The Analysis of Dylan Thomas’ Poem "Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night"

Fight for Your Life

Dylan Thomas’ poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” the speaker is talking to a dying father. The speaker is comparing the fights of several man against the end, and it points out that even though death is inevitable it can be fought against. This point is made clear by using metaphors, and that there are reasons to fight for life. This poem is considered a villanelle poem because it contains 19 lines, 6 stanzas; with the last stanza being a quatrain. An iambic pentameter is being used throughout with the exception to the spondaic substitution in lines 3,9,15, and 19.

The terza rima scheme is used aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, and a repeated rhyme is added in the last line in the last stanza abaa creating the emotion and importance of fighting against the “night”. The speaker talks about death being represented by the “night” and the fight against it by the “rage”. Referring to life with “light”, which is metamorphically speaking about the daylight that is “dying” because of the “night”. There is an urge to not go into death by repeating the first and third line throughout the poem. The speaker in the first stanza begins to use different kinds of people to showcase the fight against the “dying of the light” and how even though death is something natural it is fought against because there is more to live for, there has to be a reason to live.

Second stanza talks about “wise men” and the “know [ledge of] dark”, these wise men are aware of death and that this end is “right”, but realize that they have to fight against it because there is a mark to be done. Third stanza talks about the last of the “good men” whom have been famous and are confronted by the fact that their “frail deeds” might not have been enough to have make a mark in life and that is the reason to live for and fight against the “night”. The fourth stanza refers to “wild man” whom have been careless in their actions and have misused their time but realize the end is near, but is “too late” and yet, they fight against the “night” because they need more time to possibly do more wild things or correct their actions.

The fifth stanza is talking about “grave men, near death” man whom are very close to death that their eyesight is decaying, yet their “blind eyes” shine like “meteors” because they are fighting for life. Finally, in the last stanza, the speaker is talking directly to his or her father who apparently is in the deathbed referring to it as the “sad height”. The speaker sees this sad occasion as a painful “curse” because his or her father is dying, and a “bless[ing]” because his or her father’s tears are a reminder to fight for life. The speaker, then finishes imploring his or her father not to die or go into “that good night” and fight against it.

It is speculated that the speaker of the poem is Dylan itself, and that he was asking his father to have a reason to live for and fight against the “night”. The fact that the Dylan was so repetitive on the fight against the “night” transmits the distress that is feeling as his father is dying. Also, the spondaic substitution has an important role on the tone it gives to the poem, as it sets the anguished and desperate speaker. The final repetition of the first and third line on the last stanza along with the “and you, my father” changes the speaking tone of the poem to a personal tone rather than a general tone.

Works Cited:

Thomas, Dylan. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, 1 Feb. 2015, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night. Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.