Thursday 11 October 2012

Analysis: Do not go gentle into that good night

Do not go gentle into that good night
Astutely written and shrewdly plotted into six stanzas, Do not go gentle into that good night by
Dylan Thomas is unanimously concurred upon the critics to be among his finest works. Concise
& provocative, the poem addresses the theme which Thomas experience firsthand as he
witnessed the demise of his father – that although death is inexorable, one should cherish every
moment of consciousness while fight against the inevitable with strong will and defiance.

  The use of repetition & parallelism profoundly impacts the mood of the poem. To illustrate, the
lines “rage, rage against the dying of the light” and “Do not go gentle into that good night” are
repeated throughout the poem whereby the stress and urgency of the poet’s tone is clearly
demonstrated. It’s used to further emphasize Thomas’s emotional and moving plea to his father to
embrace life until the very end. Furthermore, the repetition of “rage” also augments the intensity
of the admonishments. Secondly, Dylan describes four kinds of men to his father by means of
parallelism. The use of “wise men” is a reproach at his father’s willingness of accepting death as
finality. Although “wise men” see death as salvation, as implied by “dark is right”, they would
not succumb to death for they had “forked no lightning”. It indicates that one should not simply
pass away without leaving a “dent in the universe”. “Good men” with their last breath weep over
the loss of their “frail deeds”, in which deed connotes with  both the physical body and
benevolence. “Wild men” full of life and song try to catch the sun as if life is one long day from
dawn to the dying dusk yet realizes the prodigal nature too late. They too, grieve their actions
and fight against death. Thomas concludes his repetitive demonstration of ideals with “Grave
men”, who according to Thomas, even during their final moments, can "blaze  like meteors and
be gay". Thomas imparts this final simile to represent the satisfaction that the one get when
looking in retrospect one’s life, preventing them from feeling the despair and  worthlessness that
Thomas wants his father to steer away from.

  Thomas’s use of diction also plays a decisive role in the poem. Firstly, the predominant idea of
elderlies is that they are despairing and that there is nothing for them to look forward to but death.
Yet in the famous quote “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”, the poet  advocates a life that
would “burn and rave” even at face of death. Instead of “wither” or “succumb”, “burn” tells us of
something aflame, and consumed by heat, and therefore speaks of passion- an ingredient in living
life to the full. “Rage” and “rave “connotes an element of anger and a spirit of battle- that Dylan
Thomas feels should constitute our struggle against death. Secondly, the poet used the word
“forked” to describe making impact. The word is poignant because a fork is often applied with
effort when eating, but “wise men” realized that words has no impact by themselves, therefore
challenging us to a life of actions. Furthermore, Thomas shows the contrast between the value of
the good deeds when the doers are living and when they are at the face of death. He uses the word
“frail” to show that at death’s face, these deeds are feeble to turn the inevitable around while he
uses the word “danced” to show how these good men would have celebrated these deeds and
derived joy from them. Again, this contrast challenges us that the only way to face death is to put
up a fierce struggle – as joy is at stake.

  The most distinguished device in the poem is undoubtedly metaphor. Firstly, the use of
metaphor “that good night” gives the impression that death is just, for he calls it “good” instead of
another ghastly term. Thomas uses the words night and light as metaphors for death and life and
alternates them to emphasize against a peaceful surrender and to a lesser degree, as a pair of
rhyming words. Secondly, “green bay” used in the third stanza implies life as well as childhood,
which embellishes life and further emphasizes one’s the desire to live. Lastly, “there on the sad
height” used in the last stanza uses a biblical reference. The sad height could very likely represent
the Valley of Despair which separates the human world and the metaphysical one. Dylan
describes his father to be on the edge of the human world to make the mood more solemn and
somber as well as to emphasize the despondent prospect of his father’s recovery.

  Do not go gentle into that good night is a very subtle and intricate poem which centralizes on
dying gloriously while averting death. Throughout the poem, Dylan Thomas uses powerful
devices to create a melancholy yet urgent tone as we witness the demise of his father. To quote
from Mary Alice Young, “Death is but  a promise made to each of us at birth, but before the
promise is kept,” we should each and every  one of us live life to its full.

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