Dylan Thomas 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'

Molly Walsh

11.9.2015

Ms. Belgira

Period 3

Never Take It for Granted

Within each individual poem, the author chooses his words carefully with intention behind every word. While some are straightforward and concise, others such as “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” are not so clear. Rather, the layers behind words open a world of interpretation. The poem suggests that every human should leave this world the way they came in – kicking and screaming, holding on to every last moment of life for all it’s worth; For it is impossible to know when that last moment will be. In the influential poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night", Dylan Thomas uses repetition, juxtaposition, symbolism and diction with hints of alliteration, to lament the

Since the last stanza is spoken by a son to his dying father, the structure suggests the importance and strength of familial bonds as a result of the diction Thomas uses. Where it is perceived at a first glance that the father is the one giving the advice to fight and be strong, it is instead the son. The father is the one that is feeble and in need of faith. Addressing his father, “And you, my father, there on the sad height,” (line 16). The purpose of , “sad height” is to iterate that the peak of the father’s life has been reached. The final stanza of the poem shows who the poem is meant for. The author is addressing the father, the one who is going through the fight against death. But he is at the point where his fight has reached a “sad height”. The author, in relation to the rest of the text, expects the father to fight hard and follow the advice of his son. Rather, it seems the son is disappointed with the way his father is dealing with death. The father no longer has any desire to fight, his only defense is the soft subtle cry. Frustrated with sorrow Thomas writes, “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.” (lines 17). Overall, the diction that Thomas uses is to demonstrate pastoral harmony. The flow of the poem where the first stanza is instruction to fight for life, the next three are him persuading the reader to fight, and the last one is Thomas pleading his father to fight for his own life. However, the only thing that the father can do is cry. In reality, the fathers cry is a sob. But his son describes his father's’ tears as “fierce”. Exhibiting that his only defense is a saddening cry in the fear of death. Lastly, addressing the audience as well as his father, he begs, “Do not go gentle into that good night, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” ( line 18-19). The last sentence of the entire poem comes together with an urge to fight for