Good Night Rage example essay topic

The Fight Against Death (An analysis of "Do not go Gentle into that Good Night") "Do not go Gentle into that Good Night" is written in lyric style. The poem is written by Dylan Thomas who is expressing his thought's and experiences of death. The title disclosed the poet's thoughts about death and the importance of fighting to live life to the fullest. The poem speaks of different views of death from different people who all demonstrated one common struggle to hold on to life. The poem is fairly short and the language is figurative.

The poet uses simile to compare death to a good nigh. There is also foreshadowing is the first verse. The poet opens the poem with "Do not go gentile into that good night" which right away indicates that the poet is referring to not taking death lying down. The reader is given a sense of growing old. In the first stanza of the poem describe old age, "Old age should burn and rave at close of day" As you get old there is a daily struggle against death; you should fight for your life and take it day by day. In the second stanza the poet says "Though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lighting they don not go gentile into that good night" I thin what the poet is trying to say is even though you " re getting older and you know the time is coming you haven't shown a sign of death you 're still have life so fight against death.

Then in third stanza the poet describes someone who lived a good life but doesn't want to let go "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright their deed might have danced in a green bay, rage rage against the dying of the light". It was as if he was saying had he lived longer things could haven been better. In the fourth stanza " Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, and learn, too late they grieved it on its way, Don not go gentile into that good night. The poet is saying Sinners who led a bad life learn too late that they could have led a better life so they fight against death in hopes for a second chance. In he fifth stanza the poem talks of someone who has had a near death experience "Grave men, near death, who see with the blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, rage rage against the dying of the light.

Also even though those men looked death in the eyes they turned a blind eye to it and still continued to fight for their life. Then in the last stanza the poet relate to a more personal experience his father "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" Basically I thin he is trying to say Father you near death please fight to hold on to your life do not take it gently exploded against death and try to hold on. "Do not go Gentle into that Good Night" is a strong struggle for life, the most important and special gift in the world. The poem is a plea for a fight against death for everyone. The poet asks that everyone try to live a full life and to not give up so easily which can apply to many things not just death.

Analysis by Linda Sue Grimes, Classic Poetry Aide Subject: Dylan Thomas' father had been a robust, militant man most of his life, and when in his eighties, he became blind and weak, his son was disturbed seeing his father become "soft" or "gentle". In the poem Thomas is rousing his father to continue being the fierce man he had previously been. Literary devices: The form on the poem is a villanelle, with a rhyme scheme alternating "night" and "day."Good night" is a metaphor and a pun. "Dying of the light" is a metaphor. "Old age should burn and rave" in line two is a combination of metonymy and personification. "Close of day" is a metaphor.

"Burn" in that same line is used metaphorically, as is "dark" in line four. In line five "their words had forked no lightning" is metaphorical. Line eight "Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay" employs personification and metaphor. Line ten "Wild men who sang the sun in flight" is exaggeration and metaphor.

Line 11 "they grieved it on its way" is also exaggeration and metaphor. Line 13 "Grave" is a pun; "blinding sight" is an oxymoron. Line 14 "Blind eyes could blaze like meteors" is a simile. Line 17 "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray" is a paradox. Commentary: A villanelle is a French poetic form that originally served as a vehicle for pastoral, simple, and light verse. That Thomas would employ that form for the subject of death enhances the irony of beseeching a dying person to rage.

No doubt the poet also chose this form because of the repetition of the important lines, "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" and because of the tight formal structure of the form. The subject matter which is the command to the father not to accept death so easily lends itself to the dichotomy of "day" and "night" which become somewhat symbolic for "life" and "death" in the poem. Each of the six stanzas has uniformity and a specific purpose: Stanza 1: The first line is a command, "Do not go gentle into that good night". Paraphrased, "Don't give up easily". The second line offers the speaker's belief that even when old and infirm, the man should stay energetic and even bitch and whine if necessary as long as he does not give in to death easily. Then line three again is a command, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light": Fight, complain, rail against the oncoming of death.

Stanzas 2, 3, 4, and 5 each try to persuade the father to "rage against the dying of the light" by offering evidence of what wise, good, wild, and grave men have done. For example and to paraphrase stanza 2: Even though wise men know that they cannot keep death away forever and especially if they have not accomplished their goals in life, they don't accept death easily; they "Do not go gentle... ". Similarly, in stanza 3, good men exclaim what might have been, their "frail deed" might have shone like the sun reflecting off the waters of a "green bay", and they therefore, "Rage, rage" against the oncoming of death. Likewise, in stanza 4, wild men whose antics seemed to shine as brightly as the sun and who thought they were so optimistic, but later realized they spent much of their life in grief, still they "Do not go gentle... ".

And stanza 5 grave men whose eyes are fading fast can still flash life's happiness, as they "Rage, rage... " Stanza 6: The speaker addresses his father. Paraphrased, "And so my father you are nearing death-yell at me, scream at me, cry out; to see you do that would be a blessing for me and I beg you to show me that militant man you once were: "Do not go gentle... ". no.