That Dylan ThomasÆ Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night is one of the most widely read, referenced, and beloved poems of all time might have a great deal to do with the highly personal yet universal themes within it. The poemÆs speaker is using his words to persuade his dying father ôDo not go gentle into that good nightö (Thomas 1937, 1). The poem is highly personal for the speaker, who is losing his father to death. It is highly personal in the unique bond within each father-son relationship. However, its impact stems from being highly universal as well, since we can all personally relate to the loss of a parent and the bond between parent-child. The inevitability of death is one of the few experiences shared by all humankind. In this poem, Thomas taps into that experience with little ambiguity in his words. Far from illustrating any peaceful acceptance of the inevitable, the poem passionately pleas for affirmation of life until the final breath is drawn.
Though the speaker is persuading his father not to go ôgentle into that good nightö, he is also making his argument to the reader (Thomas 1937, 1). The poem is tightly structured, in iambic pentameter (10 syllables to a line) and exhibits a rhyme scheme of ABA. Thomas uses the rhyme scheme and rigid form of the poem to make the speakerÆs appeal more urgent, focused, and effective. The words (night, day, and light) that rhyme the three lines in the first stanza are re-rhymed in the remaining five stanzas. Each stanza makes a particular appeal to the speakerÆs dying father. The first stanza is generalized, encouraging the elderly to ôburn and rave at close of dayö and to ôrage, rage against the dying of the lightö (Thomas 1937, 1). Word choice makes the plea more passionate (burn, rave, and rage), and ônightö is used to symbolize death while ôlightö symbolizes life.
In the next four stanzas, the speaker provides his father with examples of ...