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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Analysis Essay

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In the poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” Dylan Thomas uses metaphors and a change in tone to establish that when people reach the verge of death, they must not allow themselves to slip away quietly, but fight, not because they might live, but because it is more honorable than simply giving up. The speaker could be either an unknown person lamenting the loss of their father or Thomas himself, as his father died of pneumonia before Thomas wrote this poem. Furthermore, Thomas begins the poem by telling his dying father that “old age should burn and rave at close of day;” (2). “Close of day” introduces an extended metaphor comparing a human lifespan to a day, something that rises and eventually …show more content…

Thomas uses a biblical allusion to create another metaphor that describes the father as being on the cusp of the mortal world and the next. The quote is surrounded by religious words like “curse”, “bless”, “pray” and “father”. Incidentally, “father” has a double meaning, talking about the speaker’s literal father, as well as the more figurative Father, or God. Thomas uses this allusion to tie the line back to the biblical metaphor, and it shows that he believes his father’s death is a doing of God. Additionally, the change in structure and breaking away from the prevailing pattern establishes a change in tone. Thus, highlighting that Thomas is becoming more desperate for his father to fight death as he becomes closer and closer to greeting it with open arms. Thomas’s tone in this line of the poem demonstrates how they are pleading with their father, trying to get him not to give up because it is the noble and virtuous thing to do. By using multiple extended metaphors and a change in tone, Dylan Thomas, in his poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”, comments on how people should react during death, saying that they should continue to fight for their survival because it is more glorious and noble than

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