Thomas's poem first refers to wise men, then to good men, then changes pace to wild

men, and finally fades out with grave men. One reason Thomas uses this progression is
to start with where he sees his father’s character then move gradually toward what he
believes his father has resigned himself to. Thomas’s father was a military man, and his
resignation to his current state is eating away at Thomas. He suggests that every man
needs to make his mark in life and that his father has not done so.

It appears that his father has either peacefully surrendered or otherwise resigned
himself to his fate. He is trying to postpone the inevitable by pleading for a little more
time, feeling that his father is giving up and that maybe if he can prove to him that no
one should give up regardless of their disposition, then his father will be able to get off
his deathbed.

His final plea to his father ends the poem, repeating the passionate but ultimately
hopeless expression, "Do not go gentle into that good night/Rage, rage against the
dying of the light."

The use of the metaphor "that good night" (lines 1, 6, 12, and 18) gives the impression
that Thomas knows that death is right. He calls it "that good night" instead of some
other ghastly term for death. However, he also calls it "the dying of the light" (lines 3, 9,
15, and 19), which suggests a peaceful surrender. He urges his father to rage against a
peaceful end and resist his own demise.

Thomas uses the words "night" and "light" as metaphors for death and life and
alternates them to hammer his point home. Part of this poem seems almost
lighthearted; when Thomas declares "Old age should burn and rave at close of day," it's
as if he is saying that old people should be allowed to live long and complain so long as
they do not give up. The purpose of his use of division into categories remains,
however, to emphasize the importance of living as he presents his father with an
unmistakable argument—choose life.

Structure and Poetic Devices

Now let's take a look at the poem from a more technical standpoint. What poetic devices
are used? What form, rhyme scheme, and meter are used? What clues can these
elements give us about the poem's purpose and meaning?

Villanelle Form

"Do not go gentle . . ." is a villanelle, a form that was originally popular in French poetry
but became common in English-language poetry around the turn of the 20th century.
Villanelles comprise five stanzas with three lines each, followed by a sixth and final
stanza with four lines. The first line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of the
second and fourth stanzas. The third line of the first stanza is repeated as the last line of
the third and fifth stanzas. The repeated lines in villanelles are commonly referred to as
"refrains."

The villanelle form, by its nature, stresses repetition. In this case, the two refrains that
are repeated throughout the piece are "Do not go gentle into that good night" and
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Since this poem is a direct address—that is,
the speaker is appealing directly to a subject—it can be assumed that the villanelle form
is used to stress the speaker's repeated demands of his father.

The villanelle form is well-suited to a poem that serves primarily as an urgent

imperative. Here, Thomas urges his father to wrestle against the ending of his life and
do all that one can to prolong it, however unnaturally.
Rhyme and Refrain Scheme

In general, the rhyme scheme of "Do not go gentle . . ." (and all other villanelles) can be
expressed as:

ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA.

Since refrains are used systematically as part of the form, the rhyme-and-refrain
scheme can be expressed more specifically as:

A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2

Here, "A1" represents the first refrain, "A2" represents the second refrain, lower-case
"a" represents words that rhyme with both refrains, and lower-case "b" represents words
that rhyme with one another.

Iambic Pentameter

Every line in the poem has 10 syllables except for a single anomaly—line 18—which
has 11. Syllables alternate from stressed to unstressed, with five syllable-pairs per line.
Therefore, the poem is written in iambic pentameter.

Each pair of syllables, or foot, is referred to as an iamb, and there are five iambs per
line. Below is an excerpt from the poem with un-stressed syllables in lower case and
stressed syllables in uppercase:

do-NOT-go-GENT-le-IN-to-THAT-good-NIGHT
old-AGE-should-BURN-and-RAVE-at-CLOSE-of-DAY
Metaphor

The poem's primary refrain (and de-facto title) incorporates a metaphor. In the poem,
death is referred to as "that good night." Since this metaphor is repeated four times, it is
fair to assume that this substitution is important.

So why, in a poem urging its subject to hold onto life, is death referred to as something
so innocuous (and pleasant-sounding) as "that good night?" While the speaker clearly
has a negative view of death (or at least of the impending death of his father), it's
important to remember that the poem is not for the speaker—it is a desperate appeal to
its subject.

The speaker knows that his father is tired after a long and full life and that death, to him,
may appear as inviting as a good night's rest. He also knows that rest will inevitably
come whether his appeals are successful or not; perhaps it is not his wish that his father
live forever—only that he battle against death valiantly rather than submitting to it as
one would a warm bed after a long day.

Perhaps the speaker knows that his pleas are in vain. Perhaps the poem isn't really
intended to convince his father of anything. Perhaps it is simply a tangible way for the
speaker to exercise his rage and despair at the fading of a wise, good, wild, and grave
man he knows well.
Pictured here is the Dylan Thomas Boathouse in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales,
where Thomas and his family lived from 1949 to 1953.

Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Dylan Thomas's Life

Thomas, born in Wales in 1914, dropped out of school at the age of 16 to pursue a
career in journalism. Nevertheless, his father's interest in English literature bled into his
veins, and by 1932, Dylan had quit his reporting job to concentrate on composing
poetry. During this time—his teens and early 20s—Thomas penned more than half of
the poems that would end up published in his well-known collections.

In 1934, Thomas traveled to London and published his first collection, which included
many of his early poems, and enjoyed widespread success. While in London, he
married Caitlin Macnamara. After moving back to Wales with her and having children,
Thomas spent the 1940s doing reading tours and radio broadcasts to earn extra money.

In the 1950s, Thomas began traveling to the United States to do additional readings.
There, he became somewhat famous for his readings, heavy drinking, and boisterous-
yet-gloomy disposition. On his fourth trip stateside in 1953, he became ill while in New
York, slipped into a coma, and later died. His body was returned to his Welsh hometown
of Laugharne where he was put to rest at the young age of 39.

Romanticism in Thomas's Poetry

While the romantic era of poetry, which most consider to have lasted from around 1800
to 1850, predated Thomas's career by almost a century, his poems had more in
common with their romantic predecessors than they did with the more socially focused
poetry that was common during his time.

His poems were highly emotional and instilled with a musical quality that showcased the
beauty of language. Like many poems written in the romantic tradition, Thomas's works
were visual, lyrical, and full of feeling. Nostalgic imagery and a strong sense of
melancholy are common in his compositions.

When describing the visceral nature of his writing process, Thomas stated, "I make one
image—though 'make' is not the right word; I let, perhaps, an image be 'made'
emotionally in me and then apply to it what intellectual [and] critical forces I possess—
let it breed another, let that image contradict the first, make, of the third image bred out
of the other two together, a fourth contradictory image, and let them all, within my
imposed formal limits, conflict."

Other Well-Known Poems by Dylan Thomas

Poem Year Published

"And 1933
death
shall have
no
dominion"

"The 1934
force that
through
the green
fuse
drives the
flower"

"Before I 1934
knocked"

"Light 1936
breaks
where no
sun
shines"

"Poem in 1945
October"

"Fern 1945
Hill"

"A 1946
Refusal to
Mourn the
Death, by
Fire, of a
 Poem Year Published

Child in
London"

"In my 1952
Craft or
Sullen
Art"

"Our 1952
eunuch
dreams"

Resources
 A Reader's Guide to Dylan Thomas
 Canolfan Dylan Thomas Centre
 Encyclopedia Brittanica: Dylan Thomas
 Poets.org: Dylan Thomas

Comments

Luvo Ndlebe on June 25, 2020:

what a lovely and excellent explanation.

Fee Sadath on June 04, 2020:

Perfect explanation. Thank you

Rafael on April 01, 2020:

Excellent-splendid!
Ratnesh on March 06, 2020:

Nice analysis

Sarah on February 26, 2020:

Wonderful, thank you so much for analyzing this poem. It was really hard for me to
understand what the author meant.

Alhagiesalif on February 24, 2020:

I was thinking differently before reading this quite sensible analysis in my opinion and
now I am thinking differently again altogether.

This helps!

Stephanie, teacher. on February 21, 2020:

I always look at this poem as Thomas' not accepting his father's coming death! He
wants him to fight it no matter what...'do not go into that gentle good night!'

Dumbledore on January 29, 2020:

Thank you. The analysis really helped me for my poem assessment.

youssef on December 15, 2019:

the analysis is very good and helpful. thank you so much

shannon briggs on November 11, 2019:

logan’s going to go back and film dead people in a forest

Sarah on November 06, 2019:

Really helped me with my English Essay, and understanding the meaning behind the
poem.

Maya on October 26, 2019:

This was the pretty good! I would give it a 9/10

Chris Chan Chak Cheong on October 24, 2019:

excellent analysis ! it helped me to get a high mark in my englit essay

kavuma lawrence on October 10, 2019:

honestly helped in my esaay analysis and now im ready for the papers..... thnks

Hot Tamale on September 23, 2019:

Really helped my essay for english!!

Annonymous on August 06, 2019:

Your analysis is really good ! Helped me pick out the details i never realised
Dilrukshi Foster on July 17, 2019:

Very good analysis. Good job. I understood it in a totally different way. Your analysis
helped me a lot.

GORDEN on June 10, 2019:

Excellent analysis

Kani on May 24, 2019:

Thank you so much! very helpful. My professor explained it in class at least twice and I
did not understand at, but now I do. Thanks alot!

Emily on April 21, 2019:

this is amazing and helped me soooo much!!!

Shadrach on February 06, 2019:

Good job

Sanaa Murray on January 31, 2019:

This is really good.

Joelle on January 23, 2019:

President Trump tweeted we should not "go gentle into that good night". No more apt
literary reference could be applied at this historical juncture of The United States of
America. Pray christians. Stand patriots.

labandoyakubu on December 29, 2018:

that's a great analysis...thanks

Jeanie on November 09, 2018:

Excellent explication!

Ranae on October 10, 2018:

Real good

sanele on August 22, 2018:

good work...nice and easily understand

Nate on July 21, 2018:

Nice work

Nico on July 05, 2018:

Actually, it is necessary to underline that his father was blind when he died. It
emphasizes then much more on the last personality !
Nico on July 04, 2018:

Actually, it is necessary to underline that his father was blind when he died. It
emphasizes then much more on the last personality !

rk on June 25, 2018:

really it works and easy to understand

Bob on June 14, 2018:

I like your comment and I like you

reshma on June 03, 2018:

really it works...easy analysis. ..good job

JeremyC on May 29, 2018:

This helps the poem make more sense to me. It is a fine and moving work whatever the
interpretation.

Shravan on May 25, 2018:

Great job

Anonymous on May 16, 2018:

Very well done

Anonymous on May 07, 2018:

Makes much more sense now. Thank you!!

me on May 03, 2018:

nice

Zed Zuni on May 02, 2018:

Excellent analysis, thank you.

Rhombi on April 04, 2018:

Pretty dope stuff

DAV on February 27, 2018:

Thank you so much for this analysis! It has really helped my assignment.

A on February 25, 2018:

The best analysis so far!

k on February 24, 2018:

wish you could just write my analysis for me, thanks for all the help

j on February 21, 2018:

wish you could just write my analysis for me, thanks for all the help

holycow on February 20, 2018:

wish you could just write my analysis for me, thanks for all the help

faryalsiddiqui on November 11, 2017:

very enlightening, thank you!

annonymous on December 12, 2016:

one of the best analyses out there thank you!

Mahesh Kate on December 07, 2014:

Nice analysis

Anupam on August 22, 2014:

Great analysis. Thank you.

Suzette Walker from Taos, NM on June 21, 2014:

Wonderful analysis of Thomas' poem and so poignant. I agree with your entire analysis
of the poem. It is one of the greats and so often quoted. Thanks for your lesson!

sud on May 23, 2014:

really helpful!

His on March 26, 2014:

I had a test on this poem and could not understand a word, came to this website, found
this awesome analysis and passed my test with flying colours. Thank you from the
bottom of my heart.

Voidementor on February 26, 2014:

Superb analysis of the poem. Absolute class:)

Thx on December 08, 2013:

OMG, this helped me so much…

Thanks for the easy language and all of the explanations!

vaibhav singh on November 28, 2013:

what a nice description ...................

i loved it

Deepak on May 09, 2013:

This is great stuff..given in simple comprehensible english.. well divided and presented
too... makes for great reading and understanding!!
BY

 JNGTR2

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