Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night By: Ember Wu, Jeffrey Ho

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Old age should burn and rave at close of day

Do not go gentle into that good night.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.

Theme Although one is near death, one should continue to fight against it and experience all that one can.

Dylan Thomas -Dylan Thomas was born on October 27, 1914 in Swansea, South Wales. -Dylan was a depressed child who enjoyed loneliness. -He dropped out of school at 16, becoming a junior reporter for the South Wales Daily Post. -He quit his job to focus on poetry. -Thomas was an alcoholic. -His writings are filled with emotion. -He was unlike other poets of his time. -He popularized poetry through reading tours. -His father died in Dylan died from pneumonia because of New York’s air pollution on November 9, Author of Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night Written in 1951

Title of the Poem -Originally, there was no title to this poem -Most people use the first line of the poem as the title -Emphasizes the need to continue living

What is this poem about? -The poem explores a social/psychological phenomenon. -The poet utilizes different types of people: good, wise, grave, and wild to explore ways of dealing with death. -He tells his father to fight death and live on. -He pleads his father to be just like the other men and not give up.

Vocabulary Grave - Old; Serious Rave - Talk wildly; speak about something with great enthusiasm Forked - To split apart Frail - Weak; delicate Rage - Feel or express uncontrollable anger

Diction The diction conjures a depressing, yet optimistic tone. Rage - Optimistic Bless - Optimistic Crying - Depressing Grieved - Depressing Grave - Depressing Burn - Depressing

Poetic Devices Stanza 1 “Do not go gentle into that good night” (1) -Contains consonance (t sound) -Euphemism (good night - death) “Old age should burn and rave at close of day” (2) -Personification (old age can’t rave) -Visual Imagery (age burning) -Euphemism (close of day - death)

Poetic Devices Stanza 1 “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (3) -Repetition (Rage, rage) -Euphemism (dying of the light - death)

Poetic Devices Stanza 2 “Though wise men at their end know dark is right” (4) -Dark is a connotation for death “Because their words had forked no lightning they” (5) -Lightning is a connotation for inspiration/hope -Visual Imagery (Forked Lightning) “Do not go gentle into that good night” (6) -Refrain (Repetition of a line)

Poetic Devices Stanza 3 “Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” (8) -Personification (Frail deeds dancing in a green bay) -Visual Imagery (Frail deeds, Green bay) -Green bay is a connotation for being filled with life

Poetic Devices Stanza 4 “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight” (10) -Hyperbole (caught and sang the sun) -Sun is a connotation for the beauty that exists in the world

Poetic Devices Stanza 5 “Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight” (13) -Oxymoron (blinding sight) -Paradox (see with blinding sight) “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay” (14) -Simile (blaze like meteors) -Visual Imagery (blind eyes blazing)

Poetic Devices Stanza 6 “And, you, my father, there on the sad height” (16) -Allusion (Sad height is referring to the biblical Valley of Death) “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray” (17) -Personification (Fierce tears) -Assonance (Fierce Tears) -Consonance (Curse, bless, fierce, tears) -Oxymoron (Curse, bless)

Poetry Form -Closed form -Villanelle (19 line poem with 5 tercets and 1 quatrain) -Iambic Pentameter -Rhyme Scheme (ABA for first 4 stanzas, ABAA for last stanza)

Speaker The author is speaking to his father (you, my father) -- line 16 The audience is his father, who is about to die Anyone who is near death, whether it be a medical condition or old age

Purpose  To encourage people to fight the suffering and don’t give into death/fear  To live life to the fullest potential and explore all there is in the world  To say things to his father that he wasn’t strong enough to say at the time

Shift -First two lines of stanzas 2-5 explain why not to give up -Poem alternates between depressed and optimistic within the stanzas

Experiences He recreates his experiences. People are able to relate to losing their family members and not wanting to let go. Experience is intensely felt because it is related to family. It succeeds in sharpening the reader’s awareness to not lose hope when death is near.

Interpretation A small part of our interpretation -The poem encourages one to continuously strive to be alive, and be ignorant of death -This is a villanelle as this poem has a strong opening and builds intensity and tone within each stanza. -The setting of this poem starts from a bolt of lightning, to a green bay, to the sun, to the universe with meteors, and to a top of a mountain. All of them being metaphorical descriptions of the journey of life, struggling, living and facing death.

Music/Images -Music was chosen because it fits the tone of the poem. As the song progresses, it changes from depressing to optimistic, mirroring the poem. -The images reflect the author’s imagery and tone.