Men Approaching Death

In this poem, Thomas mainly talks about death, which is the ending point in a life that will inevitably happen to everyone, but it is more likely for older individuals to experience it. One stanza of the poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” where Thomas really emphasizes to not let death consume you easily is, “Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Lines 1-3). Based from this, it portrays that Thomas is using symbolism to show that to not give up to death easily. When he states “Do not go gentle into that good night” it is evident that he is meaning to imply to not be gentle or subtle about death since, “night” would symbolize to further mean as one’s eternal

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,

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.

Thomas realizes it is human nature to take life for granted; until death approaches. Thomas wrote this poem for his father, to tell him that there is so much more for him here, living, to do. The only way to deter death is through fury and frenzy. Death comes too quickly for most people and only with "rage" can death be defied.

Both "Death Be Not Proud" and "Do not go gentle into that good night" do not necessarily see death as a negative thing. In looking at the title "Do not go gentle into that good night" one notices that Thomas calls the night, presumably a metaphor for death, good. He also says "wise men at their end know dark is right" (4). This would suggest that he believes that death is a necessary occurrence. If Thomas sees death as necessary, then why does he say "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (19)? The answer to this can be found in line 16 when he addresses his father. Throughout the whole poem he names different types of men, then in the last stanza he specifically names his father. I think that in this poem Thomas is trying to express that even though he knows that death is natural he doesn't want his father to die. This creates a sort of conflict within the poem where Thomas knows that eventually death will come for everyone, but he wants to put it off as long as possible in the case of his father.

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.

In the line, "Old age should burn and rave at close of day", "old age" can be seen as personification, but can also be interpreted as metonymy for his father. "Burn and rave" are strong emotions Thomas feels his father should take against "the close of the day" which is a metaphor for death. In the second stanza, the phrase "dark is right" represents a concise acknowledgement of the intellectual recognition how death is unavoidable; however, the awareness that his father's words had "forked no lightning" is a metaphor for the failure to influence the powerful and brilliant forces in society (Grolier 231).

Although Milton and Thomas draw very different conclusions about life as a whole, they share a strong sense of regret for lives wasted uselessly. Thomas brings this sentiment to his poem through his descriptions of other men; he uses "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright/ Their frail deeds might have danced" (7-8); "Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight/ And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way" (10-11); and "Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight/ Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay" (13-14) as examples of who should "rage against the dying of the light." Each group of men is tormented at death by a realization of how

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.

Both of these lines are urging the dying person not to give up fighting against death and are encouraging him to cling onto life. They are insisting that he should fight and “rage” against death, to put up a fight and not go gentle. In addition to the repeated lines, Thomas uses strong emotive language to emphasis the energy with which the dying person should fight against death. Some examples of emotive language used are “Rage”, “Burn” and “Rave”. Adding this with the repeated phrases gives the reader a true understanding into how much the author really wants the dying person to fight against death and emphasizes how much he believes that death should not be an easy way out. Further more, Thomas use of powerful examples of men who should not just accept death gives the dying person a reason to fight against death. If “The wise men”, “the good men”, “the wild men” and “the grave men” can all fight against death, then why cant you? Why can’t the dying person fight just like the rest of the men? Why can’t his father fight against the almighty yet terrifying death? Its urging all the dying men to fight a little longer against

The first stanza reads: “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at the close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” It introduces the subject matter (death) as well as the two refrains (lines one and three). The first line is very soft, using the words “gentle” and “good night” to bring to mind the image of passing away-that is to say dying-in one’s sleep. However Thomas states that old men should not leave the world of the living that way, instead they left fighting and resisting their deaths. In both refrains he entreats the addressee to resist death rather than accept it.

Dylan Thomas takes the loss of his father to his heart and in return bleeds anger towards death. In

Despite the metaphor Thomas uses to imply death is similar to that of Tennyson, the attitude of Thomas towards death is completely different from Tennyson’s placid attitude. The villanelle form of the poem repeats the central idea “[do] not go gentle into that good night” and “[rage], rage, against the dying of light” (Thomas 1, 3). The repetition strengthens the belligerent tone of the narrator and accentuates his unwillingness to yield to the doomed death. “Night” and “light” are contrary subjects that rhyme; night signifies death, whereas light symbolizes life. The narrator suggests that the switch between life and death is simply the difference between “N” and “L” as the initial letter, yet the rage towards both fate and the inevitable end destroys the capacity of metaphors to carry the burden of death.

If you ever lost someone dear to you, Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night” may pull at your heart strings, as is in my case. This is poem about death and how grief can greatly impact any individual emotionally and mentally. As I too have experienced the emotional anguish of losing a father on March 8, 2016. This poem, starting with the title, allowed me to relate to the feelings of the speakers on the imminent death of his father. As for my father, who had regularly undergone dialysis treatment three times a week for nearly a year, and spent days in the hospital experiencing pain, in addition to liver failure, yet, through all his ailments, he fought to stay alive until the very end.