Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night

language patterns

- sound of poem is very intense, fierce, angry and melancholy - -Vocabulary used to prove this include... "Old age should burn..." "...rage against the dying of the light" "...bless me with your fierce tears" -The poet intentionally chose these highlighted words, to create a specific association in the reader's mind, in this case being the urge to fight against death, as that is the theme of the poem -The word burn can be reminiscent of a certain afterlife, which gives the poem a dark association with death -The word rage represents unhappiness with the inevitable fate of death -The word fierce represents the subject's willingness to fight against death -The intentional choices of vocabulary gives the poem an overall sound that matches the theme, making the message stronger and more effective

Form/Structure

-5 mentions that even grave men who are near death can be happy because they have lived a long life. Here Dylan says again that he hates death -6 the author directly begs his father not to go gentle into that good night because death threatens every living thing on earth, but as the final verse says he again hates "the dying of the light -6 the author directly begs his father not to go gentle into that good night because death threatens every living thing on earth, but as the final verse says he again hates "the dying of the light

form and structure

-Stanza 1 makes reference to those that even having everything they wish are happy on earth but old age plays an important role; it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor because nobody can escape from Death. - -2 shows Thomas' ideal of the wise men who are considered to know about this fact because they know that even after the death of their bodies, their words will survive forever, so for this reason "wise men at their end know dark is right" - -3 establishes a difference between bright and good men. For him there are a few good men left but even they cry for the bright ones. Here we can observe that he values good men and complaints because they are going to die too, but for him bright men are in a higher position. -4 points out that wild men don't trust the night because, although they learn too late, they have realised that death will come.

simile line 15

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

oxymoran

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

paradox line 13

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

assonance lines 2-3

Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

personification line 8

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

metaphor

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

Alliteration

first stanza: go good second" though their

subject

old age and death the ways in which people should face those things

rhyme and rhythm

rhyme scheme: ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABA, ABAA Iambic pentameter is used in this poem

rthyme

the first - The first line appears at the end of stanzas 2 and 4 and as the second-to-last line in stanza 6. The poem's third line appears again at the end of stanzas 3, 5, and 6. So if we call the first line A and the third line A', and any line that rhymes with them a, then the rhyme scheme is: AbA' abA abA' abA abA' abAA'.

theme

the poem was written for his father who is dying because of a disease causing blindness the poet wrote this poem to encourage his father to fight against death

type of poem

villanelle - nineteen line poetic form with five tercets followed by a quatrain

imagery death

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

imagery ocean waves

"good men, the last wave by crying how bright. their trial deeds might have danced in a Green Bay

imagery wise and old people

"though wise men at their end know dark is right because their words had forked no lighting they do not go gentle that good night"

Example of metaphor

- night is a metaphor for death: stanza 1 - day is a metaphor for life : stanza 2 - dark is a metaphor for death: stanza 2 - lightning is a metaphor for power: stanza 2 - dying of the light is death : stanza 1,3,5,6 - flight is a metaphor for the lifespan: stanza four - good night is a metaphor for heaven : stanza 2,4,6