DYLAN THOMAS

Poetry
Thomas's poetry is famous for its musicality, most notable in poems such as Fern Hill, In the
White Giant's Thigh, In Country Sleep and Ballad of the Long-legged Bait. Do not go gentle into
that good night, possibly his most popular poem, is unrepresentative of his usual poetic style.
DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
 Do not go gentle into that good night, a villanelle composed in 1952, is considered to be
among the finest works by Dylan Thomas . Originally published in the journal Botteghe
Oscure in 1951, it also appeared as part of the collection "In Country Sleep."
 Written for his dying father, it is one of Thomas's most-quoted works
Subject
 Dylan Thomas’ father had been a robust, militant man most of his life, and when in
his eighties, he became blind and weak, his son was disturbed seeing his father
become “soft” or “gentle.” In this poem, Thomas is rousing his father to continue
being the fierce man he had previously been.
• Thomas watched his father, formerly in the Army, grow weak and frail with old age.
Thus, the speaker in his poem tries to convince his father to fight against imminent death.
• The speaker addresses his father using wise men, good men, wild men, or grave men as
examples to illustrate the same message: that no matter how they have lived their lives or
what they feel at the end they should die fighting. He implies that one should not die
without fighting for one's life, or after life.
Stamps analysis
Stanza 1: The first line is a command, “Do not go gentle into that good night.”
Don’t give up easily.
• The second line” Old age should burn and rave at close of day” offers the speaker’s belief
that even when old and infirm, the man should stay energetic and complain if necessary
as long as he does not give in to death easily.
• Then line three again is a command, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”:
Fight, complain, rail against the oncoming of death.
Stanza 2: “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.”
Even though wise men know that they cannot keep death away forever and especially if they
have not accomplished their goals in life, they don’t accept death easily; they “Do not go
gentle . . . .”
Stanza 3:” 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.”
Good men exclaim what might have been, their “frail deed” might have shone like the sun
reflecting off the waters of a “green bay,” and they, therefore, “Rage, rage” against the oncoming
of death.
 Stanza 4: “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,/ And learn, too late, they grieve it
on its way,/Do not go gentle into that good night.”
Wild men whose antics seemed to shine as brightly as the sun and who thought they were so
optimistic, but later realized they spent much of their life in grief, still they “Do not go gentle . . .
.”
Stanza 5: ” 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,”
Grave men whose eyes are fading fast can still flash life’s happiness, as they “Rage, rage . . .”
Stanza 6: “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 speaker addresses his father. “And so my father you are nearing death—yell at me, scream at
me, cry out; to see you do that would be a blessing for me and I beg you to show me that militant
man you once were: Do not go gentle . . . . ”
Other explanations…
Another explication is that the speaker admits that death is unavoidable, but encourages all
men to fight death. This is not for their own sake, but to give closure and hope to the kin
that they will leave behind. To support this, he gives examples of wise men, good men, wild
men, and grave men to his father, who was dying at the time this poem was written.
Literary devices:
• The form on the poem is a villanelle, with a rime scheme alternating “night” and “day.”
• “Good night” is a metaphor.
• “Dying of the light” is a metaphor.
• “Old age should burn and rave” in line 2 is a combination of rhetoric and personification.
• “Burn” in that same line is used metaphorically, as is “dark” in line 4.
• In line 5 “their words had forked no lightning” is metaphorical.
• Line 8 “Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” employs personification and
metaphor.
• Line 10 “Wild men who sang the sun in flight” is exaggeration and metaphor.
• Line 11 “they grieved it on its way” is also exaggeration and metaphor.
• Line 14 “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors” is a simile.
• Line 17 “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray” is a paradox.
Themes:

 "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" explores the theme of death through the use of
metaphor. That "good night" is death, the long sleep associated with darkness and grief. This
darkness is juxtaposed with the "light" of life.
 Dylan Thomas explores the theme of aging along with the theme of death. He encourages
the elderly to "rage, rage against the dying of the light," insisting that they should fight death and
refuse to go "gentle" or easily into the night of death.
 Grief (=durere) is another important theme in the poem. The speaker expresses grief and
dismay as he begs his dying father to live. The good men and the wild men also express grief
when they realize that death will prevent them from doing good works and seeking pleasure.
This is a natural response to death.