"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

Born in Wales on October 27, 1914, Dylan Thomas was a well known poet and journalist. He wrote much as a teenager, and was even published for some of it, but his "Light breaks where no sun shines" is what brought him to fame initially. Thomas was often called a drunk which led to his marriage with Caitlin Macnamara to be weak. Even though successful as a poet, Thomas struggled to provide for himself, so he took up various jobs that increased his popularity. He died November 9, 1953.

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 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.

The form Thomas’s poem takes is that of a villanelle, a nineteen line poem with a very specific structure in the sense of rhyme and repetition. This type of poem consists of five tercets, a quatrain, and includes two lines acting as the refrain. The rhyme scheme is “aba” which repeats in the other tercets, but the final stanza ends with an extra “a.” Through the use of such a narrowly ranging rhyme scheme, the attention of the reader is drawn to the end of each line, curious of what new word will be written, effectively encouraging the reader to want to continue reading. The two lines of the refrain are each written four times in the poem, often concluding each stanza. The idea is to have a refrain with such a profound meaning that it can begin the poem as well as close it. The refrain must be carefully selected, too, so that after each stanza it is used in, a new interpretation can be applied. In this instance, the refrain conveys the message to never forfeit without giving everything first. Although meter is not a requirement in a villanelle, Thomas writes “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” in iambic pentameter, creating a simple, steady beat. In the second line of the refrain, however, “Rage, rage” is a spondee that diverges from this pattern and directs the readers’ focus on these words that are meant to excite and inspire them to “not go gentle into that good night.”