Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Summary & Analysis
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“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is a poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, first published in 1951. Though the poem was dedicated to Thomas’s father, it contains a universal message. The poem encourages the dying—the sick and the elderly—to fight bravely against death. The poem also celebrates the vibrancy and energy of human life, even though life is fragile and short.
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The Full Text of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
The Full Text of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Summary
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Themes
Death and Defiance
Family, Grief, and Old Age
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
Lines 1-3
Do not go .
. of the light.
Lines 4-6
Though wise men .
. that good night.
Lines 7-9
Good men, the .
. of the light.
Lines 10-12
Wild men who .
. that good night.
Lines 13-15
Grave men, near .
. of the light.
Lines 16-19
And you, my .
. of the light.
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Symbols
Light
Lightning
Green Bay
Meteors
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
End-Stopped Line
Enjambment
- Lines 5-6: “they / Do”
- Lines 7-8: “bright / Their”
- Lines 13-14: “sight / Blind”
Caesura
Alliteration
Assonance
- Line 2: “O,” “a,” “a,” “o,” “a”
- Line 3: “a,” “a,” “y,” “i”
- Line 4: “ou,” “i,” “o,” “i”
- Line 7: “y,” “y,” “i”
- Line 8: “ai,” “ee,” “ee,” “a”
- Line 9: “a,” “a,” “y,” “i”
- Line 10: “a,” “a”
- Line 11: “a,” “i,” “i,” “ay”
- Line 13: “e,” “ea,” “i,” “i”
- Line 14: “i,” “eye,” “a,” “i,” “e,” “e,” “e,” “ay”
- Line 15: “a,” “a,” “y,” “i”
- Line 19: “a,” “a,” “y,” “i”
Consonance
- Line 1: “D,” “n,” “t,” “g,” “n,” “t,” “nt,” “t,” “g,” “d,” “n,” “t”
- Line 2: “l,” “d,” “r,” “r,” “l”
- Line 3: “R,” “g,” “r,” “g”
- Line 4: “n,” “n,” “r,” “k,” “r”
- Line 5: “c,” “s,” “r,” “r,” “s,” “r,” “k”
- Line 6: “D,” “n,” “g,” “nt,” “nt,” “t,” “g,” “d,” “n,” “t”
- Line 7: “b,” “r,” “b,” “t”
- Line 8: “r,” “r,” “d,” “d,” “d,” “n,” “r,” “n”
- Line 9: “R,” “r”
- Line 10: “s,” “s,” “n,” “n”
- Line 11: “n,” “l,” “n,” “l”
- Line 12: “D,” “n,” “g,” “nt,” “nt,” “t,” “g,” “d,” “n,” “t”
- Line 13: “r,” “n,” “n,” “r,” “d,” “s,” “bl,” “n,” “d,” “s”
- Line 14: “Bl,” “nd,” “c,” “d,” “bl,” “l,” “k”
- Line 15: “R,” “r”
- Line 16: “th,” “r,” “th,” “r,” “th”
- Line 17: “r,” “s,” “ss,” “r,” “c,” “r,” “s,” “r”
- Line 18: “D,” “n,” “g,” “nt,” “t,” “g,” “d,” “n,” “t”
- Line 19: “R,” “r”
Simile
- Line 14: “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay”
Metaphor
- Line 1: “Do not go gentle,” “good night”
- Line 2: “Old age should burn,” “close of day”
- Line 3: “the dying of the light”
- Line 5: “forked no lightning”
- Line 6: “good night”
- Line 7: “the last wave by”
- Line 8: “danced in a green bay”
- Line 9: “the dying of the light”
- Line 10: “caught and sang the sun in flight”
- Line 15: “the dying of the light”
- Line 16: “the sad height”
- Line 18: “good night”
- Line 19: “the dying of the light”
Epizeuxis
- Line 3: “Rage, rage”
- Line 9: “Rage, rage”
- Line 15: “Rage, rage”
- Line 19: “Rage, rage”
Refrain
- Line 1: “Do not go gentle into that good night”
- Line 3: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
- Line 6: “Do not go gentle into that good night”
- Line 9: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
- Line 12: “Do not go gentle into that good night”
- Line 15: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
- Lines 18-19: “Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Parallelism
- Line 4: “Though wise men at their end know dark is right”
- Line 7: “Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright”
- Line 10: “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight”
- Line 13: “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight”
Parataxis
Allusion
- Lines 10-12: “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.”
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Vocabulary
- Go
- Good Night
- Rave
- Rage
- Forked
- Wave
- By
- Frail
- Bay
- Flight
- Grave
- Gay
- Height
(Location in poem: Line 1: “go”; Line 6: “go”; Line 12: “go”; Line 18: “go”)
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
Form
Meter
Rhyme Scheme
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Speaker
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Setting
Literary and Historical Context of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
More “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Resources
External Resources
- Go Gentle Into That Good Night — An article at the Herald Mail calls into question the advice Dylan Thomas gives to his dying father.
- Dylan Thomas Reads "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" — In this brief video, the poet Dylan Thomas reads aloud his own poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."
- 'Rage Against The Dying Of The Light': How Entrepreneurs Can Persevere — At Forbes Magazine, Mike Templeman thinks about how Thomas's poem might serve as an inspiration to contemporary business leaders.
- Dylan Thomas's Life — A detailed biography of Dylan Thomas from The Poetry Foundation.
- The Story Behind "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." — Maria Popova tells the story behind "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."
LitCharts on Other Poems by Dylan Thomas
- A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London
- Fern Hill
- In My Craft or Sullen Art
- Poem in October
- The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
- The Hand That Signed the Paper
Cite This Page
Definition
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Full Text
Lines 3-4
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed
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