“Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Truthfully, I picked this poem mainly because I knew it was used in the film, Interstellar. (Nothing like a good ol’ film score by Hans Zimmer…see previous blog post.) Nonetheless, examining further into Do not go gentle into that good night, I’ve gained a newfound appreciation for the piece and Dylan Thomas’s craft. Throughout this poem, Thomas, leveraging emotive diction and adhering to a regular structure, advocates for individuals to uphold courage and bravery at the prospect of one’s mortality.
Through metaphors and a characteristic tone involving detail and deliberation, Thomas develops his belief on how an individual should approach the prospect of their own death.
The first stanza introduces this central idea of the poem while providing a schema for the rest of the piece. With the first line, Thomas cautions against resignation, to “not go gentle,” into the metaphorical “good night,” a reference to the end of one’s life, just as the onset of night commonly signifies the end of the day. Thomas’s usage of “good” evokes an essence of “alluring,” describing the persuasive temptation for complacency by individuals amidst death. He reiterates the contrapositive of this sentiment in the following line, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day.” Instead of an attitude of docility, emotions of passion and energy are demanded at the “close of day,” again a reference to death when used in conjunction with “old age.” With the last line of the stanza, Thomas intensifies these emotions towards death, ending with “rage”, a primal behavior deeply embedded within human nature, having begun with “not gentle” and “burn and rave.” The repetition of the word also creates an emphasis on this particular magnitude of reaction. Again, Thomas uses time and light to refer to death. Essentially saying the same thing three different ways, Thomas conveys the importance of this virtue of proactivity.
The succeeding four stanzas parallel the first stanza and further develop Thomas’s central idea, illustrating the application nature of this quality of persistence through sub-segments of “old men.”
The first group Thomas looks at is “wise men.” Through their experiences and learnings, they’ve developed truths about the world they live in. Thomas consequently states that they conclude that “dark is right”, or that death is necessary in the process of life. “Their words” can be interpreted as the wisdom each “wise man” imparts on the world, but having “forked no lighting,” does not create change. Thomas conveys that this segment of humanity should not be content with this outcome as they face death but rather persist in their core beliefs, acknowledging but defiant.
Thomas develops a similar sentiment for “good men,” those characterized by their dedication to serve the world. Though, like the wise men, they find an unfulfilling finality to their actions, “their last wave by.” In contrast to the stillness and serenity found in a“green bay”, protected from the larger bodies of water, the “frail deeds” are insignificant against the sea of suffering found in the world. Thomas advises these men, with this knowledge, to similarly fight the good fight against the inevitable.
Even for “wild men,” Thomas finds similarities in their plight. In their constant search for joy throughout their time, “[catching] and [singing] the sun in flight,” they “learn, too late” the superficiality in these moments. As they meet old age, they experience a certain emotional dissatisfaction with passing time, “[grieving] [the sun] on its way.” Allusions are also made to the Greek tale of Icarus, who fell to his death having flown too close to the sun with his waxen wings and ignoring the warnings of his mentor. Again, Thomas communicates that the next best action is to act in response to the unresolved tension, instead of resignation.
Likewise, with “Grave men,”’ or those who lead life pessimistically, Thomas details the conundrum they face. That, too late, “near death” and with “blinding sight”, they realize their life was merely their perception of reality, that even “blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay” or that even the disfortunate have the capacity to find optimism in life. This stanza most likely was in direct reference to his dying blind father who had served for his country. As a result, Thomas speaks here to his parents and others that, it’s in fact not too late to live life to the fullest, to do away with their old limiting beliefs.
The last stanza provides closure to Thomas’s theme, providing insight into the exigence of the poem. Confirming these theories of the previous stanza, Thomas directly references his father who is close to death, “there on the sad height.” Through all the exchanges he and his father may have had, Thomas now expresses one desire for his dying man, to do as he described for all old men to do and to not give in.
Embedded throughout the poem the common motif of light, particularly in the astronomical sense. Whether to describe the elation of how seniors led their lives (“sang the sun”, “deeds might have danced”, “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors”) or as a euphemism for death (“dying of the light”, “good night”), Thomas draws a connection between the cyclical, ubiquitous quality of sunlight and that of life and death.
Alongside using semantic techniques, Thomas makes deliberate syntactical choices to cogently develop his central idea, closely adhering to the structure of a villanelle. A villanelle consists of “five stanzas of three lines (tercets) followed by a single stanza of four lines (a quatrain) for a total of nineteen lines” and “is structured by two repeating rhymes and two refrains: the first line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the second and fourth stanzas, and the third line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the third and fifth stanzas.” In Thomas’s poem, the emphasis created by the repetition of “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” structurally and thematically unifies each stanza together. Additionally, the tone of the poem, solemn and legato, is crafted by the implementation of an iambic pentameter–a pattern involving 10-syllable lines and alternating stressed and unstressed syllables–and frequent usage of commas, giving breathing room for each object of each phrase of the ABA rhyme scheme and a constant 10-syllable strengthens the relationship between lines in each stanza.
Weaving the technical and creative qualities together in this poem, Thomas advocates for grit in the uphill battle–an enduring persistence to the brevity of life.
Hey Kevin, this was a great dissection of such a unique poem. In particular, I really liked your analysis in your second to last paragraph, as it crystallized for me (at a structural level) why the poem is so impactful. Whereas it’s easy to “feel” the meaning of a poem, I appreciate that you dissected the roots of this gut feeling.
Some ideas that you mentioned which resonated with me were “the importance of this virtue of proactivity” especially in the face of death. This reminds me of something the stoics would say: “memento mori.” You know what that means so I won’t take the time to break it down here. But the connection that I draw between memento mori and the importance of being proactive in life is that, given our extremely limited time on this planet, it’s a disservice to ourselves to merely slide into things (death, or otherwise). Rather than letting our days control us, we should aim to control our days.
Another tidbit that rang a bell with me was when you wrote: “it’s in fact not too late to live life to the fullest, to do away with their old limiting beliefs.” Weirdly, I was reminded of something Gary Vee said on some YouTube Short, which basically went along the lines of: I started [insert company which I forgot the name of here] when I was 34 years old, if you’re out there and you’re feeling depressed and hopeless as a 20-something year old, pick yourself up off the ground. He proceeded to say that the age at which he would start to feel hopeless was something like 70. Obviously, he was probably exaggerating for comedic/entertainment effect, but the point still stands. We control our lives and our limits are often self-imposed.
Hi Jacob, thanks for your insight! I too found ideas of stoicism in this poem, pleasantly surprised, it having been written from a romanticist.
This is a poem we discussed in class during presentation but your essay gave me so much more clarity on what the “correct” interpretation would be in relation to Perrine’s perspective that there is one right interpretation of poems. The part about the greek tale of Icarus is so interesting and something I did not know. I agree with your claim that through this piece Thomas is demonstrating his belief on fighting against death instead of letting it take you willingly. Something we talked about in class is that this poem was most likely written directed towards his father who he wanted to fight against cancer, which really strengthens the meaning of the poem.
I knew his father provided some impetus for this poem, him being an old war vet losing his eyesight, but I did not know he had cancer! Thanks for your comment, Taylor.
Hi Kevin, I enjoyed reading your essay! I found your last few paragraphs particularly insightful, and your insights about how Thomas used light and dark as a metaphor for the cycle of life. I also didn’t notice the iambic pentameter in each line before you brought it up; it helped me appreciate how the rhythm provides a vigilant, solemn air to the poem, which contributes to the overall tone.
I wondered a lot about why Thomas chose to say “good night” when it is the night we are supposed to be raging against. Your interpretation, that it was meant as a warning to not think of the “night” as good and resist the allure of going quietly into death, was a new perspective for me. Personally, I thought it might be an acknowledgement that death (the night) is not the true enemy; rather, the enemy is weakness and complacency in the face of something that threatens our existence. I thought this might work because Thomas never actually rails against death in the poem (i.e. says how horrible it is); it is a “good night,” but we must still fight against it. This poem in general reminded me of this HP6 quote (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/18284-it-was-he-thought-the-difference-between-being-dragged-into).
Overall, great choice of poem, and thanks for an enjoyable, insightful read!
Hi Emma, I actually like your interpretation more, that the poem describes an internal force rather than an external one. In doing so, it makes the idea of facing death within or locus of control, which I’m all for. Thanks for your comment!
Hi Kevin,
The first time I came across this poem was also through Interstellar, but I never really put more thought into understanding what its meaning might be. The titular line, “Do not go gentle into that good night”, is the one that remained with me, and it caused me to associate this poem with tranquility. I had never really listened closely enough to realize that this poem was about fighting against death in one’s final days.
I enjoyed reading your interpretation of the poem, particularly the lessons that can be taken away about fighting against the inevitable, not necessarily because it will change the final outcome, but for the sake of fighting. I found that message to be extremely powerful, and it seems very fitting to be used in Interstellar. Death is inevitable, just like the infinite boundaries of space and time that are explored in the movie.
Hi Kevin,
The first time I came across this poem was also through Interstellar, but I never really put more thought into understanding what its meaning might be. The titular line, “Do not go gentle into that good night”, is the one that remained with me, and it caused me to associate this poem with tranquility. I had never really listened closely enough to realize that this poem was about fighting against death in one’s final days.
I enjoyed reading your interpretation of the poem, particularly the lessons that can be taken away about fighting against the inevitable, not necessarily because it will change the final outcome, but for the sake of fighting. I found that message to be extremely powerful, and it seems very fitting to be used in Interstellar. Death is inevitable, just like the infinite boundaries of space and time that are explored in the movie.
Hey Adi, thanks for the comment! In the film, it just sounded nice. Reading it again this past week, I’ve gained appreciation for it’s actual meaning and the way it nicely fits into Interstellar.
Kevin,
“Do not go gentle into that good night” is one of my favorite poems of all time, and like you, I was introduced to it by virtue of Interstellar. Likewise, I also came into this poem thinking that it was about fighting the inevitability of death and maintaining grit throughout that experience. After all, looking at Interstellar itself, it is pretty clear what kind of a tone it is supposed to set overall. It is a story of human ingenuity in the face of crisis. It is a story of people trying for a better life, and if you’ve watched through the end, it is a story about the inevitability of certain things. “Do not go gentle into that good night” to me is as much a masterful poem as it is a perfect poem to express the ideas behind Interstellar. Apart from that, I really liked your analysis.
-Derek
Hi Kevin,
I always found this poem to be incredibly compelling, a son who, rather than face the stark and grim reality of life, begs his father to hold on, crafting it in a beautiful villanelle, there’s a sense of raw emotion here that I find absolutely amazing, and I’m glad you were able to get so deeply into it and analyze it so well. Your portion in particular regarding “frail deeds” and how they are “insignificant against the sea of suffering” that the world presents was incredibly moving, and a take on that line which I had not previously considered. I always thought that his statement that “their frail deeds may have danced in a green bay,” was representative of the accomplishments that might have been had they been able to fight against the inevitable and live on to do greater things, but I must say I like your interpretation of it far more, and I think it better captures the essence of Dylan Thomas and his pleas to his father. Well done Kevin!
Thanks Shay! Even without the narration, I too found something exceptionally moving about the piece. Alongside the imagery, I would also say that the use of iambic pentameter and commas force that slower tempo for readers. Maybe there’s something notable here in the way Thomas was able to express this layer of “time” on top of the semantics.
Kevin,
It seems like many of us first came across this poem through interstellar. I thought it was kind of a boring and honestly weird poem, but your analysis and personal connection to the poem really makes it stand out as not just any ordinarily poem.
The lesson that fighting against the inevitable has purpose because while it will not change the final outcome, but for the sake of fighting I think it’s just like death because we all fight it but we can’t every deny it. Which going back to Interstellar is a very interesting exploration of boundaries of space and time in the movie.
I also think your deconstruction of the poem to analyze all the nitty gritty aspects of it was fabulously done and something I am going to to do better on my future analyzations!
Hi Kevin! Your essay immediately stood out to me because this is one of the poems that my group presented on for our comparison projects. It is super interesting the way that you interepretted the poem, because I think my group did it a little differently. We really focused in on the last stanza about the speaker’s father, because we found that Dylan Thomas’s father had actually been diagnosed with cancer at this point, so we felt that this poem was largely speaking to his father specifically in terms of an audience. We also noticed a relationship between the four stanzas in between the 1st and last stanzas and the contrasts between different kinds of men when approaching death, the significant use of letters “G” and “W” seemed to stand out to us when looking at the structures. I think your essay is really well done!
Kevin, when I first saw which poem this post would be about, I instantly thought of Interstellar which gave me a little context regarding the meaning of the poem. I liked that you described those specific words and phrases (rage, burn, not gentle) as primal as it fits them quite well. Although I have thought about the meaning of the poem, I never really looked specifically into the significance or the different types of men. I appreciate that you decided to take an in depth analysis on what those lines actually meant. I like the way that you separated the analysis as it made it easy to follow and understand. I enjoyed this post as I not only agreed with most of your points but also learned a new aspect of this poem.
Hey Kevin,
I found your interpretation of “Do Not Go Gentle Into that Night” to be really interesting. This seems to be a pretty common poem (I see it and hear it all the time in different ads, promotions, and campaigns — and Interstellar, of course), but I never actually took the time to read it all the way through, except before the group presentation that was concerned with it. You brought up some points, specifically the parallel structure with the different mindsets of man, that I missed in my reading, and so I enjoyed your analysis as a way for me to supplement the own meaning that I derived. Great job with your line-by-line examination of the poet’s choice of literary devices, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed this analysis tremendously.