Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

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,

Wise men know that death is appropriate, but they do not embrace it. These wise men fight death because they feel their words have not been adequate enough to touch or illuminate others. The son creates a visual image of the inadequacy wise men feel upon realizing their words have not enlightened others--"their words had forked no lightning." The son also mentions good men who do not die peacefully. These men despair that their feeble deeds did not accomplish enough. Even though they were good men, they feel they could have done so much more if given the time.

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.

William James, an American philosopher and psychologist once said “believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” Life, regardless of how close it lies to death, is worth keeping. The poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas is a son’s appeal to a fading father. He shows his father that men from all walks of life confront death, however, they still war against it. Thomas uses figurative language to classify men into four different categories to persuade his father to realize that a life, regardless of how it was lived, should be fought for.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas explores death and how those facing it should fight for their lives because death is a heartbreaking subject to him. The writer is addressing his father and pleads him to resist the power of death as it would be devastating if the father was to die from the writers perspective. Throughout the poem, Thomas writes about different traits of men. Some aspects include wise, wild, good and grave which helps create a poem that covers all aspects of a person.

Dylan Thomas' poetry is rich in imagery and metaphorical language. The opening line, "Do not go gentle into that good night," contains an euphemistic metonymy for death. "That good night" is a word association for death, but is described as "good" in order to overcome the negative connotation usually attached with the idea of death. Also, the word "gentle" which is an adjective, is used instead of "gently," the adverb which more commonly would be used. Thomas does both of these and is found describing the man and providing a tighter bond to the poem.

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.

Contrary to Frost?s peaceful, luring diction and images, Dylan Thomas uses forceful, irate words to deter death. "No poet gives a greater sense of the feel of life" as Thomas, who provokes the reader to "rage" against death (Ackerman 407). Thomas conveys a resistance towards death with images of fury and fighting, as in "do not go gentle." Vivacious words as "blaze" and "burn" intensify desires to live on and to the fullest. With images of "good night" and "dying of the light," Thomas conveys death as the "end where only darkness prevails" (Savage 381). He takes his "stand within concrete, particular existence, he places birth and death at the poles of his vision" (Savage 381). "Life [for Thomas] begins at birth and ceases at death" therefore leaving no room for a previous life or an after life (Savage 381). Excessive images of anger and rage towards death exemplify the passion Thomas feels for life. His villanelle repeats the theme of living and fury through the most forceful two lines, "do not go gentle into that good night" and "rage, rage against the dying of the light." Contrasting images of light and darkness in the poem create the warmth of living and the coldness in death, so as to shun people from choosing the bleak, bitter frigidity of death.

Generally, anyone who reads this villanelle will see that Thomas is telling, more so demanding g that his father should resist death. The theme of fighting is expressed through Thomas’s description of four types of men in four different terecets. These tercets describe “wise”, “good”, “wild”, and “grave” men who all feel that their lives have been unfulfilled

The stanza then concludes with the repetitious statement: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (3). The repetition of “rage” from the second line and the metaphor of comparing age to the time of day is used again to further reinforce the speaker’s idea to resist death, rather than to accept

The poem do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas is filled with different themes, symbols, literary devices, and imagery. It shows the theme that you should not give in to your death and should try to stay alive for as long as possible through imagery. This poem also shows the theme of how you should never waste your time in the world through literary devices. One final theme that is in this poem would be how important family is, this is shown through symbolism. Fighting against your death and not giving into it is one of the main themes, this theme is shown throughout imagery.

Life is precious, every moment of it and you must fight and enjoy every second of it. That’s what young poet, Dylan Thomas, told his dying father in a beautiful poem. In a villanelle style poem a man’s life is described as one day, and night is the grim reaper. He wants his father to cling to life and not giving up. Do not go gentle into that good night is an powerful, emotional message to his father, who was dying at the time, which Dylan Thomas wrote while lamenting his father's declining health.

This poem has four main themes: mortality, resistance, and life. The poem begins with a plea do the dying man. It says, “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Thomas, 768). The poet encourages the man who is facing death to keep fighting.

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.

The first stanza starts with the asking his father not to be soft on death meaning that he asks him not to accept death quietly but to fight against it with full force, passion and bravery. ‘Good night’ in the first line refers to a good death, as it is clear that night represents death and the poet is motivating his father resists death in a calm way. The use of the word ‘rage’ shows the poet requesting his father to resist death.