Analysis Of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night By Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas was a 20th century poet and was considered one of the best of his time.
He was born in 1914 in Swansea, Wales to parents David John and Florence Williams Thomas.
Thomas’s father was an english teacher at the Swansea Grammar School and was a large
influence on his son. Thomas soon began writing poems. His first poem was published at the age
of 12, but was later discovered as plagiarized. Thomas wrote and published his first collection of
original poems in 1936. In the year 1952 he published what is believed to be his maturest
collection of poems, title “Deaths and Entrances. Later he married and became a well known
poet. Thomas’s most famous poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” published in
1951, three years …show more content…
before Thomas died of alcohol poisoning in 1954. Before his death Thomas
wrote many more poems, each of them portraying different imagery and themes. Some of the
most recurring themes in Thomas’s works are death, youth, and time. Many of his poems depict
these themes in new ways and uses them to show imagery, metaphor, and personification.
Thomas’ use of death, youth, and time are the most recurring themes in most of his poems.
The first major theme that Thomas writes about is death. His perception of death is not a
positive one, like most people. Thomas perceives death as something that might be able to be
beaten or overcome. In the poem “And Death Shall Have no Dominion,” The speaker depicts
death as, like he titles the poem, no dominion. The speaker uses imagery and several metaphors
throughout the poem to show that death can be beaten. The speaker says, “Dead men naked they
shall be one / with the man in the wind and the west moon;” (lines 2-3). Death is shown as a new
beginning, not the end. It is the end of a life, but not the end of the spirit or soul that resides in
the physical world. The speaker says later on, “Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death
shall have no dominion” (lines 8-9). The bodies of the lovers might be lifeless, but death cannot
destroy the important things of life, such as love. One of the last lines of the poem are, “Though
they be mad and dead as nails, Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;” (lines 24-25).
These lines are talking about the people who are dead and buried underground. Although their
physical bodies are under the ground, who they were as a person is still alive.
Their character is
pushing up daisies above their graves. Even though death overtook them, they still get the last
say.
In 1952 Thomas’s father became ill and died. This was a major loss for Thomas, and
soon he began drinking and getting sick himself. His father’s death inspired Thomas’s most
famous poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” This poem was written for Thomas’s
father, encouraging him to fight death. Thomas wrote this poem as a villanelle, using the phrases
“Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” as the
main lines in the poem. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (lines 1, 6, 12, 18) is the first line
in the poem. Each time is is spoken by the speaker, its meaning changes. In the first stanza, it is
the introduction of the poem. It is the commanding words spoken, telling the reader to fight
against death and to not just simply give into it. The second stanza this phrase is indicative,
showing an action that is happening. The good and wise men are not going to give into death, but
will fight it. The fourth stanza is the same as the second stanza. Wild men are shown to put up …show more content…
a
fight and are compared to the wise men. The second to last line of the poem is a closing
instruction, urging the speaker’s father to fight against death, even though the speaker knows that
his father has already lost the fight. The second important phrase the speaker uses is, “Rage, rage
against the dying of the light” (lines 3, 9, 15, 19). Just like the first phrase, lines 3 and 19 are a
command, telling the reader that the only way to conquer death is to be angry at it. Lines 9 and
15 are applied to the good men and the grave men described in stanzas 3 and 5. In the last line of
the poem, the speaker wants his father to be angry at death because the speaker himself is angry
at death.
In this poem the speaker is pleading the reader, and in the end his father, to be angry
and death and to fight against it. But as humankind has learned over the centuries, no one can
win the battle against death. In 1933 Thomas wrote the poem “The Force That Through The Green Fuse Drives The
Flower.” Death is a major theme in this poem, describing how death cannot be avoided no matter
what. The first stanza of the poem goes straight into imagery. It shows that not only does death
have dominion over the trees, but also the speaker himself. The speaker says, “The force […]
[…] that blasts the roots of trees / is my destroyer (lines 1-3). The subject of death is apparent in
the speaker’s tone. He says, “The hand […] Stirs the quicksand; that ropes the blowing wind /
Hauls my shroud sail. / And I am dumb to tell the hanging man / How of my clay is made the
hangman's lime” (lines 11-15). Here the reader sees a murder, a man killing another with a rope.
The shroud in line 13 is a symbol for a burial blanket, the one used on the speaker. The speaker
uses more imagery in lines 21 and 22, saying, “And I am dumb to tell the lover's tomb / How at
my sheet goes the same crooked worm” (lines 21-22). The worm in line 22 is alluding to
the
reader that the speaker is dead, buried underground, where the worms are on top of and around
his burial blanket. The speaker concludes that nothing can escape death.
Death is not the only major subject in most of Thomas’s works. Time is another theme
that Thomas wrote about in many of his poems, including “The Force That Through The Green
Fuse Drives The Flower.” The force that the speaker is talking about is time. The speaker is
personifying time as a force that cannot be stopped. The speaker begins the poem by saying,
“The force that through the green fuse drives the flower / Drives my green age; that blasts the
roots of trees / Is my destroyer. […] My youth is bent by the same wintry fever” (lines 1-3, 5).
Time is the force that brings life and destroys it. It brings a time of youthfulness and joy, and
also a time of aging and dying. the speaker uses metaphors and imagery to describe what time
can do. He says, “The force that drives the water through the rocks / drives my red blood; that
dries the mouthing streams / Turns mine to wax […] at the mountain spring the same mouth
sucks (lines 6-8, 10). The water represents life, while a dried up steam is a symbol of death.
Likewise, blood that is being pumped by a heart means that the person is alive. But once the
heart stops pumping the blood, it ceases its movement, signifying the person's death. Time is
personified by calling it “the force.” It is also called, “The hand that whirls the water in the pool /
Stirs the quicksand; […] (lines 11-12). Water here is seen as a positive, while the quicksand is a
negative, meaning that time brings good and bad things into our lives. In line 16 the speaker
says, “The lips of time leech to the fountain head;” (line 16). The imagery of time sucking away
the water the fountain leaving it dry represents time slowly sucking away our time on earth as
humans. Even though time can bring good and amazing things, it will eventually be the destroyer
of all things. As the speaker says, this force cannot be stopped nor destroyed. Nothing can stop
time.
In the poem, “Fern Hill” Thomas wrote about time in a different light. He saw time in a
bittersweet way. Once again the speaker personifies time as a being that brings youth and joy.
The speaker is reminiscing on his childhood and the joys of being young. The speaker states,
“Time let me hail and climb / Golden in the heydays of his eyes” (lines 4-5). When the speaker
was young, he was constantly being watched by time. It brought joy to the speaker being young
and carefree and were the best days of his life. In the beginning, “ Time let me play and be /
Golden in the mercy of his means” (lines 13-14). In his youth the speaker sees time as his friend.
However, as he ages, he soon realizes that time was not on his side. Time has immense power
that cannot be stopped. The speaker knows that time is now against him, and is grieving because
his youth is gone. Thomas liked to reminisce of his youth and childhood. But when he did, Thomas was
reminded that youth is fleeting and doom is soon to come. Thomas loved to write about
childhood and what a joyous time it was. But in the end, time comes in and steals our childhood.
Everyone experiences the side effects of time. No one escapes death. But as Thomas encouraged
us to do, we must fight with all of who we are and resist death’s grip when the time comes.
Thomas was a great man with a great talent for poetry. Even though he drank himself to death,
his poetry will live on forever. Like in his poems, his character will live on, even when he is no
longer here on this earth.
He was born in 1914 in Swansea, Wales to parents David John and Florence Williams Thomas.
Thomas’s father was an english teacher at the Swansea Grammar School and was a large
influence on his son. Thomas soon began writing poems. His first poem was published at the age
of 12, but was later discovered as plagiarized. Thomas wrote and published his first collection of
original poems in 1936. In the year 1952 he published what is believed to be his maturest
collection of poems, title “Deaths and Entrances. Later he married and became a well known
poet. Thomas’s most famous poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” published in
1951, three years …show more content…
before Thomas died of alcohol poisoning in 1954. Before his death Thomas
wrote many more poems, each of them portraying different imagery and themes. Some of the
most recurring themes in Thomas’s works are death, youth, and time. Many of his poems depict
these themes in new ways and uses them to show imagery, metaphor, and personification.
Thomas’ use of death, youth, and time are the most recurring themes in most of his poems.
The first major theme that Thomas writes about is death. His perception of death is not a
positive one, like most people. Thomas perceives death as something that might be able to be
beaten or overcome. In the poem “And Death Shall Have no Dominion,” The speaker depicts
death as, like he titles the poem, no dominion. The speaker uses imagery and several metaphors
throughout the poem to show that death can be beaten. The speaker says, “Dead men naked they
shall be one / with the man in the wind and the west moon;” (lines 2-3). Death is shown as a new
beginning, not the end. It is the end of a life, but not the end of the spirit or soul that resides in
the physical world. The speaker says later on, “Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death
shall have no dominion” (lines 8-9). The bodies of the lovers might be lifeless, but death cannot
destroy the important things of life, such as love. One of the last lines of the poem are, “Though
they be mad and dead as nails, Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;” (lines 24-25).
These lines are talking about the people who are dead and buried underground. Although their
physical bodies are under the ground, who they were as a person is still alive.
Their character is
pushing up daisies above their graves. Even though death overtook them, they still get the last
say.
In 1952 Thomas’s father became ill and died. This was a major loss for Thomas, and
soon he began drinking and getting sick himself. His father’s death inspired Thomas’s most
famous poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” This poem was written for Thomas’s
father, encouraging him to fight death. Thomas wrote this poem as a villanelle, using the phrases
“Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” as the
main lines in the poem. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (lines 1, 6, 12, 18) is the first line
in the poem. Each time is is spoken by the speaker, its meaning changes. In the first stanza, it is
the introduction of the poem. It is the commanding words spoken, telling the reader to fight
against death and to not just simply give into it. The second stanza this phrase is indicative,
showing an action that is happening. The good and wise men are not going to give into death, but
will fight it. The fourth stanza is the same as the second stanza. Wild men are shown to put up …show more content…
a
fight and are compared to the wise men. The second to last line of the poem is a closing
instruction, urging the speaker’s father to fight against death, even though the speaker knows that
his father has already lost the fight. The second important phrase the speaker uses is, “Rage, rage
against the dying of the light” (lines 3, 9, 15, 19). Just like the first phrase, lines 3 and 19 are a
command, telling the reader that the only way to conquer death is to be angry at it. Lines 9 and
15 are applied to the good men and the grave men described in stanzas 3 and 5. In the last line of
the poem, the speaker wants his father to be angry at death because the speaker himself is angry
at death.
In this poem the speaker is pleading the reader, and in the end his father, to be angry
and death and to fight against it. But as humankind has learned over the centuries, no one can
win the battle against death. In 1933 Thomas wrote the poem “The Force That Through The Green Fuse Drives The
Flower.” Death is a major theme in this poem, describing how death cannot be avoided no matter
what. The first stanza of the poem goes straight into imagery. It shows that not only does death
have dominion over the trees, but also the speaker himself. The speaker says, “The force […]
[…] that blasts the roots of trees / is my destroyer (lines 1-3). The subject of death is apparent in
the speaker’s tone. He says, “The hand […] Stirs the quicksand; that ropes the blowing wind /
Hauls my shroud sail. / And I am dumb to tell the hanging man / How of my clay is made the
hangman's lime” (lines 11-15). Here the reader sees a murder, a man killing another with a rope.
The shroud in line 13 is a symbol for a burial blanket, the one used on the speaker. The speaker
uses more imagery in lines 21 and 22, saying, “And I am dumb to tell the lover's tomb / How at
my sheet goes the same crooked worm” (lines 21-22). The worm in line 22 is alluding to
the
reader that the speaker is dead, buried underground, where the worms are on top of and around
his burial blanket. The speaker concludes that nothing can escape death.
Death is not the only major subject in most of Thomas’s works. Time is another theme
that Thomas wrote about in many of his poems, including “The Force That Through The Green
Fuse Drives The Flower.” The force that the speaker is talking about is time. The speaker is
personifying time as a force that cannot be stopped. The speaker begins the poem by saying,
“The force that through the green fuse drives the flower / Drives my green age; that blasts the
roots of trees / Is my destroyer. […] My youth is bent by the same wintry fever” (lines 1-3, 5).
Time is the force that brings life and destroys it. It brings a time of youthfulness and joy, and
also a time of aging and dying. the speaker uses metaphors and imagery to describe what time
can do. He says, “The force that drives the water through the rocks / drives my red blood; that
dries the mouthing streams / Turns mine to wax […] at the mountain spring the same mouth
sucks (lines 6-8, 10). The water represents life, while a dried up steam is a symbol of death.
Likewise, blood that is being pumped by a heart means that the person is alive. But once the
heart stops pumping the blood, it ceases its movement, signifying the person's death. Time is
personified by calling it “the force.” It is also called, “The hand that whirls the water in the pool /
Stirs the quicksand; […] (lines 11-12). Water here is seen as a positive, while the quicksand is a
negative, meaning that time brings good and bad things into our lives. In line 16 the speaker
says, “The lips of time leech to the fountain head;” (line 16). The imagery of time sucking away
the water the fountain leaving it dry represents time slowly sucking away our time on earth as
humans. Even though time can bring good and amazing things, it will eventually be the destroyer
of all things. As the speaker says, this force cannot be stopped nor destroyed. Nothing can stop
time.
In the poem, “Fern Hill” Thomas wrote about time in a different light. He saw time in a
bittersweet way. Once again the speaker personifies time as a being that brings youth and joy.
The speaker is reminiscing on his childhood and the joys of being young. The speaker states,
“Time let me hail and climb / Golden in the heydays of his eyes” (lines 4-5). When the speaker
was young, he was constantly being watched by time. It brought joy to the speaker being young
and carefree and were the best days of his life. In the beginning, “ Time let me play and be /
Golden in the mercy of his means” (lines 13-14). In his youth the speaker sees time as his friend.
However, as he ages, he soon realizes that time was not on his side. Time has immense power
that cannot be stopped. The speaker knows that time is now against him, and is grieving because
his youth is gone. Thomas liked to reminisce of his youth and childhood. But when he did, Thomas was
reminded that youth is fleeting and doom is soon to come. Thomas loved to write about
childhood and what a joyous time it was. But in the end, time comes in and steals our childhood.
Everyone experiences the side effects of time. No one escapes death. But as Thomas encouraged
us to do, we must fight with all of who we are and resist death’s grip when the time comes.
Thomas was a great man with a great talent for poetry. Even though he drank himself to death,
his poetry will live on forever. Like in his poems, his character will live on, even when he is no
longer here on this earth.