Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night By: Dylan Thomas

1. Do Not Go Gentle into That Good NightBy: Dylan Thomas Betsy Aguilera Noelia Ruano Valerie Arrieta Caitlynn Huynh

2. Biography of the author • In 1931, at the age of 16, Thomas left school to become a junior reporter at the South Wales Daily Post. • He quit in December 1932 and turned his attention away from journalism and back to poetry. • Debt and heavy drinking took their toll, and he died in New York City while on tour in 1953, at age 39. • Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on October 27, 1914, in Swansea, Wales. • "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," was published in 1952.

3. Type of poem • This poem is a Villanelle • A villanelle has 5 tercets and a final quatrain • Rhyme scheme: aba abaabaabaabaabaa - “Do not go gentle into that good night, (a) Old age should burn and rave at close of day; (b) Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” (a)

4. Meter of poem • The meter used for this poem is Iambic Pentameter. • Every line in the poem has 10 syllables and is divided into 5 iambic feet. • Iambic means that an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable.

5. Diction/Tone • Diction is the specific choice and tone of the words that an author or poet chooses. In the case of Dylan Thomas in his poem, Do not Go Gentle Into that Good Night, the poem is structured to offer an image of light/dark, happy/sad, which offers insight into the poet's mindset at the time. He uses diction to indicate that those who face death (as everyone does) should not face it without fighting for life. • The tone pertains to the emotional atmosphere in the work. The tone of this poem is mostly negative because of words such as dying, dark, crying, grieved, grave men, death, sad, and curse.

6. Stanza #1 Analysis • He thinks that old men shouldn't die peacefully or just slip easily away from this life. He suggests they should fight against it. • Do not go gentle into that good night, • Old age should burn and rave at close of day; • Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

7. Stanza # 2 Analysis • Even though smart people know death is inevitable (line 4), they don't just accept it and let themselves fade away (line 6), because they may not have achieved everything they were capable of yet (line 5). • These words don't fork lightning, which means they don't split and divert the massive electrical shock of the lightning bolt, which draws it toward themselves like a lightning rod instead. Even though the "wise men" have put everything they can into their "words," those words weren't attractive enough to make the lightning split. • Though wise men at their end know dark is right, • Because their words had forked no lightning they • Do not go gentle into that good night.

8. Stanza # 3 analysis • Thomas adds an image of the ocean waves; the good men, the "last wave by" (line 7), are about to crash against the shore, or die. • As they approach death, these men shout out how great their actions could've been if they'd been allowed to live longer. • The bay is "green" because the sea is really brimming with life – plants, seaweed, algae, etc. • Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright • Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, • Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

9. Stanza # 4 Analysis • The "wild men" who captured the world around them in their imagination and celebrated it – "who caught and sang the sun in flight" (line 11) – only to discover that the world they celebrated was slowly dissolving around them as comrades age and die. • Here the sun represents the beauty that exists in the mortal world, and its "flight" across the sky represents the lifespan of people living in this world. • "Flight" also suggests that it moves rapidly – our lives are just the blink of an eye. • Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, • And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, • Do not go gentle into that good night.

10. Stanza # 5 Analysis • Euphemism- "grave," which could either mean that the men are very serious, or that they are dying. • These dying men realize that, even though they are weak and losing their faculty of sight, they can still use what strength they have to rage against death. • So, even though their eyes are going blind, these men can "see," metaphorically speaking, with an overwhelming certainty or "blinding sight," that they still have a lot of power over the waythey die. • Instead of leaving unnoticed , they can "blaze like meteors" (line 14). Which means they are planning to go out with a bang. • Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight • Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, • Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

11. Stanza # 6 Analysis • In the last lines of the poem, the speaker turns to addressing his father. His father is on the verge of death, which the speaker describes as a "sad height." • This could possibly be an allusion to looking down into the Biblical valley of death; the metaphorical mountain where the father stands is the edge of the mortal world. • The speaker begs his father to cry passionately, which will be both a blessing and a curse. After all, the father's death is heartbreaking. • The speaker ends with the two lines that are repeated throughout the poem, asking or his father not to submit to death but instead, he should rant and rave and fight it every step of the way. • And you, my father, there on the sad height, • Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. • Do not go gentle into that good night. • Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

12. Literary devices • Consonance: Ex. Line 17 • “ Curse, bless me know with your fierce tears, I pray” • The consonance exists here in the words “curse” and “bless” • Assonance: “fierce” and “tears”. • Repetition: First and Third line in stanza one repeat in the other stanzas. • Personification: Personification is used in line 8, “their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay.” • Simile: The poet describes blind eyes by using a simile, “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,” (line 4).

13. Symbolism • “Night”- "Sunset" and “day”-"sunrise": throughout the piece symbolically represents life and death. • The simple structure and repetition of key lines progresses the emotional tone of the poem. • Goodnight- death, goodbye farewell • Light- spirit, hope • Right- unavoidable, natural • Forked no lightning- failed to command attention

14. Overall Theme • The overall theme is fighting against death. Ex. “Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light”

15. “When one burns one's bridges, what a very nice fire it makes.” —Dylan Thomas