Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.
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Death has been one of the most common topics for poetry throughout literary history. Dylan Thomas, an early twentieth century poet, also tackled this difficult idea with his poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night.” By utilizing contrast and comparisions, this villanelle serves as an exploration and attempted explanation both for the reader and Thomas.
“Do not go gentle into that good night” is arranged in the villanelle format; consisting of nineteen lines that form five tercets and a quatrain, the first and third lines of the first tercet are alternately repeated “as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas” and meet as the final couplet in the quatrain. (“Villanelle” 1) Thomas chose to discuss a new view on dying with each tercet. The first tercet is an introduction to the poem, explaining Thomas idea that, rather than mourn the thought of death, a man should “affirm life and existence” (“Do not” 51). This is very clear in the second line, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day” (DiYanni 691), stating that the excitement of life should not fade but grow with age (“Do not…” 51).
The second stanza begins the four stanza-long inspection of Thomas first idea. Each stanza is dedicated to a specific type of “dying man.” The first villanelle in this series describes “wise men” as being knowledgeable enough to understand death is inevitable. However, Thomas finds fault in these men, as “their words have forked no lightening…” (DiYanni 691), or, have ideas that may not have materialized or lay unfinished, and therefore are not ready for their passing (“Do not…” 52). This is especially evident in the second line, which, unlike any other line in the poem, ends abruptly with the word “they” and suddenly leads into the refrain, instead of including punctuation or a complete line (“Do not…” 52).
The next stanza defines good, moral men as “crying” and raging against “the dying of the light” (DiYanni 691) as their calm lives have left no mark on the world. The pairing of “crying” and “rage” within the tercet depicts sudden urge and passion to be noticed (“Do not…” 52). This stands in contrast with the fourth stanza, detailing the lives of “wild men” who have lived a life where they “caught and sang the sun in flight” DiYanni 691). Such men may have left their marks on the world through powerful and energetic ways, yet never took the time to realize the permanence of death. (DiYanni 691)
The last type of men, portrayed in the fifth stanza as a “grave,” are given “Blind eyes…[that] blaze like meteors and be gay” (DiYanni 691). Thomas sober men may indeed have a moment of truth, understanding, or epiphany at the moment of death; emotions discovered the moments before passing, however, are mostly useless (“Do not…” 52).
The final stanza may genuinely be directed towards Thomas father, who was also a poet and battled various serious illnesses throughout Thomas life (“Dylan Thomas…” 313). This stanza encourages Thomas father to rage against death, but also asks him to “curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray” (DiYanni 691). Such a line suggests Thomas own inability to accept and understand death, even if he is not the one passing (“Dylan Thomas…” 313).
Contrast plays a major role within the poem. Thomas illustrates death through the existence of vitality, defines and contrasts the sole four types of dying men, and uses his fathers own eventual passing as means to explain his own confusion. Thomas also constantly references light and dark, both clearly (“rage against the dying of the light” to prevent darkness of death) and overtly; Thomas