“DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT”
By: Dylan Thomas
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.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
1. Poetic Devices
This type of poem is called a Villanelle; Three line stanzas where the first line of the first stanza and the last line of the first stanza are repeated alternatively in every stanza and must rhyme with each other. The middle line of the first stanza must rhyme with the middle line of every stanza. The last stanza has four lines. The last two lines are the first and the last line of the first stanza. Altogether must be nineteen lines.
a. Number of Stanzas: six
b. Lines in Each Stanza: three in each of the first five stanzas, four in the last. A three-line stanza is called a tercet; a four-line stanza, a quatrain.
c. Refrains: two lines, the first and third of the first stanza, must be repeated in the other stanzas. Here is the pattern: Line 1 of the first stanza is repeated as Line 3 of the second stanza, as Line 3 of the fourth stanza, and as Line 3 of the sixth stanza. Line 3 of the first stanza is repeated as Line 3 of the third stanza, Line 3 of the fifth stanza, and Line 4 of the sixth stanza.
End Rhyme: aba in the first five stanzas; abaa in the last stanza.
End Rhyme: aba in the first five stanzas; abaa in the last stanza.
d. The following example demonstrates the metric scheme of the first two lines. The unstressed syllables are in blue; the stressed are in red capitals. Over each pair of syllables is a number representing the foot. Also, a black vertical line separates the feet.
1..............2..........3............4................5
Do NOT..|..goGEN..|..tleIN..|..toTHAT..|..goodNIGHT
(Iambic Tetrameter)
1........./.......2..................3.................4..........5
Old AGE | should BURN.|.andRAVE.|.at CLOSE.|.ofDAY.
(Iambic Tetrameter)
e. Alliteration: go, good (Stanza 1); though, their (Stanza 2); deeds, danced (Stanza 3) sang, sun (Stanza 4); learn, late (Stanza 4); see, sight (Stanza 5); blinding, blind, blaze (Stanza 5). Note: Go and gentle do not alliterate; they have different consonant sounds.
2. Poetic Diction
a. Denotation and connotation
Thomas less uses denotation meaning for the words chosen in this poem. The words like wise, good, men etc are used to explain clearly the description of the intended meaning.
Meanwhile, he uses more denotation such as:
- go gentle: Go becomes a copulative verb, permitting the use of the adjective gentle rather than the adverb gently
- close of day: end of life
- good night: two meanings: (1) death, (2) goodbye
- light: will to live; spirit, soul, mind; hope
- right: inevitable, unavoidable; natural
- forked no lightning: failed to command attention
- crying: weeping or shouting
- bright their: another instance of enjambment
- Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight: These men had their moment in the sun, so to speak. But they lived most of their lives in shadows, grieving over daily travails.
- they grieved it: dismissed it; sent it. They did not seize the moment and capture what it offered them.
- they grieved it: dismissed it; sent it. They did not seize the moment and capture what it offered them.
- Grave men: Serious men.
- blinding sight: an oxymoron to convey the idea that dying men with failing eyes see with illuminating insight.
- blaze like meteors and be gay: A blind man can see in other ways and even "blaze" with ideas and zest for life
- curse, bless: In effect, "if you cursed me, you would be blessing me." Cursing his son would show that he still has fire, spirit, the will to fight.
b. Thomas uses a variety of figurative language. Examples are the following:
- Metaphor: good night compared to death (Stanza 1)
- Oxymoron: good night (Stanza 1). Good death is oxymoronic if one does not view death as good.
- Metaphor/Personification/Metonymy: old age should burn and rave (Stanza 1). Old age represents and is compared to a person.
- Two Metaphors: words had forked no lightning (Stanza 2). (1) Words are compared to the cause of forked lightning. (2) Lightning is compared to attention, notice--that is, the words had received no attention.
- Metaphor/Personification: frail deeds might have danced (Stanza 3).
Metaphor/exaggeration: Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight (Stanza 4). Implied comparison of achievement to catching the fire of the sun and to singing triumphantly
Metaphor/exaggeration: Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight (Stanza 4). Implied comparison of achievement to catching the fire of the sun and to singing triumphantly
- Metaphor/exaggeration: they grieved it on its way (Stanza 4).
- Pun: Grave men, near death (Stanza 5)
- Oxymoron: blinding sight (Stanza 5)
- Simile: blind eyes could blaze like meteors (Stanza 5)
- Paradox: “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray”(Stanza 6)
- Oxymoron: fierce tears (Stanza 6)
* Stanza 1: The first line is a command, “Do not go gentle into that good night.” Paraphrased, “Don’t give up easily.” The second line offers the speaker’s belief that even when old and infirm, the man should stay energetic and complain if necessary as long as he does not give in to death easily. Then line three again is a command, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”: Fight, complain, rail against the oncoming of death.
* Stanzas 2, 3, 4, and 5 each try to persuade the father to “rage against the dying of the light” by offering evidence of what wise, good, wild, and grave men have done. For example and to paraphrase stanza 2: Even though wise men know that they cannot keep death away forever and especially if they have not accomplished their goals in life, they don’t accept death easily; they “Do not go gentle . . . .” Similarly, in stanza 3, good men exclaim what might have been, their “frail deed” might have shone like the sun reflecting off the waters of a “green bay,” and they, therefore, “Rage, rage” against the oncoming of death. Likewise, in stanza 4, wild men whose antics seemed to shine as brightly as the sun and who thought they were so optimistic, but later realized they spent much of their life in grief, still they “Do not go gentle . . . .” And in stanza 5, grave men whose eyes are fading fast ca n still flash life’s happiness, as they “Rage, rage . . ”
* Stanza 6: The speaker addresses his father. Paraphrased, “And so my father you are nearing death—yell at me, scream at me, cry out; to see you do that would be a blessing for me and I beg you to show me that militant man you once were: “Do not go gentle . . . . ”
3. Tone
This poem combines pleading [‘Do no go gentle into that night’], angry [‘Old age should burn and rave at close of day’. “Rage, rage against the dying of the light’’], regretful [‘And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way’], celebrated[‘Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight’] and passionate tones[‘Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay’].
4. Symbol
The symbols used in the poem above are “day” and “night”. They symbolize life and death. The expression of day and night “ Do not go gentle into that night”, and “Old age should burn and rave at close of day”.
5. Point of View
Stanzas 1 and 6, which the poet addressed directly to his father, are in second-person point of view (you understood). The other stanzas are in third-person point of view.
6. Theme
This poem is about fight against the arrival of death. It is shown in the expression of “ Old age should burn and rave at close of day” and “rage, rage against the dying of the light”.
7. Time and place setting
This poem was written in 1951 in London. In this poem, Thomas addressed it to his octogenarian father, whose eyesight and general health was falling. The poem urges his father to fight against death – to “burn and rave at close of day” – rather than surrendering meekly to it.
8. Message
From this poem, we can get conclusion that someone should seize every day, and to live everyday vigorously and fully, and not idle away our precious life even the old and dying people can make the full use of their remaining day.
Analyzed by M. Akhnan Arifin and Ma’mun
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