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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night By Dylan Thomas

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In his famous poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, Dylan Thomas writes about death; meanwhile, his own father is on his death bed from an illness. He speaks of many kinds of men, his father included, who all are bound to die. Yet throughout the many descriptions of dying men, there is one definitive similarity that draws together a conclusion. By analyzing the diction and structure, as well as the individual lines of Thomas’s poem the general identified theme is that no matter how people may live their lives, or what those people believe in, they all will fight to get away from the inevitable clutches of death. The poem itself is written in iambic pentameter and is classified as a villanelle. The stanzas are written as five tercets …show more content…

The second lines of each stanza elaborate on the reasons that the varieties of men resist death. The second line reads, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day;” It means that the old should be celebrant and energetic when it is their time to pass, not gloomy and sickly like his father was. Line four in the poem states that “[t]hough wise men at their end know dark is right”. They know that it is right for them to die, but as their stanza ends, they “[d]o not go gentle into that good night”. The good men’s deeds in line eight “…might have danced in a green bay,” but they still do not matter, because they still resisted their death. The wild men “…learn, too late, they grieved it on its way” (11), stating that they have contributed to none other than themselves until they died, and they still try to resist. The grave men wielding “[b]lind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,” in line 14 are simply blissfully ignorant. It is about the blind dying people that cannot see, yet still are happy. If they are happy, then why do they “[r]age, rage against the dying of the light.”? They never got to see, they may have been happy, but they did not get to see disappointment either, they did not experience part of life that they wanted, and so, they fight death. In line 17 Thomas, speaking to his father, states “[c]urse, bless, me now with your fierce tears…” Thomas implies he is pained to see that his own father is dying,

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This constant physical battle with death is also displayed in the poem when Thomas repeats phrases such as, “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Thomas), alluding that the son is pleading for his father not to succumb to death and instead, fight for that last glimmer of hope. Both authors' linguistic choices display the prevailing theme that one must maintain faith, even in the harshest of times, and remind the reader of how precious life is. In Night, death feels inevitable. This constant feeling of death causes Elie’s father’s death to be understated, with Elie merely waking up to his father being gone. His father's death seems so insignificant because it simply ends a life that was already full of suffering

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In Thomas's poem, he tells us to fight against death and not just let it happen quietly. He says, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." This means we should not let our lives end without a fight, but we should try to live fully. Both of these writings show us that even

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Death is talked about in not only the title of the poem but specific words too. For example, Thomas states, “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.” (Thomas, ll. 15-17) This statement explains that the father has so much anger toward death that he wants to give up.

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Dylan Thomas and Catherine Davis use two different styles of tone to explain the subject of death. In “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas uses negative words but the positive diction that is used is in a negative sense creating a greater pessimistic tone. For instance, a repeating line in this Villanelle says “Do not go gentle into the goodnight” (Dylan 1). Dylan uses the positive phrase goodnight to represent death, a negative theme. The diction in “After a Time” by Catherine Davis differs from Dylan Thomas’s use in which is it negative throughout.

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In, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight”, by Dylan Thomas, the author’s use of diction displays how he believes that no one should go down without a fight. To begin his poem, Thomas uses the title to emphasize his belief. A common recurrence throughout his poem is his use of two different lines, in which he alternates to end each stanza with. For example, he ends his first stanza with, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” and ends his second stanza with, “Do not go gentle into that good night.” (Thomas 3 & 6), and so on.

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Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” and Ben Johnson’s “On My First Son” are both poems that discuss death and the various emotions associated with grief. “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” depicts the young speaker’s anger, denial, and urgent resistance to his father’s imminent death, whereas “On My First Son” describes the speaker’s solemn acceptance of his son’s death. Taken together, these two poems generate a commentary on the loss of a loved one. Specifically, through form, meter, tone, and general content, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” and “On My First Son” depict the trajectory of grief and describe the differences in one’s reaction to death as a product of maturity.

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Good night is a metaphor used to describe death; alliteration can be found within the lines “Do not go gentle into that good night”, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” and “blinding sight/ blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay.” The symbolism is very heavy within this literary work; the word night and the phrase ‘close of day’ symbolize death; burn and rave are associated with youth. Similes can be found in ‘Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay’ and ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into The Night’. The oxymorons within Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night are as follows: ‘Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I

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Shasta is a curious, careful, and accommodating boy that constantly dreams about a future more than manual labor. Shasta, a young boy found abandoned in a boat as a child, has grown up in a small fishing community that is known for being indifferent to the outside world. While he does not mind working for his abusive father, he is constantly curious about what else life might have in store for him. Inside, however, Shasta is thirsting for his father’s approval; thirsting for kindness and willing to do anything for it. Wishing to fulfill this hunger, Shasta is forced to either willingly leave with a Tarkaan slaver or to flee on the back of the Tarkaan’s horse, Bree.

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The Wise men, introduced in the second stanza, states that these rational people realize that death is inevitable and appropriate although they do not simply accept it. The line, “because their words ha[d] forked no lightning they do not go gentle into that good night” (Lines 5-6), signifies that their effort towards making the “lightning” split failed. The lightning represents an element beyond human control, therefore although the “Wise men” dedicated their lives to split the lightning, they still did not make their mark on the world. Therefore, their conscience may never be relieved as they do not ease gently into death, knowing that they failed to accomplish a notable achievement.

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Two that stood out to me while reading are repetition and parallel story. Repetition is very obvious in the poem with the repeated lines being “do not go gentle into that good night” and “rage, rage against the dying of light”, with each line being repeated interchangeably at the end of each stanza until the last one where both are repeated. Both of these lines convey the theme very clearly. Both lines are pretty straightforward in their meaning, “do not go gentle into that good night” could be quite literally translated to “do not die quietly” while “rage, rage against the dying of light” translates to “fight at the end of your life, fight death.” While the meanings of the sentences are direct, I feel the use of repetition also supports the theme.

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Then, Thomas states that good men also fight for their life. Even on their death bed they talk about how they could have done more good deeds in their life: “Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright / their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” (Lines 7-8). Next, he describes men that lived life to the fullest and learned they were ill when it was too late; but they still fight for their lives: “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, / And learned, too late, they grieved it on its way,” (Lines 9-10). Last, he describes very ill men who can no longer see, but are still happy be alive: “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight / Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,” (Lines 13-14).

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In Dylan Thomas’ poem, “Do Not go Gentle into that Good Night”, he speaks to his dying father. In his poem, he describes four groups of men and how they feel at the end of their respective lives as he pleads with his father not to die in a state of passivity, using fire and light as an analogy for life’s work and emotional states. Thomas urges his father not be “gentle” in death, (line 1) but rather to “burn and rave” (2). Thomas says, “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight/ Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay.”

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This quote is introducing a type of men who fight for their life. The wise men know that death is inevitable, and that it is the cycle of life, but this does not mean that they cannot fight to make their lives a bit longer. Another symbol is brightness, such as burning or fire. When and individual thinks of the dark, they will associate it with wanting something bright such as fire to be guided and feel secure. ? Old age should burn and rave at close of day?

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Since their objectives are not satisfied, they need to live more. He likewise gives case of good men who battle against death furthermore all their life. He likewise says that wild men don 't acknowledge demise so effectively. In this manner, in the ballad the artist exhorts his dad and needs

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