Seth Martin, Roanoke, VA

2010-03-23

Tone and Purpose, Attitude, and Imagery In Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Dylan Thomas wrote Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night auspiciously for his dying father, but also for himself, within a year of his own early death due to acute pneumonic, alcoholic, and possibly diabetic related causes. Thomas writes carefully with deliberate word choices that result in a moving work in a beautiful format that contradicts its purpose, the villanelle. The poem is a humanistic anthem, admonishing for and illustrating examples of the universal yet personal human fight against the inevitable, specifically death. Death, or the finiteness of life, is one of the core elements that define what it means to be human, but also haunts mankind in that it is is also what universally terminates a human life. To rage against an inevitability such as death until its very end is in this world a pursuit unique to humanity and worthy of inspiration. Somewhat unique in poetry, Thomas clearly and directly sets forth his tone and purpose immediately. Before the first word is read, Thomas hints at his tone and purpose with his title Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. Thomas then immediately sets forth his tone and purpose, which are inseparable, clearly and directly in the very first stanza, writing Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light (591). This angry tone and direct admonition continues regularly and consistently throughout the poem with the alternating repetition of do not go gentle into that good night (591, 592) and rage, rage against the dying light (591, 592) in villanelle form.

Martin 2 To round out his conflicted purpose, Thomas illustrates four stereotypes of men preceding, and impotently living, his admonition, one in each of the four central stanzas of the poem. Thomas describes the wise men (591) whose words had forked no lightening (591), good men (592) who are crying how bright their frail deeds might have been (592), wild men (592) who caught and sang the sun in flight and learn, too late, they grieved it on its way (592) and grave men (592) who see with blinding sight (592) that blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay (592), all of whom then fight against their own deaths in their own ways. All of these are images of humanity ultimately impotent and who should therefore logically rage against death so as to have more time to make a difference. With these illustrations, Thomas expects readers to consider each stereotypes plight directly and then come around to consider his tone again. Upon reconsideration, readers intuitively recognize and naturally connect with Thomass humanistic rage against death. Each of the stereotyped images requires deliberate consideration of Thomass carefully crafted metaphors for comprehension, which enhances the value of the ultimate understanding gained from the poem and creates greater emotional impact and personal inspiration for the reader. Thomas wrote Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night as an emotional admonition to himself, his father, and to all of humankind. Thomass purpose is to inspire all to rage against the dousing of the flame that is their human consciousness, despite the inevitable futility, not for the sake of righteousness, but for the sake of being human, for the sake of wanting more time, for the sake of wanting to make a difference, for the sake of wanting to leave a legacy. Intuitively, Thomas taps into the humanistic desire to fight against futility, as he illustrates four futile

Martin 3 examples of raging as he admonishes. This humanistic desire is a powerful motivator to inspire readers to follow Thomass admonition.

Works Cited

Martin 4 Thomas, Dylan. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. Literature: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardner, Beverly Lawn, Jack Ridl, and Peter Schakel. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 290-294. Print.