Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas

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Recommended: The figurative language of do not go gentle into that good night

The cycle of life always ends in death, but the frightful aspect of death is not necessarily death itself, but the concept of timing. Mark Twain states that “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die anytime” which means people’s fear of dying stems from their fear of living, and this frightful emotion takes over people’s lives and prevents them from living each day like it is their last. This fear prevents many from taking action on their dreams and ambitions which inevitably is giving one’s life up too quickly. Dylan Thomas, a famous contemporary author, believes existence is taken advantage of and when one’s existence is threatened, most people are too quick to give up. In Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” the speaker of the poem confronts his deceased father about releasing one of the most valuable things in nature: life (Pattern #3).

The villanelle begins with “Do not go gentle into that good night” which repeated throughout the poem to emphasize the theme and purpose of the poem, to inform the reader that one should not let life slip through one’s fingers (Thomas 1). After, the speaker says “Old age should burn and rave at close of day;” which means those who are nearing the end of life should not easily accept their demise and should oppose against nature for more time to live (Harrison) (Thomas 2). In this line, “close of day” is a metaphor for death and is telling the reader that the elders should go against death and be vigorous (Keeling). The stanza concludes with “Rage, rage, against the dying light” where rage is repeated to emphasize the theory of battling intensively to live and against the dying light is portraying light as a symbol of life and t...

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... not forever and if one wants to be happy, one should attempt to embrace every day. And when the dying of light is near, fight it. Because nothing is more valuable to anyone than life.

Works Cited

Harrison, Jamie. "On "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"." On "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night". N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. .

Keeling, David. "'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night' by Dylan Thomas." clevernotesie RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. .

Thomas, Dylan. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." Elements of Literature: Essentials of British and World Literature. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 2007. 1274-1275. Print.

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