What Does The Poem Do Not Go Gentle Mean

“Do Not Go Gentle” Poems have the great ability to make us feel emotions with nothing more than the written word. This is true with Dylan Thomas’, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”. It is said that he wrote this for his dying father, which makes it even more emotional. We can all relate to losing a loved one, and wanting them to stay a little longer. It’s possible that this is why the poem is so well known, and liked. Stanza one is the introduction to the poem, and almost feels like a thesis statement. It sets up what the poem is about, and then uses the other stanzas to explain it. You know immediately what kind of poem it’s going to be, and what kind of tone it will have. Thomas says to fight death, “not go gentle” and “burn and rave at close of the day” (959). This is such a strong statement, and shows how passionate he is about not giving up at the end
They celebrate the sun, but end up grieving it. Thomas is comparing the sun to our life. When it rises it’s like our birth. It’s our happiest time. A time when we have no worries, or cares. “The sun in flight,” represents our lifespan (960). It’s what the men are singing, and celebrating about. Only later they grieve it, because its setting represents death. That they light of the day is dying. This is such a thought provoking statement, and makes you think of the day in a different way. Another type of man is talked about in stanza five. Grave men described with eyes going blind. This part of the poem is stating that even those who are dying with no hope should still fight for life. To fight and decide when it’s your time to leave this world. “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors,” means even though their life is fading, they can still go out brightly with a bang. So many times in life we hear about people who are given months to live, yet they make it much longer. This is what this stanza is talking about. To fight and choose when you want it to be your last