Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night - Essay Example

?‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ by Dylan Thomas: a Critical analysis Introduction Dylan Thomas has often been referred to as one of the wellread poets of modern times. He pursued the Romantic tradition incompatible with his contemporaries when focused on themes of social and intellectual issues. His verbal style, such as in the villanelle Do not go gentle into that night, has well acclaimed among his readers and critics. He always wished to abstain from the strict verse forms by presenting images in a patterned sequence. The unity of life had a fascination to him and that is why he chose it as his best theme. Like many other poets, life and death and the new life binding new generations also attracted him. His poem, Do not go gentle into that night has very much attracted the readers with various factors. BBC writes, “Perhaps the most striking thing about Do Not Go Gentle is the contrast between its form, which is strict, regular and controlled, and its message, which incites the man to "rage against the dying of the light” (BBC Wales arts). The poem has been written in the villanelle style through which the poet could create a wonderful impact among the readers. The critical analysis of the poem is conducted on the grounds that the poem discloses his thoughts and experiences of death. Analysing the theme of the poem one can see the poet addressing his father, the retired military man, who is approaching death. For the poet one should be very vigilant when approaching death. He insists, "Do not go Gentle into that Good Night." Here the poet differs from other poets who exhort to face death gently. ‘Good Night’ here stands for death or the last night for which one waits for. This is to be noted that the poem presents the various perspectives of death from different people who all demonstrated one common struggle to hold on to life (123helpme.com). The second and the third line of the poem make clear theme of the poem when he writes, “Old age should burn and rage at close of day/Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Line 2-3). For the poet, when one reaches in his/her old age, one should burn with burn with emotion at ‘close of day,’ that is, against the all powerful death. The poet stresses burning and raging in the third line which is used as a refrain and the repetition of the word ‘rage.’ The following stanzas of the poem clearly indicate how the wise men, good men, wild men and grave men react to the call of death. The poet presents these men in order to make clear the fact that death is unavoidable and it is the natural tendency of man to fight against or using his all weapons to prevent it. Very often, it may not be for their own sake, but for assuring their close ones security and hope that they will be there forever. Addressing his father, the poet reveals the general truth and as a supporting factor, he produces the examples of wise men, good men, wild men and grave men, that is, they are regretted in leaving this world. Though it is difficult for one to identify these elements directly from the poem except in the line, ‘Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray’ (Line17). Therefore, it is evident of the poet’s understanding of people’s attitude to life and death. The poet persuades his father, who was a militant man, to “rage against the dying of the light” through the examples of the wise, good, wild and grave men. The unwillingness of the wise men is suggestive of the unwillingness of man to accept death easily. Whenever man feels that he has not accomplished all his desires—which one can never attain in one’s life, he hesitant to receive death. Thus, one can infer that the poet was trying to affirm man’s unwillingness to accept the imminent death. The poet has also used various poetic devices and symbolisms to make his propositions more effective. The use of the literary device villanelle with the rhyme scheme alternating between ‘night’ and ‘day’ really enhances the beauty of the poem. The use of the complex style villanelle has really elevated the status of the poem. The complexity of its structure is very clear when five tercets are followed by a quatrain, with the first and last line of the stanza repeated alternately as the last line of the subsequent stanzas and gathered into a couplet at the end of the quatrain (Liebreich). ‘Good night’ has been used in the poem as a metaphor and a ‘pun’ meaning a bad day. The alternative use of night and day is capable of arousing the sense of the sunrise and sunset of life in the readers. While reading through the poem, one may feel the repetition of nightfall. The very first line, ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ (Line 1) itself brings the metaphor, extended metaphor in which day represents life, night represents the afterlife or a void, and sunset represents the moment of death (Shmoop poetry guide). Entering into the dark, noticing night falls, and the last lingering light of the evening, and so on, are capable of reminding the readers the transience of human life and the way it slips away (Shmoop poetry guide). The use of alliteration; the repetition of same sounds or letters in the neighboring words, also creates an impact in the poem. The words like ‘go,’ ‘gentle,’ and ‘good’ could create the verbal effect of death in the very first line itself. They are also reminding a journey; the journey of life. The notable thing regarding the use of alliteration is that all the words in the first line go together as a tidy package with harsh words. The use of the refrains in the poem is really effective and one feels it changing tone of the poem. The first and third lines of the first stanza are repeating in the poem, and each time they have been used with a different meaning. The use of the adjective ‘gentle’ instead of the adverb ‘gently’ in the first line partially transforms the opening command into a quiet enjoying, an asking (Verdicchio 51). But the second line, ‘Old age should burn and rage at close of day’ (Line 2) creates an angry mood. According to Massimo Verdicchio (51), “…line 3 names, and expresses by its rhythm as well (Rage, rage against…), like an enraged cry now almost out if control, an anger that now seems to have been already lurking in line 2.” He also adds that “But by the end of line 3 this anger is immediately gathered up and muted into the sadness of the dying of the light – caring, grieving words for someone near death” (Verdicchio 51). The repetition of the first line in the second stanza actually means the wise men, when realising the follies of their words, asking themselves ‘why do not go gentle into that good night.’ The presentation of wise men, good men, wild men and grave men are also indicative of the expansion of the scope of the poem. ‘I pray’ and ‘father’ can be tied together and it may mean Father who should ‘Curse’ or ‘bless’ the poet ‘with your fierce tears’ (Line 17). The perfect blending of elements in the poem is really praiseworthy and it makes one shore up Verdicchio when he rightly observed the poem and commented thus, “I am embarrassed to have presented here so simplistic and clumsy a gloss on but a fraction of what goes on linguistically, imaginally rhythmically, sonorously, culturally, and always emotionally, in this remarkable poem” (52). The peculiarity of the poem is visible when one observing the style that the poet used in the poem. One of the notable peculiarity is, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" begins with an address to an unknown listener and ends by revealing that this listener is the speaker's father” (Shmoop poetry guide). It is only in the last stanza, the readers understand this fact and it may remind one of Father whose blessing inevitable for wiping away one’s tears. Conclusion To conclude, one can infer that the Dylan Thomas’ poem ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ can be read in many levels and the critical study has helped to explore various features of the poem. The poet has resorted to different poetic devices to really enhance the theme of death. By addressing his father and reminding him the inevitability of fighting against the ‘good night’ the poet is actually exposing the outlook man to death. The poem has clearly disclosed his thoughts and experiences of death. Reading through this poem, one is sure that man is deterrent towards death and even the thought of death frightens him. But here the poet introduces various perspectives of death from different people who all agreed with critical state of facing death. Such a state of man has been well described in the poem through the examples of wise men, good men, wild men and grave men. The use of the poetic devices such as metaphor alliteration and villanelle rhyme make the poem really enjoyable and appeals to the aesthetic appreciation of the readers. Another decisive element is the refrains used in the poem. The repetition of the lines with different sense in different context makes it attractive. The use simple language with harsh words enters deep into one’s mind. All these factors lead one to the conclusion that Dylan Thomas’ ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ is a powerful poem in theme, presentation, language and style. Works Cited: BBC Wales arts. Dylan Thomas: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. BBC. 2011. Web. 21 April, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/dylan-thomas/pages/do-not-go-gentle.shtml Liebreich, M. Do not go gentle into that good night - Dylan Thomas. Liebreich.com. 2009. Web. 21 April, 2011. http://www.liebreich.com/LDC/HTML/Various/Thomas.html Shmoop poetry guide. Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay. Shmoop University, Inc. 2011. Web. 21 April, 2011. http://www.shmoop.com/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night/symbolism-imagery.html Verdicchio, M. Between philosophy and poetry: writing, rhythm, history. Massimo Verdicchio, Robert Burch. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002.Print. 123helpme.com. web. 21 April, 2011. http://www.123helpme.com/assets/6630.html Read More