Dylan Thomas "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
Dylan Thomas wrote "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" for his father in 1950. It was included in his anthology In Country Sleep in 1952. Dylan Thomas' father was a militant man during the course of his life, and "when in his eighties, he became blind and weak, his son was disturbed seeing his father become "soft" or "gentle" (Grimes, 2-3). This is one of Thomas' more personal poems as we see him almost begging for his father to "rage, rage against the dying of the light" (line 19).

The poem is divided into six stanzas, where the middle four offer his father examples of different kinds of men and their approach to death. In the second stanza, he quotes wise men and though they possess the knowledge of what awaits them in the afterlife, they do not go gently…...

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Bibliography

Farrow, Andrew. "What is in That Good Night?" Online. Nov. 14, 2002.http://personal.centenary.edu/~afarrow/thomas.html.

Grimes, Linda Sue. "Analysis by Linda Sue Grimes, Classic Poetry Aide Online. Nov. 14, 2002.http://www.geocities.com/classicpoetry/dtdonotgogentle.html.

Thomas, Dylan. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" Online. Nov. 15, 2001.http://members.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/DylanThomas/texts/c4.htm.

Dylan Thomas was an English poet who was greatly inspired by his father, David John (D.J.)Thomas, an English Literature professor at Swansea Grammar School. As a response to his father's death, Thomas penned "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," one of his most well-known and popular poems. While there are many interpretations of what the poem represents, in Poetry Criticism, David Galens comments on the function of the poem's structure and form, which can be supported through an analysis of the poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" and its use of duality, however, Galens also argues that the repetition "insistently" proclaims the remoteness of all fathers, an argument that appears to be based on personal biases.
Galens write that the poem "is a living cross-section, a simultaneously open and closed form, one in which the cycles of youth and age, of rise and fall, growth…...

Dylan is also speaking to his father in this poem, for he tells him "Do not go gentle into that good night/Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Thematically, this poem is a reflection of Dylan Thomas's great genius, for it illustrates man's "struggle from darkness to light;" Dylan "uncovered the darkness in us that we should otherwise not have known and brought us to a light we should not otherwise have seen" (Olson 89).
In conclusion, it would be safe to say that Dylan Thomas, while growing up and maturing in the small Welsh village of Swansea, saw this place as a protective barrier against the outside world, meaning that he was protected from becoming part of a literary clique which caused him to transform into a superb and original poet. As Clark Emery understands it, in Swansea "the young men had time to formulate their own artistic…...

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Bibliography

Bengtsson, Gunnar. "Biography of Dylan Thomas." Internet. 2005. PoetryConnection.net.

Accessed May 5, 2005.  http://www.poetryconnection.net/poets/Dylan_Thomas .

Emery, Clark. The World of Dylan Thomas. FL: University of Miami Press, 1968.

Maud, Ralph. Entrances to Dylan Thomas's Poetry. PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1963.

He fought the Ottomans while in the Spanish Navy. On his way back to Spain, he was taken hostage and held in Algiers for five years. This experience contributed to Don Quixote. This work was his most popular. In 1606, he moved to Madrid, where he died in 1616.
Ancient Greek Theater forms the foundations of modern theater. Greek theater is said to have evolved from religious rites around 1200 BC, rituals that would eventually come to involve both dancing and poetry. As the subject matter became more complex, the art of drama was born. The performance of Greek plays is similar to that of modern theater, and so are its forms. The most prominent forms are tragedy and comedy, both of which are the basis for theater today as well. Many of the classic stories of Greek mythology found their way to theater, inspiring later theater eras significantly.

Ancient Roman…...

Dylan Thomas
Understanding a poem is a matter of first and foremost understanding the poet. The individual poet's choice of words and emotions which grab the reader, make a connection, and then deliver an emotional message which leaves a lasting message can be achieved through a number of techniques. But the poet who achieves a lasting memory in the minds of hearts of his readers is a person who approached the pen and ink often from a radically different perspective or with an emotional charge to his life that others not only find fascinating, but envy. Such is the case of Dylan Thomas, a Welshman with a known history of avid drinking, little self-discipline, and a penchant for over-indulgence which lead him to an early grave.

As a young child, Thomas loved the written word. He began writing his first poems at 8 or 9, while his attention was fixed in familiar…...

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References

Mondragon, Brenda. Dylan Marlais Thomas. Neurotic Poets. 2004. Accessed 17 April 2004. Website:  http://www.neuroticpoets.com/thomas/ 

Thomas, Dylan. Fern hill. BigEye.com. 2002. Accessed 17 April, 2004. Website:  http://www.bigeye.com/dylan.htm

Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” consists of six stanzas, each with three lines. With a structured rhyme scheme and tight organization, Thomas conveys the main theme of the poem with aplomb. The speaker assumes a firm, pedantic stance from the first line forward, speaking in a commanding voice to the reader. Ultimately, Thomas’s poem encourages living life to the fullest and never giving into the temptations of cynicism or apathy that tend to plague those in their senior years. The primary tone of “Do Not Go Gentle” is empowering or uplifting. Rather than fear death or simply succumb to its inevitability, people need to “rage, rage against the dying of the light,” (lines 3 and 15). Using diction that should evoke anger, such as the term “rage” is instead meant to ignite the fire of passion that lives within each person. In fact, Thomas also…...

Thomas/Updike Compare/Contrast
The Fight for Life in Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night" and John Updike's "Dog's Death"

Death has proven to be an inspiration for many poets and has been written about throughout history. These poets look at death from differing perspectives and many have argued that it should be fought against while others are more submissive to the concept. In "Do not go gentle into that good night," written by Dylan Thomas (1951), and "Dog's Death," by John Updike (1993), take a stance that accepting death is unnatural and that a person or any living being should fight until the end. In "Do not go gentle into that good night," Thomas argues that death is something that should be fought against and that a person should only succumb to their end when he or she is ready. On the other hand, in "Dog's Death," Updike demonstrates…...

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References

Coren, S. (20 September 2011). Do dogs feel pain the same way that humans do? Psychology

Today. Accessed 5 May 2012, from  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201109/do-dogs-feel-pain-the-same-way-humans-do 

Donne, J. (1633) "Death Be Not Proud." Bartleby.com. Accessed 5 May 2012, from  http://www.bartleby.com/105/72.html 

Donne, J. (1633) "A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning." The Norton Anthology of English

In "Do not go gentle into that good night," Thomas argues that "old age should burn and rave at close of day," implying that individuals should not give in to death easily (Thomas line 2). In order to prove his point, and convince his father to fight for his life, Thomas provides various examples of men from all walks of life, who regardless of their past fought to live for as long as they could. Thomas writes, "wise men at their end know dark is right…Do not go gentle into that good night," "Good men…Rage, rage against the dying of the light," "ild men…Do not go gentle into that good night," and "Grave men, near death…Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (4,6,7,10,13). Thomas's fears are emphasized when he addresses his father and pleads, "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray," which can be taken…...

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Works Cited

Dickinson, Emily. "Because I could not stop for Death." Poets.org. 1890. Web. 10 July 2013.

Thomas, Dylan. "Do not go gentle into that good night." Poets.org. 1951. Web. 10 July 2013.

Thomas-Dickinson
Perspectives of Death

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" is one of Dylan Thomas's most recognized poems. In the poem, he urges his father to fight against death even though it is something that everyone must at some point in his or her lives have to accept. On the other hand, Emily Dickinson, in "Because I could not stop for Death," accepts death as a natural part of life and unlike Thomas, does not combat it. Dylan Thomas and Emily Dickinson approach the topic of death from different perspectives with Thomas attempting to rebel against the inevitable and Dickinson passively submitting to her end.

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" was written for Thomas's dying father and is stylistically structured as a villanelle where only two sounds are rhymed. The poem is composed of 19 lines, rhyming the first and third lines, with an alternation of the…...

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References:

Alliteration. (n.d.). Accessed 6 February 2012 from,  http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/alliteration.html 

Anaphora. (n.d.). Accessed 6 February 2012 from, http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/a/anaphora.htm

Dickinson, E. (n.d.). "Because I Could Not Stop For Death." Poets.org. Accessed 6 February 2012 from,  

Dylan Thomas's 1951 poem, "Do not go gentle into that good night," like Johnson's poem, is an elegy to someone he loves -- his father -- but unlike Johnson's poem, at the time the poem was written before his father passed away, which allows him to express and explain his fears to the man he wrote the poem for. In "Do not go gentle into that good night," Thomas urges his father to fight to live, a stark contrast from Johnson's lament for death to escape the "world's and flesh's rage" (Johnson line 7). Thomas writes, "Old age should burn and rave at close of day," in supplication to his father in order to get him to fight against "the dying of the light," which can be taken as a metaphor for a person's transition through life into death (Thomas line 2-3). Thomas then proceeds to list different types of…...

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Works Cited

Johnson, Ben. "On My Sonne." 1616. Web. 29 May 2013.

"Literary Devices." Center for Literary Arts. Web. 29 May 2013. PDF.

Thomas, Dylan. "Do not go gentle into that good night." 1951. Web. 29 May 2013.

Dylan Thomas

In "Elegy," Dylan Thomas uses the connection of his father being blind, to talk about his father's death. This poem is about Thomas's father's death, but explains how Thomas felt about his father. His father was blind, and Thomas felt that he had to see things for his father. The following quotes explain this: "...broken and blind he died/.../the darkest justice of death, blind and unblessed/.../Veined his poor hand I held, and I saw/Through his unseeing eyes.../.../Out of his eyes I saw the last light glide/.../and old blind man is with me where I go/alking in the meadows of his son's eye." The first line of the quote states he's blind, and through the next few lines of the poem, it keeps hinting about darkness and how Thomas's father was blind. It then starts talking about how Thomas saw through his father's eyes. You see this in the quote…...

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Works Cited

Eich, Marty. "e.e. cummings: The life of America's Experimental Poet." The American Poetry Web. 17 Feb. 2005 http://titan.iwu.edu/~wchapman/americanpoetryweb/eecbio.html#dooms..

Gardner, H. Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. New York:

BasicBooks Harper Collins, 1995.

Thomas, Dylan. The Poems of Dylan Thomas. New York: New Directions

Perez's poem speaks of the final memories of the dying person as she is in her hospital bed. "I remember your hands laying / at the side of your steel / bed, gnarled and twisted / like old oak trees" (Perez lines 8-11). These memories are painful for the speaker as is the memory of her funeral when she looked "stuffed / and painted like a swap meet / China doll" (Perez lines 15-17). It is at the end of this poem that the speaker reconciles with death.
That is the key differences between the poems. Thomas wants the dying person to "rage" against death to the end. He would never want anyone to face the dying of the light without a mighty battle although he recognizes the power of death. Perez's speaker feels one more connection to the dead woman and accepts that she is in a better place.…...

Dylan Thomas once said of himself, "I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their subjugation and victory, downthrow and upheaval, and my effort is their self-expression." Thomas was one of the best-known British poets of the twentieth century and is best remembered for his powerful poetry readings over BBC radio and his amusing tales and plays, as well as his highly publicized personal life.
Thomas possessed tremendous talent and was blessed with immense gifts that made him a professional success at a relatively young age, however, his personal life was often disappointing and his relationships were more often than not in a state of shambles.

Some believe these failures were rooted in his inability to cope with the demands of sudden fame as perhaps explained by the "various ways his personality have been described: alternately as…...

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Works Cited

Dylan Marlais Thomas: His Craft, His Life" 12-02-2003).http://home.earthlink.net/~tenspeed/SimonaSara/dylan.htm.(accessed

Mondragon, Brenda C. "Dylan Marlais Thomas: 1914-1953."   12-02-2003).http://www.neuroticpoets.com/thomas/ .(accessed

Westphal, Jonathan. "Thomas's 'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.'"

The Explicator. January 01, 1994.

Dylan's "The Times they are a Changing," Hughes' "Harlem: A Dream Deferred," and Auden's "The Unknown Citizen" all investigate the themes of human goals, and the impact of society upon these goals. Hughes' poem provides an analysis of how the deferment of life goals by society can result in great destruction to both the individual and society. Auden's poem also looks at the loss of life goals, this time through the overarching control of a mechanized, soulless state and conformity. In contrast, Dylan's lyrics provide hope for the realization of dreams and hopes through social change.
In his poem, "Harlem: A Dream Deferred," Langston Hughes investigates the theme of the destructive impact of deferring dreams. In his first sentence, Hughes sets up a rhetorical question, "hat happens to a dream deferred?," and then sets about determining the effect of life goals that are delayed or put off. Clearly, Hughes wants to…...

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Works Cited

Auden, W.H. The Unknown Citizen. In: Kennedy, X.J. And Gioia, Dana. 2001. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (8th Edition). Pearson Longman.

Dylan, Thomas. The Times they are a Changing. In: Kennedy, X.J. And Gioia, Dana. 2001. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (8th Edition). Pearson Longman.

Hughes, Langston. Harlem: A Dream Deferred. In: Kennedy, X.J. And Gioia, Dana. 2001. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (8th Edition). Pearson Longman.

Fern Hill (Dylan Thomas)
The "Poetry Explications" handout from UNC states that a poetry explication is a "relatively short analysis which describes the possible meanings and relationship of the words, images, and other small units that make up a poem."

The speaker in "Fern Hill" dramatically embraces memories from his childhood days at his uncle's farm, when the world was innocent; the second part brings out the speaker's loss of innocence and transition into manhood. This explication will identify and critique Thomas' tone, imagery (including metaphors) and expressive language (as it contributes to the power of the poem). ("Fern Hill" uses 6 verse paragraphs; there are 9 lines in each paragraph.)

"Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs / About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green / the night above the dingle starry / time let me hail and climb / golden in the heydays…...

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Works Cited

Bible Meanings. (2011). Lamb. Retrieved December 9, 2012, from http://www.biblemeanings.info/words/animal/lamb.htm.

Cox, C.B. (1959). Dylan Thomas's 'Fern Hill.' The Critical Quarterly, 1(2), 134-138.

Thomas, Dylan. (2012). Fern Hill. Academy of American Poets. Retrieved December 9, 2012,

from  http://www.poets.org .