Analysis Of Dylan Thomas 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

When reviewing the work of Dylan Thomas, one can see that he changes his style of language, such as using metaphors and imagery, to fit each poem accordingly. In the poems, "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night," and "Fern Hill," which are the poems I will be looking at in this presentation, he uses different techniques and language to make each poem more effective to the reader. I have chosen these works because they are his most well known, I shall start off by reading the poem “Do Not Go Gentle…” even if it was written after Fern Hill, as it is the most famous of all his works. "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" is addressed to Thomas' father, giving him advice

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

All times, the disappearance of cherishable beings brings people unbearable agony. Eventually, they cry, and then suffer more heartache, yet the attitudes when confronting a farewell vary dynamically within individuals. In Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” and Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”, both speakers experience a painful loss. However, while Thomas strongly opposes the undeniable fact of his father’s death process, Bishop reluctantly accepts the departure of her beloved. The two speakers react differently to recover from the ineluctable sadness, to regain inner peace. In the end, the poems’ comparison concludes losing valued relations is distressingly unavoidable, and that there is no ideal way to cope with losses. Therefore,

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.

The word musical is a synonym for the word rhyme, and for good reason. Subconciously we are able to remember the song lyrics to a favorite song, but not often to a poem without rhyme. The poems Fire and Ice by Robert Frost, Sympathy by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas all use rhyme to make the poem more musical because when a poem is more melodic it is easier to connect to the emotions poem. The poem Fire and Ice is about destruction, and the inevitable end of the world.

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.

“One Art”, a poem about numerous forms of loss, not only allows a reader to relate to the points made in the poem about loss, but also, leaves the reader lost by reading a poem that is written by a person who contradicts her own theory about loss. The poem is written in a fixed form known as a villanelle. The structure of the poem reinforces the intended points that Bishop is trying to make about loss by the fixed rules of writing a villanelle poem. Bishop also uses a crescendo of examples of loss, for she begins with smaller losses and works her way up in size until the end. Her using different increasing examples of loss makes up the majority of the poem and allows the reader to make numerous connections to Bishop’s imagery of example.

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.

Death has always been mankind’s worst and most fierce enemy. Something every man and woman must face in one form or another. A point that is made very clear in “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by poet Dylan Thomas. In his poem, the narrator is trying desperately to persuade his father to fight for his life instead of giving in to death. Dylan Thomas uses metaphor and specific words to emphasize his point.

The poem I have chosen, Do not go Gentle into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas, is a villanelle poem because of it’s specific form. Villanelles are composed of nineteen lines and six stanzas, all with a relatively rigid structure. The poem follows a distinct and unique pattern, where the first five stanzas have the rhyme scheme of ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA and the sixth stanza is in ABAA form. In addition, the first line and third line, the refrains, are repeated four times each. The deeper message in this poem is the narrator insisting that you must fight on to live as long as you can in the face of death, even if it means suffering.

Dylan Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" which has either been quoted many times in movies such as Rodney Dangerfield’s 1986 classic “Back to School” or has been the inspiration for title of George R. R. Martin's first novel, the 1977 “Dying of the Light”, which is about a planet moving away from its life supporting stars. Every time I read this poem, I am struck by just how expressive it is in capturing the essence of what it feels like to be angry and distraught when knowing a loved one is dying. Thomas poem is said to have been a tribute to his dying father. It was written in a style known as villanelle, which is not an easy form to pull off, especially given its rhyme scheme and line repetitions. However, Thomas seems to have pulled it off expertly.

Dylan Thomas’s poem ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ written in 1947 is somewhere between a hypnotic, desperate request against death and a resigned eulogy to a lost father. Thomas uses repetition and slight changes of certain phrases in order to ease the reader into the ending which into Thomas lays out his pain and distress about how his father is acting come the end of his life. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the poem, where he urges the reader not to go gentle into the good night. A line that is repeated four times throughout the rest of the poem. What Thomas refers to as the ‘good night’ is an allegory for death, these soft, almost comforting and pleasing words, stand out vividly against the harsh raging tone that makes up the rest of the poem.

Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” reminds me of the relationship I have with my father. When I first read the poem I did not think about our relationship. After discussing the poem in class, I realized I may one day understand when he says, “And you, my father, there on that sad height, curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.” I do not want imagine losing my dad, but I know I would want him to say whatever was on his mind and heart just as long as I knew he was alive. Although, he is not normally one of my favorite people I love him. We normally do not get along because he has a different way of thinking and handling things. My dad can be a very moody person and he does not always think of others’ feelings.

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.