Introduction to The Poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” By Dylan Thomas - SS3 Literature Lesson Note

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. – Dylan Thomas

Background of The Poet
Welshman Dylan Thomas was born in 1914. At age 16, he left school to become a reporter and writer. His famous poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” was published in the year 1952, but his reputation was solidified years earlier. Thomas prose include “under miles Wood (1950), and A child’s Christmas in Wales (1955). Thomas was in high demand for his animated readings but debt and heavy drinking took their toll and he died in New York City while on tour in 1953 at age 39.

Background Setting

The poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" was written by Dylan Thomas in the late 1940s or early 1950s. It is believed to have been written for his father, who was dying of cancer. The poem is a plea to his father to resist death and to live life to the fullest until the very end.

The poem is set in a universal space, outside of time and place. It is a meditation on death and the human spirit's struggle to come to terms with it.

Style

The poem is written in a villanelle form, a French poetic form with a strict rhyme scheme and meter. The villanelle has five tercets (three-line stanzas) and a quatrain (four-line stanza). The first and third lines of the first tercet are repeated at the end of each tercet and the quatrain, creating a sense of repetition and urgency.

The poem is written in iambic pentameter, which is a meter consisting of five pairs of syllables, with each pair consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. This meter gives the poem a regular and steady rhythm.

Thomas uses a variety of literary devices in the poem, including simile, metaphor, personification, and symbolism. For example, he compares death to a "good night" and to a "gentle end." He personifies death as a "raging sea" and a "dying light." And he uses the symbol of the "fire" to represent the human spirit's passion for life.

Overall, the poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" is a powerful and moving meditation on death and the human spirit's struggle to come to terms with it. Thomas's use of the villanelle form, iambic pentameter, and a variety of literary devices gives the poem a sense of rhythm, urgency, and beauty.

 

Summary Analysis
Do not go gentle into that good night is a poem where the poet begins and wages war against the inevitable phenomenon known as death. The poet asserts that old men at the end of their life should resist death as strongly as they can. In fact, they should only leave this world kicking and screaming, furious that they have to die at all. At the end of the poem, we discovered that the poet has a personal stake in this issue. That is, his own father is dying. The poet believes that old men should not die quietly or just sleep easily away from life. Instead, they should “burn and rave” struggling with a fiery intensity. the issue of dying is strictly applicable to all human creation, it is hard for people to accept death even when it is crystal clear that death is inevitable, whether one is rich or poor, young or old, doll or clever, the situation is basically the same. The poet therefore urges his dying father to resist death. The poet state in line four 2- 6:
“The wise men out there and know that it’s lights,
Because there was had forked no lightening they
Do not go gentle into that good night”.
Here the poet meant that even though smart people know that is unavoidable (line 4), they don’t just accept it and let themselves fade away (line 6) because they may not have achieved everything they were capable of yet (line 5). The metaphor of night as death continues here with death figured as the “dark”. The poet admit that sensible, smart people realize death – traveling into “the dark” – is inevitable and appropriate. After all, we are all going to die, and it’s a totally natural process. The poet, Dylan Thomas, PT positive features of growing old. According to him, the elderly people should not be discontented and discouraged because of their age, the ‘wise men’, ‘good men’, ‘grave men’ all should rise up and challenge the dying of the light. the poet therefore want them to continue to forge ahead and not to desert the pleasures of life the once enjoyed.

the poet’s also speaks about the ‘graved men’ near-death, who ‘see blinding sight / blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay’.
actually this group of people are those who despite their old age and blindness still feel strong and active to enjoy the rest of their lives. The message established in this poem is powerful, clear and instructive and worthy of emulation,as the poet encourages the elderly men to live with higher level of expectation and optimism particularly those who have already lost all hope of survival. In the case of this poem, “do not go gentle into that good night”, it is nearly impossible to separate the speaker of the poem, who is using his father to struggle mightily with death, from the author Dylan Thomas, who was really upset about his own Father’s declining health and impending death.

Poetic Devices

1. Tone/Mood
The poet is characterized by an intense and strong emotion and words like ‘rage,’ ‘rave’, ‘burn’, ‘dying’, ‘grieved’, close of day’, dark’, ‘mentors,’ end’, fierce tears’, ‘too late’, ‘sun in flight’, sad height’, all enabled g poet to create our intention and ultimately give the poem a tone of anxiety and intensity.
2. Oxymoron
this is the combination of two terms or expressions of 2 words which are ordinarily contradictory to each other. Three good examples as used in this poem are: ‘blinding sight’, ‘curse, bless’, ‘dark is light’s.
3. Simile
one notable example of this simulated contrast in the poem can be found in the following expression: ‘ Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay’. this helps to make the father’s condition clear, vivid and real to life.
4. Metaphor
letter for is like a simile that it is a form of comparison the only difference is that where is introducing the comparison as or like an are omitted. This means that metaphor gives direct comparison. Examples of metaphor as used in this poem are: ‘close of the day’, ‘ the dying of the light’, ‘ sharing our mind’, ‘last wave’, ‘sad height’, ‘sun in flight’, ‘that good night’, which is death, the long sleep associated with darkness and grief.
5. Repetition
Certain words and phrases are repeated for effect. The poetic device is to achieve emphasis and to compel attention and this is true in ordinary way of speaking. Two notable examples as used in the poem are: ‘ Do not go gentle into that good night’, ‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light’.
6. Hyperbole
This is a form of expression that illustrates an over statement of facts or an exaggeration. It is more often found in poetry than in prose. the poetic effect is to give emphasis to the point which the poet wants to make. Some notable examples as used in this poem are: ‘ their words had forked no lightning’, ‘ Rage, rage against the dying of the light’, ‘ frail deeds …. danced …..’, ‘Caught and sang the sun in flight’.
7. Enjambment
This is also called run-on lines. this wetek device enhances the reading speed and rhythmic quality of the poem and also confessed attention to the reader. Example as used in this poem:
“Though wise men at their end know that is light
Because there was hard-fought no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night”.
10. Imagery
in this poem there are two powerful images drawn to create a paint the picture of what the poem is conveying to the readers. A good imagery used in this poem are: “light and “dark” which symbolises life and death respectively.