Do not go Gentle into that Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night is a didactic poem written by the employment of the literary device apostrophe and is addressed to the poet - Dylan Thomas's father who is on his death bed.

The poetry is a little eccentric as the chief message is to fight death. No mystic has ever succeeded in conquering the invincible death. So the idea of overpowering death must be explored in detail. Also this serves to be an advice to his father which also is a rare phenomenon - younger people advising older one.

The word 'gentle' is deliberately used although the norms of the language prohibits its usage in the context. Gentle refers to the characteristic of the poet's father and thus gentle - an adjective is preferred over gently - a verb. The good night relates to death. The reason it is said to be good is because it puts a check on the life of people. All the tangential elements, prodigious and the wayward sons knowing that they have to die for certain one day would use their life constructively. The poet as a whole instills the reader to do something great before it's too late.

"Rage rage against the dying of the light."

This line is being the important theme - the punch line is repeated after every stanza. In a nutshell the poet has hidden all the messages spread across the body of the poem in a single line such as this one! Men mustn't become submissive to death and accept the dominance of fate on any other external factor. He must of himself conquer all the obstacles on the bumpy way and must not tremble even in the face of death.

"The old age should burn and rave at the close of the day."

The first stanza begins with this line. In here we are acquainted with the fact that people usually in the old age after being tossed and whirled about mercilessly in this tumultuous ocean of life tend to soften and become helpless. They lose all faith in themselves. The poet urges these people to bring back that zest for life.  

The third stanza talks of good men. These people are termed as good as there are gobs and gobs of men who under the bewitching spells of oblivion don't realize even at the time of their death that they have been wasting this wonderful opportunity known as life in worthless lunacies!

"Good men the last wave by…."

Their frail deeds might have danced in the green bay."

These good men are the ones who have cribbed over every frivolous issue in their prime time and have kept blaming just about everyone and everything on their way, 'themselves excepted.'! But in the old age when they are approaching death these people realize their blunder and repent. They at no cost are submissive. Apart from the philosophical significance the word green symbolizes life and growth. The poet has used many imageries in the poem. For instance light, blazing shower of meteors, green bay etc. The use of these intensifies the impact of the poem by triggering the sensual apparatus of the reader. The combination of metaphors and similes has also enriched the poem alike.

The second stanza talks of wise men "whose words forked no lightening." There were virtuous, noble people yet they couldn't leave an indelible mark in the society. Therefore they too weep and atone but mind you aren't submissive.

It must be noted that the more successful a man is the more amorous he grows which is quite contrary to the common notion that prevails. The fourth stanza talks of the life of these successful men.

"Wild men who sang and caught the sun in flight."

These people in spite of their stinky success grieve and mourn death for in their opinion they could have accomplished even more if given the chance to do so. Such seemingly euphoric people too are at ebb when it comes to death; than for a meager mendicant to become submissive is rather quite unpalatable!

The fifth stanza talks about old people that are just on the verge of dying.

"…See with blinding sight.

The meteor shower."

These old people have lost control over and lost almost all of their sense. Even then they of their own accord are not ready to succumb to death.

The last stanza finally talks of the poet's father. The poet uses an oxymoron here.

"And you my father on that sad height,

Bless me, curse me with your fierce tears."

The poet wants to convey to his father that if the advice struck a chord in him than be should bless him and if it disturbed him than he should curse the poet. But in both the cases the impassive, apathetic and stolid behavior of his father pricks him. The effort of Thomas was to instigate and stir the sleeping giant within his father and more generally - the readers.

Nonetheless none of us have been so degraded by the original sin as to not have the giant within! The only need of the hour is to awaken it. The poet by his illustrations has proved that death is not invincible if one lives with the right passion, valor and rigor. To a man who has exhausted all the juices of life, a transient moment is enough but for the one who hasn't, even a millennium is not sufficient! It also must be noted that the plea of the poet is urgent for no one knows when and where he or she is going to meet death. A child or an old man, death is absolutely judicial - it makes no distinction! It is always in the spur of this very minute that we all are urged to live our life to the fullest!