StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The focus of this paper "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas" is on one of Dylan Thomas’s most famous and approachable works. Dylan Thomas was a Welsh poet who became well known for his spellbinding readings of his work and also, in a less healthy manner, for his drinking…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.7% of users find it useful
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
Read Text Preview

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

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas The poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” is one of Dylan Thomas’s most famous and approachable works. Dylan Thomas was a Welsh poet who became well known in Britain, Europe and America for his spellbinding readings of his work and also, in a less healthy manner, for his drinking. This poem was written for his father who was dying of cancer. It is ironic, considering the message of the poem, that Thomas himself did not take his advice – he drank himself to death a few days before his 40th birthday.

This poem is made up of six stanzas, five of which are three lines, while the fourth is four lines. It has a fairly simple rhyme scheme that is nevertheless effective. The first and third lines in each stanza rhyme with one another throughout the whole poem,. Creating a through-line as if it is voice shouting at the reader – “night . . . light . . . right . . . night . . . . bright . . . light . . . flight . . . night . . . sight . . . light . . . height . . . night . . . light.” It is perhaps a sign of Thomas’s skill as a poet that the poem does not appear to get repetitive, but rather is a powerful rendition of a young man pleading with his father not to move easily into death.

The first stanza tells what should happen, “old age should burn and rave at close of day”, while the next four take the reader on a journey through different kinds of men who do not succumb easily to death. Thus while wise, good, wild and grave men may have lived their lives differently, none of them “go gentle into that good night”. The different kinds of men that Thomas mentions all seem to have some regrets in their lives. Thus the wise men know that their words “had forked no lightning”, thus perhaps suggesting the difference between the mortality of man and the transience of his wisdom.

Good men merely have “frail deeds”, suggesting that good is perhaps the weakest force in the world, while wild men learn too late that they are grieving for the sun when they sing for it. So while mortal life may have permanent disappointment, men should still fight against the leaving of it. The mention of “grave men” who are nevertheless “blind” suggests a whole series of literary characters, from the blind Tiresias who tells Oedipus the truth about his incestuous marriage. Finally, in the last stanza, Thomas returns to his father and breaks the previous pattern by making the stanza four lines long.

He asks his father to essentially feel something as he is dying – that is the reason that he invites him to “curse, bless me now with your fierce tears”. A passionate and deeply moving poem, Thomas writes of the helplessness that every human being feels as they are about to lose a loved one to death. He knows that the “raging” will be ultimately futile, but it is the process of not going gentle that is apparently a triumph to him. The fact that Thomas himself could not face life and essentially committed suicide through alcohol makes the poem even more poignant.

Like many creative artists, he found it impossible to follow his own memorable advice. _____________________________________________

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Essay”, n.d.)
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1537704-essay-about-dylan-thomas-do-not-go-gental-into-that-good-night
(Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Essay)
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Essay. https://studentshare.org/literature/1537704-essay-about-dylan-thomas-do-not-go-gental-into-that-good-night.
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1537704-essay-about-dylan-thomas-do-not-go-gental-into-that-good-night.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

Obsession with Mortality in Written Masterpieces

In the essay, a comparison of two written masterpieces will become analyzed: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas (1951) and I Used To Live Here Once by Jeans (1985).... In the poem written by dylan thomas, there are a number of symbolisms used to address the death and impermanence theme.... In addition, from his masterpiece, he seems also to despise and has little compassion for those individuals who do not hate death.... In addition, vision of people at night is often weak, and surprises by evil things are common (thomas, 1951)....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke

"do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas Character: The son (Thomas Dylan) This poem by Dylan Thomas reflects his deep relationship with his aging father.... ‘do not go gentle into that good night', is a villanelle he wrote in 1945 for his father, D.... thomas's relationship with his father is of particular interest in understanding his style of writing.... thomas, who was struggling with cancer.... In this poem, thomas addressed his own father as he moved toward sightlessness and death....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Comparison of Robert Frost and Dylan Thomas and Their Poems

As a means of providing some comparison and contrast between two of the works which were read during the course of this brief semester, the following analysis will consider Dylan Thomas' “do not go gentle into that good night” and Robert Frost's “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.... hellip; Although at face value there appears to be a great level of similarity between these two poems, a stark level of contrast is also realized once the deeper meanings that are engendered within the respective lines of these poems is considered A Comparison between Robert Frost and Dylan Thomas in Their Poems “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and “do not go gentle into that good night” Firstly, with regards to the content that both of these poets discuss, it is invariably true that death, and its reality to all humankind, is the overarching subject matter that both Thomas and Frost engage....
7 Pages (1750 words) Assignment

The Poetry of Dylan Thomas

“Because their words had forked no lightning they / do not go gentle into that good night” (1971).... hellip; His poem do not go gentle into that good Nightstands is a case in point.... He begs him not “to go gentle into that good night.... The following paper 'The Poetry of dylan thomas' focuses on the poetry of dylan thomas to this day which excites a great amount of pause and attention in its readers....
1 Pages (250 words) Literature review

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop and Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

Elizabeth Bishop's One Art and Dylan Thomas' do not go gentle into that good night both used the nineteen lined form of the villanelle which is known for its enablement of the poet's communication of thoughts to be more expressive.... The loose form of poetry which does not… The three lined-stanzas offer readers a concise impression of what the poet is talking about without compromising its completeness and Full The Use of Villanelle Elizabeth Bishop's One Art and Dylan Thomas' do not go gentle into that good night both used the nineteen lined form of the villanelle which is known for its enablement of the poet's communication of thoughts to be more expressive....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Critical Analysis of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

The paper presents the poem “do not go gentle into that good night”, which was written by Dylan Thomas at a time when his father was dying.... In this poem, the two phrases which alternated are “do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”.... The phrase “do not go gentle into that good night” was repeated in stanzas 1, 2, 4 and 6.... The author also used the metaphor “that good night” which refers to death....
4 Pages (1000 words) Term Paper

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

do not go gentle into that good nightdo not go gentle into that good night” is a poem by the poet Dylan Thomas, who was born in South Wales in 1914.... (Michael Myers, 2011) The two important lines in Dylan's poem are:“do not go gentle into that good night and Rage, rage against the dying of the light.... “do not go gentle into that good night.... “do not go gentle into that good night.... (2011)dylan thomas....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Compare/contrast on Annabel Lee by Poe and Do not go gently into that good night by Thomas Dylan

he poem “do not go gentle into that good night” by Thomas Dylan that seeks to explain death, mostly at old age.... In the poem ‘do not go gentle into that good night', the speaker encourages old men to fight death due to the love he has for his father.... The poem ‘do not go gentle into that good night' encourages the people to fight death and not just die peacefully in their beds.... First, the poem ‘Annabel Lee' is described in the form of a memory of past events and ‘do not go gentle into that good night' is described in the narrator's current situation (Gramse, Shannon, pg 96)....
2 Pages (500 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us