Do Not Go Gentle vs. This Is It: A Literary Comparison

Introduction

Dylan Thomas's poem Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night and the Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald song This Is It both deal with the mortality of man. Each is a plea to a dying father — Thomas's and Loggins's, respectively — not to give up the good fight as they neared death. Both works argue that even at the end of life, one should choose to fight against the inevitability of death.

Dylan Thomas: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Thomas's poem is composed of six stanzas of three lines each, except for the sixth, which has four. The rhyme scheme is A-B-A, with the last line of each stanza alternating between "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" and "Do not go gentle into that good night." The final stanza ends with both refrains, creating an A-B-A-A pattern — hence the extra line. Except for the second line of stanza five, each line in the poem contains ten syllables following an unstressed-stressed alternating pattern. The poem is thus written in iambic pentameter, and its overall form is that of a villanelle.

Thomas begins his poem in the second person, addressing his father and the reader directly, urging them to fight until the last gasp. The second line — "Old age should burn and rave at the close of day" — uses "close of day" to refer to the end of life, while "the dying of the light" stands as a metaphor for death itself.

In the second stanza, Thomas shifts to the third person and makes a declarative statement: wise men "do not go gentle." The observation that "dark is right" acknowledges the inevitability of death, yet this does not preclude one from resisting its grip. The third stanza continues in the third person with a single declarative sentence expressing a similar message: men facing death realize they could have done more, and this realization drives them to fight against the dying of the light.

The fourth stanza, also in the third person, continues this theme. The phrase "wild men" carries the same moral force as "good men" and "wise men": though these men had their moment in the light, they grieve that they had not done more, and so they do not go gentle. In the fifth stanza, grave — that is, serious — men also fight against death, for they too see with "blinding sight" that death is the end. Thomas is imploring readers not to be blinded by death's presence. The sixth stanza returns to the second person as Thomas observes that if his father were to curse him, it would be evidence that he had not given up — and thus, paradoxically, a blessing.

The full text of the poem is included at the end of this paper. As one of the most celebrated examples of the villanelle form in the English language, it remains required reading in many college and university literature courses.

Appendix: Full Texts

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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.

There've been times in my life,
I've been wonderin' why.
Still, somehow I believed we'd always survive.
Now, I'm not so sure.
You're waiting here, one good reason to try.
But, what more can I say? What's left to provide?

(You think that maybe it's over,)
(Only if you want it to be.)

Are you gonna wait for a sign, your miracle?
Stand up and fight.

(This is it.)
Make no mistake where you are.
(This is it.)
Your back's to the corner.
(This is it.)
Don't be a fool anymore.
(This is it.)
The waiting is over, no, don't you run.
No way to hide.

No time for wonderin' why.
It's here, the moment is now, about to decide.
Let 'em believe.
Leave 'em behind.
But keep me near in your heart.
Know whatever you do, I'm here by your side.

(You say that maybe it's over.)
(Not if you don't want it to be.)

For once in your life, here's your miracle.
Stand up and fight.

(This is it.)
Make no mistake where you are.
(This is it.)
You're goin' no further.
(This is it.)
Until it's over and done.
(No one can tell what the future holds.)
Oh-oh-oh-oh.
(Who makes the choice of how it goes?)
It's not up to me this time.
(You know.)
Comes a day in every life.

(This is it.)
Make no mistake where you are.
(This is it.)
You're goin' no further.
(This is it.)
Until it's over and done.
(This is it.)
One way or another.
(This is it.)
(No one can tell what the future holds.)
(This is it.)
Your back's to the corner.
(This is it.)
(You make the choice of how it goes.)
(This is it.)
The waiting is over.
(This is it.)
(No one can tell what the future holds.)
(This is it.)
One way or another.
(This is it.)