Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
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The purpose of this essay is to analyze one of the more popular and well known poems written by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” The poem relates to the shortness of life and the inevitability of death that should not be easily accepted, which was a common theme for Dylan Thomas. This is ironic given the poets early death from a drunken binge in New York City while he was visiting the United States as part of a tour in which he recited his poems to adoring fans.
Thomas powerful message is contained in the form of a villanelle. The villanelle is a highly structured poem which makes use of a great deal of repetition in its standard nineteen lines. The first five stanzas are tercets while the sixth and last stanza is a quatrain. The first and last lines of the opening stanza are repeated throughout the poem. The opening stanzas first line is also the last line of the second and fourth stanzas while it is the next to last line of the final stanza. The opening stanzas last line is also the last line of the third, fifth, and sixth stanzas.
A villanelle also uses a standard rhyme scheme. The first and third line of each stanza rhyme, as does the last line of the final stanza, with a keyword (in the case of this poem, the keyword is “night”). The second line of each stanza rhymes with a second keyword (in this case, “day”). Thus, Thomas expertly focuses on the poems main theme of life and death (day and night). He uses enjambment where possible to downplay the end rhymes and thus give his poem a more natural, conversational tone.
In the first stanza of the poem, Thomas beseeches his ailing father to fight for life. Night is metaphorical for death. Because of the importance of the message, the poems title is repeated in the first line of the poem as Thomas urges his father not to submit meekly (“do not go gentle”) to a death which may seem a welcome prospect (“that good night”). Thomas tells his father the elderly whose life is behind them (“at end of day”) should protest bitterly the end of life (“burn and rave”). The first stanza ends with Thomas stating his case to his father in the strongest possible terms (“Rage, rage against the dying of the light”). Thomas wants his father to show anger at his impending death in the hope that strong emotion may forestall it.
In the second stanza, Thomas uses the first of four examples of men who fight death although they look back at lives which could have been so much more. Thomas must have realized his father had his regrets also and hoped that these examples would help spark the fight for life. The second stanza addresses intelligent men who know death is natural (“Though wise men at their end know dark is right”) but fight it anyway. They do so because they realize they hadnt made much of an impact on others with their wisdom (“Because their words had forked no lightning”). Since Thomas father was a teacher, this example seems particularly apropos.
In the third stanza, Thomas cites the example of decent (“good”) men who tried to positively impact the lives of others. They know they havent much chance to do many more good deeds (“the last way by”). They regret that their earlier works didnt achieve more (“crying how bright / Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay”). Still, they fight death and “rage against the dying of the light.”
In the fourth stanza, Thomas employs the example of carefree (“wild”) men who approached life with optimistic abandon (“caught and sang the sun in flight”). Ultimately, they realize life is full of sadness (“And