. During an American tour in 1953, Thomas started getting sick. On the night of his 39th birthday, Thomas fell ill and slipped into a coma. He passed away a few days later, and the coroner ruled his cause of death as a mixture of a fatty liver, pneumonia, and brain swelling.

Despite passing away at such a young age, Thomas is considered to be one of the most influential poets of the modern period, and he is certainly one of the most famous Welsh poets of all time.

Unlike some poets, who fit into a poetic movement like metaphysical or baroque poetry, Thomas is hard to classify. His poetry is distinctly modern, and although he was influenced by surrealist poetry , his lyricism and intense emotion have more in common with the romantics than this contemporaries. Additionally, unlike other modern poets writing at the same time, Thomas' poems aren't concerned with social issues . Rather, his work is concerned with the physical processes of life and death, and he blends the ancient and the modern together in ways that were—and still are—remarkably unique.

Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night" (1951)

"Do not go gentle into that good night" is one of Thomas' most famous poems, and in fact, might be one of the most famous poems of the 20th century. He composed it when he was traveling with his wife and children in Italy in 1947, and it was published as part of his 1952 poetry collection, In Country Sleep, And Other Poems.

Here's the full text of the poem:

"Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas

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.

(If you understand things better by hearing them rather than reading them, y ou can actually listen to Dylan Thomas read the poem himself!)

The Background Behind the Poem

Thomas wrote "Do not go gentle into that good night" during a very specific moment in Dylan Thomas' life. His father, David John Thomas, had first introduced him to the wonder of language by reading him Shakespeare before bed at night. Thomas' father was a grammar school teacher, but he had always wanted to be a poet but was never able to realize his dream.

Some experts suggest that Thomas was inspired to write "Do not go gentle into that good night" because his father was dying (though his father didn't pass away until Christmas of 1952).

In a twist of fate, Thomas' poem about death would be one of the last poems he would write before his own untimely demise the following year.

"Do not go gentle into that good night": Meaning and Themes

Before we start talking about Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night," go re-read the poem one more time. Having it fresh in your mind will make understanding the poem's meaning a lot easier.

Done? Great! So what's this poem about, anyway?

"Do not go gentle into that good night" Meaning

At its heart, "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem about death. The narrator of the poem is experiencing the death of his father, which we see in the last stanza , or group of lines. Witnessing the death of his father makes the speaker think about death in a more general way. The first five stanzas focus on different types of men, and the speaker thinks about how they will have to face death one day, too.

In the end, the speaker realizes that death cannot be avoided, but it can be challenged. When he tells readers to "not go gentle into that good night" and "rage against the dying of the light," he's telling them to not accept death passively. Instead, he tells people that the last thing a dying person gets to choose is how he faces death. For Thomas, struggling against death is both a valiant—and a human—reaction.

Once you understand what's happening in the poem, you can start to get a better handle on what "Do not go gentle into that good night" means. To get a better handle on the different messages of Thomas's poem, let's take a closer look at three of the poem's main themes / messages .

Theme 1: The Unstoppable Nature of Death

Like we mentioned earlier, "Do not go gentle into that good night" comes out of Thomas' experience watching his father pass away. As a result, the poem's primary purpose is to think about death—or more to the point, to think about dying. In many ways, this is also a poem about man's last mortal act, which is passing away.

Given this, Thomas' poem is often taught as a grieving man's anger at death, which has come to take his father away. The phrase "good night" refers to death—where "good night" references both how we say goodbye to people and how a dying person slips into a final sleep that they never wake up from.

But more specifically, Thomas' poem tells people to "not go gentle" into death. Here, the word "gentle" means "docile," or passive and without resistance. in other words, Thomas tells readers they should not accept death passively, but instead should fight (or "rage") against it ("the dying of the light").

But why is this, exactly? Why fight against death instead of slipping away peacefully?

For Thomas, the best way is to face death with strength and power, like the "wild" heroes of old. In his poem, Thomas argues that this allows dying people to embrace the fiery energy of life one last time, and in many ways, serves as a small way to triumph something they have no control over in the end. Put another way: if you can't avoid dying, it's better to go down fighting than to not fight at all!

It's important to note that although Thomas tells readers to struggle against death, this isn't a poem about triumphing over death. The end result of fighting death isn't victory. The people in the poem don't cheat death in order to live another day. The truth is that the people Thomas mentions are dying—and they will die no matter what.

Thus, "Do not go gentle into that good night" focuses on a person's literal final choice: not whether or not to die, but how they will face the inevitable.

Theme 2: The Power of Life

In "Do not go gentle into that good night," Thomas creates tension between death—which he speaks about symbolically through images of night and darkness—and life, which he represents through images of light. For example, take a look at the second line of the poem. When Thomas says "close of day," he's referencing death. But he also says that people should "burn" against it—and as we all know, things that are burning produce light!

The act of putting two unlike things, like light and dark, in close proximity to one another is called juxtaposition . In this poem, the juxtaposition emphasizes the contrast between life and death. If death is dark and inevitable, then the juxtaposition helps readers see that life is powerful and full of energy.

Let's take a closer look at lines seven and eight to get a better understanding of how this works. The lines read, "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright/Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay." There are two instances of light imagery in these lines: "bright" and "green bay" (water often appears to be green or blue on a sunny day). These words help describe the "good" man's life, which is full of light and energy. After all, even though his deeds are "frail"—which means "minor" or "insignificant" in this instance—they still might have "danced." In this passage, we can see how the living are full of a vital, powerful energy. Through this, Thomas tells readers that the true tragedy of aging and death is that it takes away the vitality of life.

Theme 3: The Limit of Time

The speaker of Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night" is an anonymous narrator whose father is dying, and he represents anyone who's ever lost a loved one.

But the speaker isn't the only character in "Do not go gentle into that good night." Each stanza of the poem features a different person at the end of his life : the "wise" man in stanza two, the "good" man in stanza three, the "wild" man in stanza four, the "grave" man in stanza five, and Thomas' own father in stanza six.

In each stanza, the type of man mentioned is looking back at his life. He's reflecting on what he did—and what he didn't do. In most of the stanzas, the men express regret at what they didn't do. For example, the wise man worries that his "words had forked no lightning." In other words, the wise man—a teacher, scholar, or some other educated person—worries that his ideas will not live on. Each of the characters in this poem, in his own unique way, regrets the things he left undone.

Thomas includes the idea of regret in his poem to show readers how short life truly is. When we are young, we have grand plans for everything we want to do, and we feel like we have all the time in the world to accomplish our goals. But Thomas argues that time goes by quickly. Too often, we "grieve" time "on its way," which is Thomas' way of saying that people often want for time to move faster. But if we do that, we miss out on the opportunities of life. Instead, Thomas is telling readers in a roundabout way that it's important to seize the day. Time is short and death waits for us all, so Thomas reminds readers to embrace life rather than let it pass them by.

The Top 2 Poetic Devices in "Do not go gentle into that good night"

You couldn't build a house without tools like hammers, wrenches, and saws. The same goes for poetry: when a poet is "building" a poem, they need the right tools for the job!

That's where poetic devices come in. A poetic device is a linguistic tool that a poet can use to help convey their message or theme.

We've already talked about a few poetic devices already—like imagery and juxtaposition—but now we want to focus on two other poetic devices that are important to Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night."

The Villanelle

A villanelle is a type of poetic structure . In other words, it's a poem that has a distinct and reproducible form, like a sonnet or a sestina . The villanelle as we know it today dates back to the Renaissance, but the form didn't gain widespread popularity until the 1800s. Despite taking its name from the Italian word "villano," which means "peasant," the villanelle was most popular amongst English poets.

So what makes a poem a villanelle, exactly? In order for a poem to be considered a villanelle, it has to follow a very specific structure.

First, a villanelle has to have nineteen lines. Any more or less, and the poem isn't a villanelle!

Second, villanelles have five tercets and a concluding quatrain. That's a fancy way of saying that the nineteen lines are divided into five stanzas with three lines each (tercets) and one stanza with four lines (a quatrain).

Third, a villanelle must have two refrains and two repeating rhymes. A refrain is a set of lines that repeats itself in regular intervals throughout a poem, especially at the end of a stanza. In Thomas' poem, the lines "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" are refrains. In villanelles, the refrain comprises the last lines of the poem. Repeating rhymes are words that rhyme the same way.

Repeating rhymes occur throughout the poem, and a villanelle has two sets of rhymes that do so. In "Do not go gentle into that good night," the "a" rhymes are "night," "light," "right," "bright," "flight," "sight," and "height." The "b" rhymes are "they," "day," "bay," "way," "gay," and "pray."

Thomas uses a villanelle because villanelles often dealt with pastoral, natural, or simple themes. In this case, death—although scary—is a natural part of life. Since villanelles deal with nature, it makes sense that Thomas chose to use that form for his poem.

Furthermore, repeated refrain echoes the way in which grief works. Even though we know our loved one can't escape death, our minds often find themselves returning to the possibility that they might not die. If only they fight a little harder, maybe they will live just a little longer. The refrain helps juxtapose the hope of the living against the inevitability of death. Thus, Thomas uses the villanelle to capture what death is like for a loved one, too.

Enjambment is the poetic technique where the line breaks in a poem happen in the middle of a sentence. (When a line ends with a punctuation mark, it's called an end stop.)

Enjambment works as a way for a poet to build both tension and motion within a poem. The tension comes from the fact that the poet's thought isn't finished at the end of a sentence. Each line with enjambment is a mini-cliffhanger, which makes the reader want to keep reading to find out what happens! (If you watch Game of Thrones , then you're really familiar with how cliffhangers work!)

Because readers want to keep reading, enjambment gives the poem a quick—and sometimes frantic—pace . It's almost like the poet can't finish their thoughts fast enough. Sometimes enjambment can also create drama, especially when the following line isn't what the reader thought it would be.

In "Do not go gentle into that good night," enjambment happens in about half the stanzas. One good example of enjambment and how it works comes in stanza five, where Thomas writes, "Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight/Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay." In these lines, enjambment creates drama and allows Thomas to play with words a little bit. In the first line, the grave men can see with "blinding sight," meaning they can look back on their lives and see it with extreme clarity.

But instead of telling us what the men see, Thomas twists things in the next line. When Thomas says "blind eyes," he means literal blindness. In old age, people often lose their eyesight, but it doesn't mean they can't see their past clearly in their own memories. Their memories "blaze" in their blind eyes; in other words, the joy of a life well lived reflects in their face, despite their age. In this instance, enjambment creates drama and lets Thomas a) put an unexpected twist into his poem, and b) reflect the rush of excitement and joy the "grave men" feel in the structure of his poem.

More importantly, each instance of enjambment in "Do not go gentle into that good night" gives the poem a sense of forward motion. Even though the speaker wants to stop time—and as a result, stop death—both time and the poem march toward an inevitable conclusion.

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Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Easy Insightful Literature Notes

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Summary & Analysis

Do not go gentle into that good night: about the poem.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night  is Dylan Thomas’ most famous poem. The poem was written in 1947 when the poet was in Florence with his family. It was first published in the journal Botteghe Oscure in 1951. Then in 1952, it was published in Thomas’ volume  In Country Sleep, And Other Poems .

‘Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night’ is said to have been written for the poet’s sick, dying father . Dylan tried to give him some encouragement to hold on and not to lose hope. It is only at the last stanza of the poem that the poet addresses his father directly.

The main theme of the poem is that we should not surrender to death in a meek and gentle way. Rather, we should try to resist it with all our efforts. We should try to live as long as we can with the power of will. In the first stanza of the poem Dylan asks his father not to give in to death. In the next four stanzas the poet speaks about why and how all kinds of people (wise men, good men, wild men and grave men) try to defy death. And in the final stanza, he again asks his father to rage against the ‘dying of the light’ (death) like everybody else.

The title of the poem  ‘Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night’ is just the first line and one of the two refrains (repeating lines) of the poem. This title itself makes the poet’s message clear. The imperative sentence simply instructs us not to go gently into the realm of death (‘that good night’).

But this poem has gone beyond its original purpose of inspiring the poet’s father. Now the readers and critics feel that this poem can apply not only to death or old age, but also to any kind of adversity we face. We should continue to struggle against the odds we face on our way of life. Moreover, as the poet himself was struggling to survive due to bad health, alcoholism and poverty, the poem applies to both Dylan Thomas and his father.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night: Form and language

In its form, the poem is a villanelle . (A villanelle is a pastoral or lyrical poem of nineteen lines, with only two rhymes throughout, and some lines repeated.) ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ and ‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light’ are the two refrains in the poem. And the two rhymes are set with the words ‘night'(A) and ‘day'(B) in the first two lines. The first five tercets carry the rhyme scheme ABA while the last stanza has it ABAA.

The language is simple but highly suggestive and symbolic. The poet has used a number of metaphoric expressions for death and life.

Dylan Thomas: About the poet

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) was a popular modern poet and author born at Swansea, Wales. He is regarded as the most famous Welsh poet and one of the most important English poets of the 20th century. Dylan started writing poetry when he was a teenager. He is also known for his radio broadcasts at the BBC. Dylan gained immense popularity for his love of wordplay and for how he wrote about Wales. Philip Larkin once wrote about him: “no one can ‘stick words into us like pins’… like he (Thomas) can”.

However, the poet struggled a lot with poverty and an unhappy marriage, fell prey to alcoholism and died a premature death at the age of 39. Read more about him at Wikipedia .

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night: line by line analysis

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.

The poem opens with the poet’s appeal to his father not to take death in a gentle manner. Rather, he suggests that even at this old age, people should strongly react and fight (burn and rave) against death as if they were still young. In line 3, his appeal is even stronger with the use of the word ‘rage’ twice. In short, we should not accept death meekly but raise a war against it, put up a furious resistance to it.

Here, ‘that good night’, ‘close of day’ and ‘dying of the light’ — all mean ‘death’. ‘Night’ is a metaphor for death while ‘day’ and ‘light’ are metaphors for life.

The first stanza is very important, for it introduces the main theme of the poem as well as the two recurring refrains in the first and the third lines. Though all the three lines basically state the same thing, the tone gradually becomes harsher.

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.

Now the poet tries to support his message of resisting death by saying that every kind of people try to resist death. He starts his reasoning with the ‘wise men’ who are generally scholars and philosophers. They all know that death is inevitable (dark is right). But their wisdom has neither made death any easier nor prepared them to accept the reality of death easily (their words had forked no lightning). So, they do not approach death in a gentle way. They also fight against death.

Here the expression ‘words had forked no lightning’ is open to interpretations. Besides the above explanation, it may also mean that the wise men could not see their words (speeches, literary or creative works etc.) make an impact in changing the world in such a short time. So they want to live longer to see their words come true.

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.

Now the poet shifts to the ‘good men’. The good men are those who have done many things for the humankind and believe that they can change the world into a better living place. But in reality they often see that their dreams and hopes are dusted (frail deeds). So they, when nearing death (the last wave by), shout out (crying) that their failed deeds might have been successful (might have danced), had they got some more time to live and some more opportunities (in a green bay). So they also rage against the death and try to live longer.

Here Dylan compares the last generation of good men to the last ocean wave which is about to hit the shore, i.e., about to die. ‘Green ocean’ is symbolic of the youth, the height of life. Those men feel that their works would have been successful if they were in their youth by now. So they wish to live some more time to see their hard work pay off. That is why they fight death.

Here, one should note that the three lines form a single sentence with the ‘good men’ as its subject and ‘rage’ as the finite verb. My point is that one should not take the last line of the tercet as an imperative sentence, but a part of the statement where the poet tries to support his idea.

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.

Another kind of men who don’t accept death meekly are the ‘wild men’. Those people have spent their lives by wildly enjoying and celebrating (caught and sang) the mortal beauty of this life (the sun in flight). Sun represents the beautiful aspects of life that they caught in their imagination. They finally learn that they have wasted their precious time (grieved it on its way), but it gets too late by then. That is why they want to stay here for some more time by putting up a fight against death.

‘The sun in flight’ means the moving sun that continuously goes from the east to the west. The wild men remain busy in celebrating the sunrise, but fail to notice that they are gradually nearing the sunset, i.e., end of their life. It is as if the wild men grieved the sun by wasting their time.

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.

The last group of men that Thomas presents are the ‘grave men’. The word ‘grave’ is here ambiguous. It possibly mean serious people with great insight. Again it may refer to the sick, dying people. The poet says that even when they near death and lose their eyesight, they remain strong in their mind. They realize that they have the passion within to pursue happiness. Hence, they also rage against death.

‘Blind eyes could blaze like meteors’ is a fine instance of simile. Here, the poet hints at how people’s passion and power of will can keep them strong at heart even when they become physically weak.

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.

Finally the poet addresses his father who is in a sad and dying situation (on the sad height). Dylan begs his father to cry passionately (fierce tears) in order to express and lighten his sadness. That will be both a curse and a blessing for the poet. Probably Thomas means to say that seeing his father cry would be heartbreaking (curse) for him, but it would also bring some good feelings (bless) that his father is fighting against the odds of death rather than submitting to it.

Finally, the two recurring lines end the poem giving the message again not to accept death in a gentle way. Rather, we have to fight furiously and resist it. Thus the poem ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ closes with the same message it started with.

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Essay Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight by Dylan Thomas

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight by Dylan Thomas Touching humans the most is the acceptance of unstoppable death. We all know that death will be our fate some day, but how we accept or how we deal with it is left to each individual. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," written by Dylan Thomas, emphasizes raging against death towards his dying father as he repeats this exhortation in the last line in every stanza. Imagery, sound, metrics, and tone, are used by Thomas to create the theme of his poem and what it means. Here is how the imagery of the poem develops the meaning of the poem. First of all, Thomas convey resistance towards death with images of fury and fighting, as in "do not go gentle." With images of "good …show more content…

Thomas provokes these men into wanting more time and desiring the courage to fight back against the Grim Reaper. The "wise men" and the "wild men," regardless of character, deserves the opportunity to live into old age and accomplish what they set out to do. And the "wise men," who regret the fact that they didn't do the good deeds they were set out to do, and realizing that it was too late for them to do it. Thomas realizes it is human nature to take life for granted; until death approaches. Thomas wrote this poem for his father, to tell him that there is so much more for him here, living, to do. The only way to deter death is through fury and frenzy. Death comes too quickly for most people and only with "rage" can death be defied. Here is a discussion of how the sound and metrics of the poem help convey that meaning. In the face of strong emotion, the poet sets himself the task of mastering it in difficult form of villanelle. Five tercets are followed by a quatrain, with the first and last line of stanza repeated alternately as the last line of the subsequent stanzas and gathered into a couplet at the end of the quatrain. And all this on only two rhymes. His villanelle repeates the theme of living and fury through the most forceful two lines, "do not go gentle into that good night," and "rage, rage against the dying of the light." Thomas further compounds his difficulty by having each line

Figurative Language in Do No Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Tomas

The first group that Thomas depicts are wise men. In the stanza’s first line, “Though wise men at their end know dark is right,” (4) he proposes that they all agree that death is the final part life’s natural cycle and that they contain the wisdom to know that they ought to accept it. Nevertheless, the next line argues that they war against it because they lack the legacy that exist long after one has succumb to death. Thomas uses line (5), “Because their words had forked no lighting” to convey that they grip onto life because they want to leave a print on the sands of time.

Comparing Do not go gentle and Ferne Hill by Dylan Thomas Essays

Dylan Thomas' poetry is rich in imagery and metaphorical language. The opening line, "Do not go gentle into that good night," contains an euphemistic metonymy for death. "That good night" is a word association for death, but is described as "good" in order to overcome the negative connotation usually attached with the idea of death. Also, the word "gentle" which is an adjective, is used instead of "gently," the adverb which more commonly would be used. Thomas does both of these and is found describing the man and providing a tighter bond to the poem.

Compare And Contrast The Rose That Grew From Concrete

In this poem, Thomas mainly talks about death, which is the ending point in a life that will inevitably happen to everyone, but it is more likely for older individuals to experience it. One stanza of the poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” where Thomas really emphasizes to not let death consume you easily is, “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” (Lines 1-3). Based from this, it portrays that Thomas is using symbolism to show that to not give up to death easily. When he states “Do not go gentle into that good night” it is evident that he is meaning to imply to not be gentle or subtle about death since, “night” would symbolize to further mean as one’s eternal

Metaphors and Repetition in Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

In Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," the speaker is a son talking to his aging father and pleading with him to fight against death. The son knows that death is the inevitable end to every life, but feels one should not give up to death too easily. By using metaphor, imagery, and repetition, Thomas reinforces the son's message that aging men see their lives with sudden clarity and realize how they might have lived happier, more productive lives. These men rail against fate, fighting for more time to set things right.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Poem Analysis

By the fourth stanza brings in another type of person that don’t allow themselves to fade into the night without fighting back. This is the person that have lived and captured the world in their own imagination only to begin to see it die and diminish as they enjoyed it when he states “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight/And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way.“ As for the fifth stanza, Thomas gives the image of meteors as a symbol that no man should go out quietly but only go out with a big bang when he states. In the sixth and final stanza Thomas begins to make the poem feel personal by bringing in his own father. The writer begins to give the image of his dying father in his final moments. The final moments in which he is begging his father not to go gently into the night and fight and defy death by bringing back the line from the first stanza in the poem “ Do not go gentle into that good night. By using these images, Thomas helps create a specific tone anger,depression and rebelling that people should not

Analysis Of The Burn And Rave At The Close Of Day Thomas

The first stanza is pretty much the opening to the rest of the poem. Thomas is saying that even though you are old you should still fight against death. This is evident in the second line when he says “Old age should burn and rave at close of day.” Close of day would be when death is approaching. The first and third lines are the two lines that are interchangeably used throughout the poem both have the same meaning. Both the lines could be interpreted as Thomas pleading to the audience to fight against death.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas explores death and how those facing it should fight for their lives because death is a heartbreaking subject to him. The writer is addressing his father and pleads him to resist the power of death as it would be devastating if the father was to die from the writers perspective. Throughout the poem, Thomas writes about different traits of men. Some aspects include wise, wild, good and grave which helps create a poem that covers all aspects of a person.

His father's death is painful to Thomas because he sees himself lying in that bed; his father's dying reminds him of his own inevitable death. The passion of the last stanza, in which the poet asks his father to bless and curse him, suggests that he has doubts about his relationship with his father. He may feel that he has not been enough of a son. He put off doing things with and for his father because he always felt there would be time later. now time has run out and feels cheated. He's raging for his father now. He'll rage for himself later.

Life and Death in Frost's Stopping by Woods and Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle

• 2 Works Cited

Contrary to Frost?s peaceful, luring diction and images, Dylan Thomas uses forceful, irate words to deter death. "No poet gives a greater sense of the feel of life" as Thomas, who provokes the reader to "rage" against death (Ackerman 407). Thomas conveys a resistance towards death with images of fury and fighting, as in "do not go gentle." Vivacious words as "blaze" and "burn" intensify desires to live on and to the fullest. With images of "good night" and "dying of the light," Thomas conveys death as the "end where only darkness prevails" (Savage 381). He takes his "stand within concrete, particular existence, he places birth and death at the poles of his vision" (Savage 381). "Life [for Thomas] begins at birth and ceases at death" therefore leaving no room for a previous life or an after life (Savage 381). Excessive images of anger and rage towards death exemplify the passion Thomas feels for life. His villanelle repeats the theme of living and fury through the most forceful two lines, "do not go gentle into that good night" and "rage, rage against the dying of the light." Contrasting images of light and darkness in the poem create the warmth of living and the coldness in death, so as to shun people from choosing the bleak, bitter frigidity of death.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night And Psalms Of Life Analysis

In Thomas’s poem, the tone is sorrowful with possible anger while in Longfellow’s poem it is more of an encouraging tone. At the end of Thomas’s poem, he becomes very personal and intense in the final stanza when he says “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” (Stanza 6). This is a reference to his father, asking him to put up a fight against death no matter what it takes. Do not just succumb to it. This is where the tone shows somewhat of anger along with the sorrow throughout the rest of the poem, possibly directing his anger towards his father. Towards the end of Longfellow’s poem, the encouraging tone has a sudden shift into a tone of empowerment when it says “Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,--act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead!” (lines 19-24). This basically says to live your life like it’s your last day on earth and do not follow the crowd. He is also saying that God is above so do not live in fear. Longfellow is telling you to stand out and make it all worth it, while not acting in the past or future, just act for today itself.

Summary Of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” is a rallying cry to fight death even though death is inevitable. The speaker, who is likely Thomas as he wrote mainly lyric poetry, explains why different men fight death and therefore why his father should fight death. Thomas uses quite distinct nature imagery to depict this.

What Is The Mood Of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

This is expressed by the multiple examples of old men whom regret certain aspects of their lives and defy death even when they know their time is up. The speaker is urging his father to fight against old age and death. The meaning and subject of the poem influence the tone and mood. The tone is one of frustration and insistence. Thomas is slightly angry and demanding. His words are not a request, they are an order. The mood of the poem is is serious and solemn due to the poem focusing mainly on the issue of death. This mood and tone is created by words such as “burn”(2), “Grieved”(11) and “rage”(3) along with phrases such as “crying how bright”(7), “forked no lightning”(5), “near death”(13) and “fierce tears”(17). The insistent feeling is also created by the repetition of the lines “Do not go gentle into that good night”(1), and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”(3). The figurative language used also affect how the meaning, tone and mood are interpreted.

The Elevation of Life Before Death in “Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas

In “Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night”, Dylan Thomas argues ferociously against the standard, pessimistic read towards men kind’s final ending, death, and urges the dying to rekindle their spirit and blaze even within the end of their life. Dylan Thomas’s main argument is that the dying have a life that is not yet fulfilled therefore implying further opportunity to elevate life before death, however, while this could well be valid, Thomas still lacks a certain glimpse of empathy to fully convince readers that this is a completely selfless plea.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Literary Devices

Firstly there is a lot of repetition, such as when the author states, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. This line is repeated 4 times in the poem, and you can see that repetition was very important to Thomas, as he chose a Villanelle, which is a style of poem that relies greatly on repetition. The author is telling his father to “rage, rage against” (fight), “the dying of the light”, which essentially means the dying of life, or just simply, death. The fact that this is repeated so often makes it stick with you long after you have finished reading and, therefore the idea of death stays with you for a while after reading the poem as well, and it makes you want to fight back against, and not accept, it. Secondly, the author uses one very evident euphemism, when he says “that good night”. In this case, “good night” refers to death. This is a very important part of the poem because, not only is it repeated four times and evident in the title, this shows that, when talking about his father’s impending death, Thomas does not actually want to say the words to either soften the blow for himself, or for his father. Which either shows a great deal of sorrow or compassion in his character. This reinforces the theme, as it is a euphemism for death and describes it as something to avoid, similar to a kid fighting his bedtime as his parents tell

Into That Night

In this poem he talks about a person who’s dying to not accept the death rather fight against it (Hochman, Jhan.). And in last stanza, we realized the person he’s talking about is his own father John Thomas (Schwarz, Daniel R.). Dylan Thomas telling his father to “Rage, rage against death” (Hochman, Jhan.). If I were to analyze the whole poem, we can see on his fist stanza he uses the word “night” to describe death (Shmoop Editorial Team). And later he repeatedly use words like “close of day” and “dying of the light” to remind the death. What Dylan Thomas trying to tell the reader is that “old men shouldn’t peacefully die instead they should burn and rave” (Shmoop Editorial Team). He uses the word rage twice to describe the anger and the frustration (Shmoop Editorial Team). Later he went on to say that “true goodness consist of fighting the inevitability of death with your might: Good men […] Rage rage against the dying of the light” (Shmoop Editorial Team). In his next stanza he describe how great this people can be if they a chance to live little bit longer (Shmoop Editorial

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Poems & Poets

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

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. 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. Copyright Credit: Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” from The Poems of Dylan Thomas . Copyright 1939, 1946 by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Reprinted with the permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation. Source: The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1957)

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Analysis of Thomas' 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'

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Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night summary and analysis of "do not go gentle into that good night".

The speaker opens with a command, addressing an unknown listener, to resist dying peacefully and instead to fight hard against death, despite its inevitability, using night and day as metaphors for death and life. He states that “wise men” know that death is ultimately right, but that they nonetheless combat it because they haven’t left enough of a mark on the world. The speaker continues to use natural imagery in this second stanza, likening the failure of words to leave a mark on the world to an inability to "fork," or redirect, lightning.

In the third stanza, the speaker adds that “good men,” too, stand against death for similar reasons. Despite their virtue, their deeds remain "frail" and haven't stood out sufficiently as a strong, massive wave in a calm bay would. These men, too, fight death in hopes of leaving a lasting legacy. The fourth stanza continues this theme as the speaker discusses “wild men,” who spend their lives on futile adventures, failing to appreciate how short life is until they face death, which they refuse to meet calmly. Again, the speaker uses natural imagery, comparing wild men's adventures to the excitement yet ultimate fruitlessness of "ca[tching] and s[inging] the sun."

“Grave men,” he continues, realize that they can die dramatically—“blaze like meteors”—by refusing to yield to death. In their old age, they have a clarity that escaped them when they were younger, now able to "see with blinding sight," or understand things with piercing lucidity. Finally, the speaker reveals that he is addressing his father, who is dying, and urges him to show emotion, like men he has just described.

In the first stanza, Thomas uses day and night as an extended metaphor for life and death, urging people to resist death courageously rather than simply accepting it. By using this metaphor, he presents life and death as part of the endless natural cycle of time, which began long before our lives and will go on long after them, just as day and night are a part of it. This gives death an impersonal feel: if everyone and everything dies, there's little that's special or notable about one death. This generic conception of death is what Thomas's characters in the poem are fighting against, striving to give their deaths individual significance.

With the similar-sounding words “rave” and “rage,” Thomas emphasizes anger and passionate intensity in the face of death. Though he acknowledges that death may be “right”—after all, everyone dies eventually as part of the natural process discussed above—at the beginning of the second stanza, he writes that “wise men” refuse to accept it, because they haven’t yet left enough of an impact on the world. They’ve “forked no lightning,” or failed to create a big burst of light—here a symbol for life—that would give them a legacy.

In the third stanza, the speaker insists that “good men” similarly see their actions as “frail” and long to stand out more, as a wave does in a calm bay. The critic Rushworth M. Kidder suggests that "green bay" may be an allusion to Psalms 37:35: “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.” Following this interpretation, the good men's frail but virtuous deeds would have been more remarkable when seen in contrast to the evil of the “green bay.” Without any great evil to fight against, these men's virtues are less noteworthy.

The fourth stanza continues the now-familiar pattern of the poem, with the speaker describing “wild men” who "caught and sang the sun in flight,” or in other words, celebrated the world around them through bold actions and feats, and belatedly realized the brevity of life. By returning to the sky as a source of imagery, Thomas reemphasizes the central day/night metaphor of the poem.

The stanza may also allude to the Greek myth of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, melting the wings his father had crafted for him and causing him to plummet to the ground and his death. This myth is often understood as a warning against hubris, or excessive pride. With that allusion in mind, the lines indicate that the wild men were too proud to realize that death would eventually befall them too, no matter how grand their adventures.

The speaker continues in the fifth stanza, discussing "grave men” (who are grave in the sense of being serious, but also in the sense of being near death) who see fixedly with piercing sight that they must fight death as well, choosing to go out “like meteors,” imagery that again returns to the sky. Thomas's employment of the image of meteors also recalls the impersonal vastness of the cycle of life and death: meteors, too, are so immense, scalding, and fast that it's difficult to comprehend them. Like night and day as well as lightning, they're also transient, appearing to us for only moments in the night sky.

In the final stanza, the speaker reveals that he has been addressing his father, which gives the poem a personal significance it previously lacked. The speaker again underscores the poem’s message, urging his father to show any sort of emotion in the face of death. The "sad height" may be an allusion to the Bible's valley of the shadow of death, which appears in Psalm 23 . The phrase is often misquoted as simply the "valley of death," but if death is casting its shadow on the valley, it must be above the valley, like the father on the "sad height" of the mortal realm. Despite the anguish that this expression of grief and fear would cause him, the speaker longs for his father to cry at his impending death, because it would show that his father still has vitality and dignity. It's hard to see our parents, especially traditionally stoic fathers, cry, but it reminds us of the full range of their humanity and the vulnerability that comes with that humanity.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Subject, symbols, lines

I don't know if the number of lines represent something. The first three lines of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” establish the poem's themes and its form but the poem develops from there.

The poem was first published in 1951.

In the opening, "Do not go gentle into that good night," Thomas uses an euphemistic metonymy for death. "That good night", associated with death, describes death as "good" to overcome the negative connotation one ususlly connects to the idea of...

Study Guide for Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night study guide contains a biography of Dylan Thomas, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Poetry — Analysis Of ‘If’ And ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’

Analysis of 'If' and 'Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night'

• Categories: Literary Devices Poetry

About this sample

Words: 881 |

Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 881 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Works Cited

• Thomas, D. (1952). Do not go gentle into that good night. In D. Thomas, The Poems of Dylan Thomas (p. 18). New Directions Publishing.
• Kipling, R. (1910). If-. In R. Kipling, Rewards and Fairies (p. 63). Doubleday, Page & Company.
• Johnson, D. (1992). Poetic Language and Tone in Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night". Poetry Criticism, 20(2), 45-52.
• Smith, J. (2005). The Art of Persuasion: Analyzing the Rhetoric in Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night". Journal of Literature Studies, 30(4), 78-92.
• Brown, A. (2010). A Study of Motivational Tone in Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night". English Literature Review, 15(3), 102-118.
• Lewis, S. (1998). The Message of Empowerment in Rudyard Kipling's "If-". Journal of Inspirational Poetry, 25(1), 67-81.
• Anderson, M. (2003). Parental Voice in Rudyard Kipling's "If-". Journal of Family Dynamics , 18(2), 45-57.
• Roberts, L. (2008). Iambic Pentameter in Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night". Poetry Studies, 35(1), 23-39.
• Thompson, R. (2012). The Art of Control: An Analysis of Rhyme and Rhythm in Rudyard Kipling's "If-". Journal of Poetry Analysis, 40(4), 112-127.
• Green, E. (2016). The Complex Sentence Structure in Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night". Journal of Literary Analysis , 52(3), 76-91.

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Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Origin of do not go gentle into that good night, meaning of do not go gentle into that good night, usage of do not go gentle into that good night, literary source of do not go gentle into that good night.

“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… Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Literary Analysis of Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

The theme of this line is morality and transcendentalism. This line laments the inevitability and necessity of death, encouraging old people to rise up against their death and fate. The poet’s voice is arguing that old people should not consent to die immediately. He has linked being alive with passion and deep emotions. Thomas’ “good men” and “wise men” resist dying gently, because they could not achieve what they might have achieved in their lives. Through the examples of different types of men, the poet affirms the importance of being alive. He believes that they should resist dying, if they have not truly lived their lives.

Literary Devices

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Poetry Out Loud

• 25 Lines or Fewer

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

By dylan thomas.

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.

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.

Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” from The Poems of Dylan Thomas . Copyright 1939, 1946 by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Reprinted with the permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

Source: The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1957)

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Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

by Dylan Thomas

Editor's Choice

Where is imagery used in "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" and are there any metaphors?

Quick answer:

Imagery and metaphors in "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" make abstract concepts like death tangible. The "good night" and "light" are metaphors for death and life, respectively. Visual images, such as "frail deeds" dancing in a green bay and wild men "catching and singing the sun," enhance the poem's vividness. The father's "sad height" metaphorically represents his proximity to death.

literary devices: metaphor

literary devices: imagery

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Teacher (K-12), Editor

M.A. from Kent State University

Educator since 2016

7,702 answers

High school English and Literature teacher who has also taught at the college level.

Thomas seems to use imagery and metaphors, often at the same time, in order to dramatize and to make concrete something that feels so abstract and unknowable: death. Evidently, the speaker's father is very near death, and the speaker is desperately trying to convince him to fight it, insisting that all kinds of people fight death and refuse to "go gentle into that good night," and so he should too. For this reason, he uses the "good night" as a metaphor for death and "the light" as a metaphor for life. The "dying of the light"—death—is made tangible as a visual image.

As the poem progresses, the speaker describes how "Good men, the last wave by," cry "how bright / Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay." I interpret the green bay, another visual image, as a metaphor for the youth of these good men; they wish that they could have accomplished more before they grew old and ran out of chances, or, figuratively speaking, waves. Further, their "frail deeds" are personified as "danc[ing]." Wild men, the speaker says, "caught and sang the sun in flight," a metaphor for living in the moment and enjoying life to the fullest; it is also another visual image. Finally, the father's position up on a "sad height," a metaphor for his time just before death, makes his position tangible and real-seeming instead of abstract and impossible to understand. In short, then, Thomas uses metaphors and images in order to render something abstract and difficult more understandable.

Cite this page as follows:

Guggenheim, Laura. "Where is imagery used in "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" and are there any metaphors?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 24 Dec. 2019, https://www.enotes.com/topics/go-gentle/questions/where-how-imagery-used-any-metaphors-96407.

College Professor, Lawyer

M.A. from Oxford University Ph.D. from St. Andrews University

Educator since 2019

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I have more than 14 years of teaching, research, and course design experience.

Dylan Thomas 's villanelle " Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night " is full of imagery and metaphors. The first line, which supplies the title, uses the metaphor of the good night for death. This is a fairly conventional description of death which, partly because of the blackness of night, does not suggest any strong images. However, the following stanzas contain a series of metaphors, all of which are highly visual.

The reference to words that "forked no lightning" gives us the image of forked lightning even while describing its absence. The allusion to deeds that "might have danced in a green bay" in stanza three performs the same trick, giving us the image and leaving us to unravel the visual metaphor, whether the deeds were done or not.

Perhaps the most striking image is that of the wild men catching and singing the sun in flight, a combination of blinding light and whatever variation on the music of the spheres is appropriate for "singing the sun." This image is picked up by the blinding, blazing meteors in the succeeding stanza, while the adjective "grave" inevitably conjures up an image of the grave.

Finally, we envisage the poet's father on his "sad height," a metaphor for his closeness to death (since he is now above life) which creates the image of an old prophet-bard raving and raging on a mountaintop.

Cavendish-Jones, Colin. "Where is imagery used in "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" and are there any metaphors?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 10 Oct. 2019, https://www.enotes.com/topics/go-gentle/questions/where-how-imagery-used-any-metaphors-96407.

College Lecturer, Professional Writer

M.A. from Earlham School of Religion

14,730 answers

Reynolds has taught for more than ten years at the university level.

Imagery is description that uses any of the five senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Thomas weaves imagery throughout the poem.

For example, his narrator writes of "the dying of the light." We can create a visual picture of dusk and the sun sinking into the horizon—an image—from these words.

Thomas also mentions a "green bay," a body of water we can see in our mind's eye, and blind eyes that "blaze like meteors," another visual image.

As for metaphors, which are comparisons that do not use the words like or as, Thomas uses an extended metaphor throughout the poem by comparing death to "night." Night is a common metaphor for death, as it is easy to imagine death as being surrounded by the darkness of the grave. Thomas uses the term "good" to describe death ironically—to him it is not a "good" but something his father and other old man should struggle against as hard as they can.

Reynolds, D.. "Where is imagery used in "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" and are there any metaphors?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 9 Oct. 2019, https://www.enotes.com/topics/go-gentle/questions/where-how-imagery-used-any-metaphors-96407.

M.A. from The University of Alabama

Educator since 2008

16,104 answers

I have taught English and French at the college level. I take great delight in reading and writing about literature.

Dylan Thomas's title itself is metaphoric for his plea to his dying father; in this title and refrain, Thomas urges his father to affirm life until the very last breath: "Do Not Go Gentle into the Night."

In the first stanza, Thomas uses the images of fire and light also as metaphors for passion as he writes metaphorically that "old age" should burn and rave "at the close of day," a metaphor for an intense resistance to the end of life.

In the second stanza, death is difficult for "wise men," the intellectuals who accept it, but their work is not finished, so they do not wish to die.  Their "lightning" is the image for their works that light up minds:

Because their words had forked no lightning they...

The third stanza contains the metaphor of "good men," men who have lived sensible lives, "the last wave" ; that is, the last sensible men who are the final ones to face death, and, in so doing, they also wave goodbye.  They are "crying how bright/Their frail deed might have danced."  The image of crying is the sound of bemoaning as well as their calling out to be the last to face death.

Contrasted to the sensible men are the "Wild men" in the fourth stanza who "caught and sang the sun in flight."  This image is powerful and ebullient compared to the frail deeds of others.  But, these men, too, albeit filled with passion, will succumb to death.

In the fifth stanza, the image of "grave" is also dual, as it means "serious" as well as the shoveled earth for the coffin. Yet, although they may be blind, they can perceive more than others and "blaze like meteors," an image most bright.While the refrain underscores the passion suggested in the previous stanza there are contrasting images here:  light/dark,  blind/sight, and grave/gay.

In the final stanza, the image of "fierce tears" suggests the inevitability of death (tears), until their resistance to death up to the very end (fierce).

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"Where is imagery used in "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" and are there any metaphors?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 17 Aug. 2009, https://www.enotes.com/topics/go-gentle/questions/where-how-imagery-used-any-metaphors-96407.

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