Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night: A Poem of Unique Talent

Each work of poetry does embody the unique talents of the poet; Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" most certainly aligns with the idea surrounding the skill of the poet. The most noticeable element of the poem is the nature of the darkness that it resounds as the poet work magic in creating an eerie feel to the way he presents his words and, at the same time, the way he links up the themes as the actions as well. Reading through the poem, one cannot help but notice the natural sadness that the poet embalms his words with, but this is a very ingenious mode of delivering emotions that he uses to capture the attention of the reader. With every line and stanza, one is drawn on to the next as there is an air of mystery that is shrouded in his words that create the illusion that the end is near and that one should prepare for it eventually (Murphy). In essence, the poem is all about the experience of death as the poet presents this through the various themes that underline the idea that no one can escape it.

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Death is Inevitable

The experience of death is highlighted in the poem by the poet's emphasis on its inevitable nature as the main theme. The title "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" does create the feeling of regret, which idealizes the fact that one is mourning and, at the same time, does hold a bit of anger towards death. The words in the title appear to be some last words that one would utter to someone who is about to leave fully knowing that they will not come back. Johnathan Edwards writes that "our attitude towards death never really matures." (72) This can be seen in the fact that the poet frequently used the phrase "Good night," which is about death. The quote is in contrast to how one would say goodbye to someone who is about to leave and never be seen again. Thus, the poet highlights the unstoppable nature of dying and death hence telling them not to go gentle as they face death. In other words, they should face death with some form of resistance, or rather they should not accept death and fight against it; hence he writes "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" in an attempt to urge one to fight against it. Though in the end there is no victory, the poet does show how unstoppable death is by saying, "one should not go gentle into that good night" in reference to how one will face the inevitable.

Power of Life

The poet presents the experience of death by highlighting the power of life through the descriptive words that he uses. The poet talks about facing death with some resistance by not going gentle into the night. This, in essence, does create a certain tension between life and death to which he creates symbolic images of both darkness's, night, and life. The power of life is represented via the image of light. The poet talks about the "close of the day" in the second line in reference to the coming of death. But by saying "Old age should burn and rave" refers to burning as a powerful act of creating light, thereby bringing life. The juxtaposition that the poet creates in this instance as he places both light and darkness close does create a contrast between life and death. Jonathan Westphal writes that "Thomas is advocating for active resistance to death immediately before death" (113). This, in turn, shows how powerful and full of energy life is as it burns. This shows that the living is full of energy that is final at keeping death at bay. But in all this, the main idea presented that the tragedy of growing old and death is that it takes away an individual's vitality of life.

The experience of death in the poem is presented by the poet as he shows how limited time is. The poem contains several characters aside from the narrator from the wise man, the good man, the wild man, the grave man, and the narrator's father (Blair and Fredeen). With each character presented in the poem, they appear to be looking back at their lives in reflection of their actions as well as inactions. In the poem, the different men are noted to express regret about what they failed to do in life. For example, the wild man notes that "Words had forked no lightning," which refers to the idea that his words would have no effect or they would not leave behind any legacy, thus regretting the thing that he left undone and unsaid. The limit of time is noted by how each of the characters in the poem show regrets, thereby underlining the fact that time is indeed short. The poet presents the fact that time does move too quickly, and human does want time to move quickly. In the long run, people end up missing the opportunities of their lives instead of working to seize the day; this time is short for everyone.

Reason to Live

The poem is about the experience of death is emphasized by the author, presenting several reasons to live. The author does this by creating several categories of men to show that regardless of what one does, there is a reason to live. The first category is that of the wise men as the poet says, "Though wise men at their end know dark is right." This is about the idea that death is a part of life, and they should accept it. But the poet does bring in a different perspective towards death and life. He insists that they are fighting against since they hold the feeling that they are yet to gain enough notoriety or even repute. The author writes, "Because their words had forked no lighting," which means that they should as well fight to retain it as they should ensure to leave a mark on the world. This mark, according to the author, would become something that sustains their memories in history.

The good men come into the poem as the poet shows how they do reflect on their lives as they near their end. The author writes, "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright." The poet means that good men on earth are few, and their last wave means that the number slowly decreases. By crying how bright, the poet refers to how they told their tales and that they are a breed that is still needed. But then the author presents another perspective that shows a reason to live. The author writes that "Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay," meaning these men fully understand that regardless of their deeds, their achievements will not be remembered.

The wild men, on the other hand, have now realized that their mortality is near having a few wrongs to undo as the poet writes they "caught and sung the sun in flight." The author shows that these men have spent their lives in action but are now coming to terms with the fact that the end is near, and they have been wasting their days. By catching and singing in the sun, the poet refers to the blissful ignorance that they have lived their lives wasting it on adventures, and now that the end is near, they wish to have more time. In the end, the numerous reasons to live highlight the experience of death as one is caught up in the thought of their lives. The grave men are the last of the group who are saddened by the vision of death. The author writes, "Near-death, who see with blinding sight," referring to their strains of living a long life and so they are slowly falling away but wishing to live longer.

In essence, the poem is indeed about the experience of death as the author uses this to highlight the importance of living. The forward motion created by the poem is "Not going gentle into that good night" shows the march towards a conclusion or demise which the poet foresees as there is a lot that one leaves behind when they are gone. In addition to this, the author does present some form of resentment towards the experience of death as he looks at it from personal experience. His overall feelings towards the experience are presented through the thoughts that he gives each character in the respective stanzas.

Works Cited

Blair, Heather, and Shirley Fredeen. "Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage, against the dying of the light." Anthropology & education quarterly 26.1 (1995): 27-49.

Edwards, Jonathan. "'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night': Dylan Thomas and the Art of Dying." The Use of English 67.3 (2016): 71-8.

Murphy, Michael W. "55. Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night." The Explicator 28.6 (1970): 102-104.

Thomas, Dylan. "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night." The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas (New York: New Directions, 1953) (2014): 128.

Westphal, Jonathan. "Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night." The Explicator 52.2 (1994): 113-115.