Critical Analysis of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - Term Paper Example

Critical Analysis of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” The poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” was written by Dylan Thomas at a time when his father was dying (Thomas). The poem is an example of a villanelle. A villanelle is a nineteen line poem composed of five tercets and a quatrain at the end of the poem (Honour , par 1). In a villanelle, there are two phrases which are alternating at the end of the tercets. At the last quatrain, the two phrases become the last two lines of the quatrain. In this poem, the two phrases which alternated are “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Thomas 1, 6, 12 & 18) and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Thomas 3, 9, 15 & 19). Both these phrases appear as the last two lines of the quatrain. Just by reading the first stanza, one is already introduced to the theme of the poem which is the resistance to death. Thomas uses the technique of repetition to emphasize his theme. The phrase “Do not go gentle into that good night” was repeated in stanzas 1, 2, 4 and 6 (Thomas 1, 6, 12 & 18). He encourages his readers not to succumb to death so easily. Another phrase which was repeated by Thomas several times is “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (3, 9, 15 & 19). Again, repetition was used by the author to stress his message of putting up a fight against death and not to simply give up on life. One can say that the use of repetition of the author is very effective in trying to communicate to his readers the theme of his poem. In this case, the readers will definitely not miss out on the poem’s theme. The speaker of the poem and the author is one and the same. Thomas wrote this poem to address his dying father. Another part of Thomas’ poem is his comparison between “good men” (7), “wild men” (10) and “grave men” (13). Thomas states that even the “good men”, no matter how rightly they lived, still fight death. He portrays these men as “the last wave by” maybe implying that there are just a few good men and one of them is his father (Thomas 7). Thomas urges these good men to fight death because the world still needs them. Next, he discusses the “wild men” who were so busy wasting their time in this world without noticing that they are already nearing death. But according to Thomas, they too do not give in to the call of death because they still want to live a life of adventure. The third types of men which Thomas includes in his poem are the “grave men” (13) who are the people at the brink of death. He states that these men can still be happy and struggle to be alive even if they can no longer see. These three types of men which Thomas describes symbolize the progression of the life of his father. And although his father has gone through these various stages, Thomas still believes that he should not surrender to death. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA. It is written in iambic pentameter, meaning there are ten syllables per line and every other syllable is stressed. The type of rhyme used is the end rhyme since the rhyme comes at the end of the line of verse (WriteExpress Corporation , par 1). This literary piece by Thomas is replete with figures of speech which further enhance the poem. Examples of metaphors used by Thomas are “dying of the light” (3), and “close of day” (2). A combination of metaphor and personification is found in line 8, “frail deeds might have danced” (Thomas 8). The author also used the metaphor “that good night” which refers to death (Thomas 1, 6, 12 & 18). A simile is also employed by Thomas when he mentions “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors” (14). “Blinding sight” is an oxymoron which the author uses to depict what “grave men” experience (13). Other oxymoron used are “good night” (1) and “fierce tears” (17). The line “Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray” is a paradox because of the contradictory message that it communicates (Thomas 17). Another figure of speech that Thomas utilizes in his poem is alliteration. One sees this in stanza 1, “go” and “good” (1), “though” and “their” (4) in stanza 2, “deeds” and “danced” (8) in stanza 3, “sang” and “sun” (10) in stanza 4, “learn” and “late” (11) in stanza 4, “see” and “sight” (13) in stanza 5 and “blind” and “blaze” (14) also in stanza 5. The essential elements of this poem are the imagery, which was presented through the figures of speech, the symbolism and the play of words. It gives depth, beauty and value to the poem. One has to read between the lines to know the significance of the phrases and words that he uses. The poem is simple yet it evokes strong emotions that makes its readers sympathize with the son who is about to lose his father. Works Cited Honour, Suzanne. "Villanelle." n.d. members.optushome.com. Web. 29 March 2012 . Thomas, Dylan. "Do not go gentle into that good night." 1945. poets.org. Web. 27 March 2012 . WriteExpress Corporation. "Rhymer." n.d. rhymer.com. Web. 29 March 2012 . Read More