DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
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.
ABOUT THE POET
A poem Dylan Thomas dedicated to his father, David John Thomas, a militant man who had been strong in his youth, but who weakened with age and by his eighties had become blind. Dylan Thomas finished this poem, a villanelle, in 1951 and sent it off to an editor friend of a magazine, together with a note which read: “The only person I cant show the little enclosed poem to is, of course, my father, who doesn’t know he's dying.
He also remarked to his friend, American Robert J. Gibson, that the spark for the poem was his father's approaching blindness. Thomas's father was to pass away a year later and the poet himself succumbed to illness and died in 1953. The poem urges older man not to give up and yield to the final “night” of death. It is one of the most famous Villanelles in the English language. The rigid for; two end rhymes, a pattern of repeating lines and five three-lines stanzas with a four-line stanza at the end suggests the poet's attempts to control his passionate emotions. It was first published in 1951, two years before the poet's own death at age 39.
SUBJECT MATTER
The poem is a son's plea to a dying father. His purpose is to show his father that all men face the same end, but they fight for life, nonetheless. The poet portrays the state of the old men when they have got old and are approaching death. He joins them to resist death as strongly as they can. In fact, they should only leave this world kicking and screaming, furious that they have to die at all. At the end of the poem, the reader is given a hint that the poet-speaker has a personal stake in this issue: his own father dying.
LINE ANALYSIS OF THE POEM
Wise men are the first group that Thomas describes. The first line in the stanza, “Though wise men at their end know dark is right,” suggests that they know that death is a natural part of life and they are wise enough to know they should accept it. However, the next line reasons that they fight against it because they feel they have not gained nearly enough repute or notoriety. “Because their words had forked no lighting” This is Thomas’ way of saying that they want to hold on to life to be able to leave their mark, thereby sustaining their memory in history as great scholars or philosophers.
Thomas moves forward and describes the next group as good men. They reflect on their lives as the end approaches. “Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright,” This line can be broken down into two parts. First’ good men are few now, as it says “the last wave by,” perhaps this is emphasis on the fact that Thomas believes his father to be a good man and that the world can still use him. Second, the line “crying how bright,” refers to men telling their stories in a limelight. They self-proclaim their works as good, but as Thomas goes on into the next line “their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,” it describes men knowing that their deeds will not be remembered regardless of their seemingly significant achievements. Green bay refers to an eternal sea, which marks their place in history. After reflecting on the past, they decide that they want to live if for nothing more than to leave their names written down in history.
Wild men, however as the next group is revealed, have learned too late that they are mortal. They spent their lives in action and only realize as time has caught up with them that this is the end. “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,” exaggerates their experiences and how they have wasted away their days chasing what they could not catch. Even more so “caught and sang the sun,” refers to how these wild men lived. They were daredevils who faced peril with blissful ignorance. They wasted away their lives on adventures and excitements. The next line, “And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,” refers to the realism of their own mortality. They grieve because they have caused much grief living their lives in folly. Even though the end is approaching, they will not give in because they want more time to hold on to the adventure of their youth and perhaps right a few wrongs that they have done.
Grave men, are the last group of men Thomas describes. “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight,” in this line his use of grave men has almost a double meaning, referring to men who are saddened as well as being physically near death. They feel the strains of a long life, and they know they are physically decaying. Their eyes are failing along with the rest of their body, however there is still a passion burning within their eyes for an existence, even if it is a frail state. “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,” is an expression that represent man’s struggle for survival. He is possibly offering that even in this frail state that his father could be happy living longer.
Finally, in the last stanza the intent is presented, Thomas is showing that all men no matter their experiences or situations fight for more time. He urges his father to do the same. “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray,” (17) describes his pain and passion that are causing him to beg his father not to die. Thomas is watching his father fade and is begging for his father no to give in. It appears that his father has either peacefully surrendered himself, or rather that he has resigned himself to his fate.
THEMES IN THE POEM
Anger: The poet advises its listener to rage against dying. By giving us the models of wise men, good men, wild men and grave men, the poet is of the view that me who are vigorously pursuing something but meet frustrations and disappointments in their lives, would resort to anger in their lives. Although it could be said that these are admirable types of men, and that if they all reach the same conclusion having travelled there on different roads then it must be the correct one, they still do not achieve any comfort or satisfaction from raging; that is, not going gentle. The poem is expressed as advice to choose rage but these men do not find their rage by choice. Anger is therefore considered to be better than sadness in the poem.
Mortality and Transience: The poem laments the certainty or inevitability of death, encouraging the aged to rebel against their fate. The poem suggests that we should leave this world the way we came in – kicking and screaming., holding on to life for all we're worth. The thought of transience causes the speaker a lot of anxiety. It worries him that there are things people might have been able to do in the world if only they had been here longer but unfortunately, life is brief. It bothers him that the sun travels so quickly across the sky, making human beings quickly draw close to their graves. But even though transience is disturbing, it also creates opportunities for reflections.
Identity: The poem is an address to the poet's father. This helps the reader easily understand the poet's undertones. The angry attitude the poet asks the father is not necessarily suggested for all people, but instead an emotional reaction to the imminent death of a figure. Thomas uses the formalized villanelle style to pass a message, not just about death but about standing by or identifying with a loved one when they face death. The poem reveals a strong emotional affinity and identity.
Morality: Though death is inevitable, the poet tells the listener to do something substantial, something grandiose before death snuffs out life. Throughout the poem, life is associated with passion, zeal and adventure. It is also associated with the pursuit of one’s potential and self-actualisation. Thomas’s urges the “wise men” and the good men” to resist death because they haven’t achieved anything significant to be remembered by. His “wild men” had lived passionately but had been ignorant of their own mortality all this while.
Old age: Despite the inexorable nature of death, if a man lives his life with unwavering passion and zeal, and doesn’t submit to the frailties of old age, he can escape the regrets and tragedies that accompany death. In order to die with dignity, man must not let the limitations of old age hamper his intensity of life.
POETIC DEVICES
Alliteration: The following underlined words are the examples of alliteration that feature in the poem.
Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
..blinding sight/ Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay
When two or more words which begin with the same sound, are placed adjacent or close to each other in a text, it is called as alliteration. Alliteration focuses readers’ attention on a particular section of text. Alliterative sounds create rhythm and mood and can have particular connotations.
Metaphor: In the entire poem, “night”, “dying of the light” and “close of day” has been used as metaphors for death. This could be because, while we are energetic and bursting with life at the beginning of the day, as the night closes in on us, we slowly lose the zeal to accomplish and wish to fade in and rest. Similarly, as man moves over from the period of youth to old age, he loses his vigour and ardour for life.
“Forked no lightning” literally refers to splitting a thunderbolt. This has been used as a metaphor for describing extraordinary tasks or accomplishments of men. The impact that the ideas of men has on the rest of the world has been referred to here.
Personification: “Frail deeds might have danced” is a phrase where deeds of men are given the human ability to dance, hence personified. The deeds have been given the attribute of a human being to bring in a more realistic or live image.
Simile: ‘Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay’ is an example of fine simile in the poem, ‘Do Not Go Gentle In to the Good Night’. Similes make descriptions vivid by comparing their subjects with known events or things. Effective similes help readers visualize what is being described. Hence, here blind eyes, which actually cannot see, are given the ability to blaze and shine by comparing them to meteors, which are incandescent bodies of mater from outer space.
Oxymoron: In the 5th stanza, “blinding sight” is an oxymoron. Also, in the final stanza, “Curse, bless me now..” can be termed as an oxymoron. Oxymoron is a figure of speech that juxtaposes images that appear to be contradictory. By combining two words or terms together that are inherently contradictory, the use of an effective oxymoron can create a phrase with lasting resonance and a more immediately evocative sensibility.
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds to create an internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, Assonance is a rhyme, the identity of which depends on vowel sounds.
First stanza: Age, rave, day
Fifth stanza: Blaze, gay, rage
Repetition: there is a repetition of a certain sentence for the sake of emphasis “Do Not Go Gentle In to That Good Night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” have been repeated four times throughout the poem to emphasize on the message of not accepting death submissively and fighting against it with fiery passion.
Parallelism: The poet draws a parallel between four kinds of men; wise men, good men, wild men and grave men. The objective of this is to say that though humans can be of different varied kinds, but at the end of the day, they all can and must fight against death and accomplish something indelible in their life
Imagery: The imagery that occurs throughout the poem is closing of day and the onset of night. The repeated usage of this image works to symbolise death, or the end. The “good night” is death, with a deliberate pun on saying good night and the idea that death is the right or “good” thing at the end of life. Death is characterised as “close of day”. The mention of words forking no lightning produces an image of a bizarre or extraordinary phenomenon occurring because of the deeds of these men. “Frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” projects a picture of life and vitality as green in the sea is symbolic of sea weed, plants and algae, hence, life. The mention of meteors in the 5th stanza produces an image of something that passes very quickly, yet leaves a blazing trail behind and a lasting effect in the atmosphere.
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is a villanelle. Villanelles have nineteen lines divided into five three-line stanzas and a sixth stanza with four lines. In English, villanelles tend to be written in the common metrical pattern called iambic pentameter, which means ten syllables per line, with every other syllable stressed, starting with the second syllable. The rhyme scheme is ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA, so there are only two rhymes that end all the lines. In addition, the first line and third line, the refrains, are repeated four times each – the first line appears at the end of stanzas 2 and 4 and as the second-to-last line in stanza 6. The poem’s third line appears again at the end of stanzas 3, 5, and 6.
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