DYLAN THOMAS

DYLAN THOMAS

(encarta/enciclopedia/Thomas_Dylan)

(1914-1953)

Dylan Thomas was born in the coastal town of Swansea, Wales. His father David, who was a writer and possessed a degree in English, brought his son up to speak English rather than Thomas's mother's native Welsh.

Dylan Thomas is widely considered one of the greatest 20th century poets writing in English. He remains the leading figure in Anglo-Welsh literature. His vivid and often fantastic imagery was a rejection of the trends in 20th Century verse: while his contemporaries gradually altered their writing to serious topical verse (political and social concerns were often expressed), Thomas gave himself over to his passionately felt emotions, and his writing is often both intensely personal and fiercely lyrical.

He is particularly remembered for the remarkable radio-play Under the Milk Wood, for his poem "Do not go gentle into that good night," which is generally interpreted as a plea to his dying father to hold onto life, and for the short stories "A Child's Christmas in Wales." and "The Outing".

(neuroticpoets/thomas)

(wikipedia/Dylan_Thomas)

With regard to this paper, we are going to analyse the poem called “Do not go gentle into that good night”.

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

                       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                  5
                      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,                  10
                      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.                                 15


                      And you, my father, there on the 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.

(poets.org/prmMID)

What does the poet want to communicate to us?

Through the poem he is showing how he is at these moments, how he is feeling and his worry about his father.

First of all, we must say that the title “Do not go gentle into that good night” is like a strong request to his father to fight against his illness.

Reading it superficially, we can deduce that his father is suffering some type of illness, weakness, or something like that, and he is trying to convince him to fight against it, to fight until the end.

Therefore, he does not want to write it clearly, so he uses a metaphor to tone down the words but communicating the same message. So, “Do not go gentle” means that do not give up since you need to fight against this disease. On the other hand, “into that good night” means death.

As we can see, the poem consists of six stanzas of three lines each one and the last one of four lines.

Moreover, “the rhyme scheme alternates the words “night “and “day””.

The poem is full of literary devices like metaphors, exaggerations, puns and similes.

(webpages/classicpoetry)

Some metaphors that we can find in it are for instance; “good night” (lines 1, 6, 12, 18), “close of day” (line 2) , the use of the word “burn” (line 2) and the word “dark” (line 4), “their words had forked no lightning” (line 5), “Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” (line 8), “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay” (line 14).

Some exaggerations like “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight” line 10), “they grieved it on its way” (line 11).

And some puns like “Grave” (line 13).

The sentences “Do not go gentle into that good night” (lines 1, 6, 12, 18) and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (lines 3, 9, 15, 19) are

a sort of instructions or commands that are repeated throughout the poem to insist in his purpose to tell his father that he has not to give up.

His father seemed to be “a robust, militant man most of his life, and when in his eighties, he became blind and weak”. For this reason “his son was disturbed seeing his father become “soft” or “gentle”. In the poem Thomas is rousing his father to continue being the fierce man he had previously been”.

(webpages/classicpoetry)

To persuade his father, he makes a comparison with what some people would have done if they were near death. Both wise, good, wild and grave men, “Do not go gentle into that good night” because they have their reasons to survive, to fight until they could, to do not give up.

For example, it is evident that “wise men” know that they are not living all life forever and ever, since they know that sooner or later they have to die because life has an end, “Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they” (lines 4-5). For this reason, they decide with determination that they are not going to give up.

In addition, “good men” cry about what they could have done in life. They regret that life finishes and ends, “Good men, the last wave by,

crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” (lines 7-8).

Also “wild men” realise all the silly things they did. Although they “learn, too late” (line 11), at least they learn, “Wild men who caught

and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way” (lines 10-11).

Finally, “grave men” realise the wickedness they have done and they also regret, “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding eyes could

blaze like meteors and be gay” (lines 13-14).

In the last paragraph, the author addresses his father and tells him what he has to do now that is the end of his life. His father has been a

strong and brave person in his life, so now he has to be it as well and fight until the end. The author prays his father to do not give up, “And

you, my father, there on the 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” (lines 16-19).

This evidence is marked in the poem and the author says this since better men to worst men; wild-good-wild-grave, but all of them agree that they do not accept death easily.

In short, no matter if all you have done in life is wrong, the important thing is that at the end of our lives we realise that life is a treasure and we have to take advantage of this. It is a treasure shared by many people but not well-spent by everybody. If at the end of our lives we are weak or ill, you should not give up because you have been a strong person in your life and for this reason now you have to be also a brave and strong person and not to give up. So “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light”.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564383/Thomas_Dylan_Marlais.html

(http://www.neuroticpoets.com/thomas/

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Thomas

Last modified 22:48, 25 April 2006. Visited on 25 April, 2006)

(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377

(http://webpages.charter.net/classicpoetry/dtdonotgogentle.htm.

“Classic Poetry”. Grimes, Linda Sue. Updated April 24, 2006. Visited on April 25, 2006)