Do not go gentle into that good night

Poem

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.

Form

Main article: Villanelle

The 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. It 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.

Analysis

Summary

In the first stanza, the speaker encourages his father not to "go gentle into that good night" but rather to "rage, rage against the dying of the light." Then, in the subsequent stanzas, he proceeds to list all manner of men, using terms such as "wise", "good", "wild", and "grave" as descriptors, who, in their own respective ways, embody the refrains of the poem. In the final stanza, the speaker implores his father, whom he observes upon a "sad height", begging him to "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears", and reiterates the refrains once more.

Literary opinion

While this poem has inspired a significant amount of unique discussion and analysis from such critics as Seamus Heaney, Jonathan Westphal, and Walford Davies, some interpretations of the poem's meaning are under general consensus. "This is obviously a threshold poem about death", Heaney writes, and Westphal agrees, noting that "[Thomas] is advocating active resistance to death." Heaney thinks that the poem's structure as a villanelle "[turns] upon itself, advancing and retiring to and from a resolution" in order to convey "a vivid figure of the union of opposites" that encapsulates "the balance between natural grief and the recognition of necessity which pervades the poem as a whole."

Westphal writes that the "sad height" Thomas refers to in line 16 is "of particular importance and interest in appreciating the poem as a whole." He asserts that it was not a literal structure, such as a bier, not only because of the literal fact that Thomas' father died after the poem's publication, but also because "it would be pointless for Thomas to advise his father not to 'go gentle' if he were already dead ..." Instead, he thinks that Thomas' phrase refers to "a metaphorical plateau of aloneness and loneliness before death". In his 2014 "Writers of Wales" biography of Thomas, Davies disagrees, instead believing that the imagery is more allusive in nature, and that it "clearly evokes both King Lear on the heath and Gloucester thinking he is at Dover Cliff."

Use and references in other works

Igor Stravinsky's composition In Memoriam Dylan Thomas is a setting of the full text of the poem. Other composers who have set the poem to music include Vincent Persichetti (1976) Elliot del Borgo (1979), John Cale (1989, on Words for the Dying) and Janet Owen Thomas (1999, in the final movement of her Under the Skin).

Electronic musician Richard Burmer composed "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" for his last album, Treasures of the Saints (1992), which was accompanied by a recording of Thomas reading the poem.

Additionally, lines from the poem are featured in the song "Intro" from G-Eazy's album When It's Dark Out (2015).

The poem is also read in full on Iggy Pop’s album Free (2019).

Art

"Do not go gentle into that good night" was the inspiration for two paintings by Swansea-born painter and printmaker Ceri Richards, who created them in 1956, and 1965.

Literature

The poem influenced the writing of Mircea Cărtărescu's novel Solenoid (2015).

The poem is referenced in the title of Derek Landy's "Skulduggery Pleasant: The Dying of the Light", the ninth installment of the Young Adult fantasy series Skulduggery Pleasant.

The poem is referenced in writing in Yi Shi Si Zhou's "Little Mushroom: Judgement Day", the second installment of the danmei Science Fiction duology Little Mushroom.

Film

The poem is prominently referenced in Interstellar (2014), where the poem is used repeatedly by Michael Caine's character John Brand, as well as by several other supporting characters.

It also features in the 1986 comedy Back to School where Thornton Melon, played by Rodney Dangerfield, is required to recite the poem during an examination.

Video games

Version 2.2 of Zenless Zone Zero by Mihoyo/HoYoverse is named after the poem. Version 3.3 of Honkai: Star Rail, another game developed by the same company, added an achievement named "Rage Against the Dying Light".

Anime

The poem was referenced in the anime series Digimon Adventure when the villain Myotismon attempted to take over the world using darkness and stated "The dying of the light, and no one to rage against it!"

References

References

1. "Dylan Thomas". Academy of American Poets.
2. Ferris, Paul. (1989). "Dylan Thomas". Paragon House Publishers.
3. "Collected Poems 1934-1952 by Thomas, Dylan".
4. (January 1, 2024). "Happy Public Domain Day 2024!".
5. (6 November 2008). "Dylan Thomas: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night". BBC Wales.
6. Thomas, David N.. (2008). "Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas?". Seren.
7. Thomas, Dylan. (1953). "The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas". [[New Directions Publishing.
8. Poets, Academy of American. "Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas - Poems {{!}} Academy of American Poets".
9. Strand et al. 2001 p. 7
10. Poets, Academy of American. "Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas - Poems {{!}} Academy of American Poets".
11. Heaney, Seamus. (2020-10-23). "Dylan the Durable? On Dylan Thomas". Fordham University Press.
12. Westphal, Jonathan. (22 October 2015). "Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night". The Explicator.
13. Davies, Walford. (2014). "Dylan Thomas". University of Wales Press.
14. Hughes, Allen. (1976-02-09). "Music: Leonard Raver". The New York Times.
15. theinstrumenta. (2020-02-24). "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night: Thoughts from Elliot Del Borgo".
16. (27 October 2015). "Five Songs For Dylan Thomas". NPR.
17. Owen Thomas, Janet. (2007). "Under The Skin for tenor solo and 17 players". Edition Peters.
18. (December 8, 2015). "Review: G-Eazy's When It's Dark Out".
19. (August 29, 2019). "The Survival of Iggy Pop".
20. "Ceri Richards: 'Do not go gentle into that good night' 1956". tate.org.uk/.
21. (2022-10-06). "Een tocht door de ruïnes van Mircea Cărtărescu".
22. Wade, Chris. (5 November 2014). ""Do not go gentle into that good night" in Interstellar, Back to School, and many other movies: the supercut (VIDEO)". Slate.
23. (13 February 2024). "Back to School".
24. (11 May 2013). "Dangerfield recites Poem".
25. (29 July 2008). "Rodney Dangerfield Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night Back to School".