length: 462 words 1.3 double spaced pages dylan thomas’s villanelle do not go gentle into that good night is addressed to his aged father. The poem is remarkable in a number of ways, most notably in that contrary to most common poetic treatments of the inevitability of death, which argue for serenity or celebrate the peace that death provides, this poem urges resistance and rage in the face of death. It justifies that unusual attitude by describing the rage and resistance to death of four kinds of men, all of whom can summon up the image of a complete and satisfying life that is denied to them by death. The first tercet of the intricately rhymed villanelle opens with an arresting line. Further, the speaker characterizes night, here clearly a figure for death, as good. Yet in the next line, the speaker urge that the aged should violently resist death, characterized as the close of day and the dying of the light.

In effect, the first three lines argue that however good death may be, the aged should refuse to die gently, should passionately rave and rage against death. The fourth body paragraph: the wild men the fifth body paragraph: the grave men the speaker then calls upon his aged father to join these men raging against death. Only in this final stanza do we discover that the entire poem is addressed to the speaker’s father and that, despite the generalized statements about old age and the focus upon types of men, the poem is a personal lyric.

The edge of death becomes a sad height, the summit of wisdom and experience old age attains includes the sad knowledge of life’s failure to satisfy the vision we all pursue. The depth and complexity of the speaker’s sadness is startlingly given the second line when he calls upon his father to both curse nd bless him. And the curses and blessings are contained in the fierce tears fierce because you will burn and rave and rage against death. As the poem closes by bringing together the two powerful refrains, we may reasonably feel that the speaker himself, while not facing imminent death, rages because his father’s death will cut off a relationship that is too incomplete. Analyzing dylan thomas 039 s promise: to rage against the dying of the light do not go gentle into that good night , by dylan thomas is a plea from a dying man 039 s son to steel his reserve and fight against imminent death.

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Thomas begins by presenting the example of wise men that fight their impending death valiantly, despite knowing that defeat is inevitable. Good men also rage against the dying of the light thomas 9 a suggestion that thomas hopes that his father will take to heart. Wild men war against their impending doom in an attempt to prolong their doomed existence, and grave men who stand on the threshold of oblivion still do not accept death with complacency.

Dylan 039 s plea extends so far as to encourage his father to, curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, i pray thomas 17 , making it obvious that thomas is unconcerned with what his father chooses to fight for or against, as long as he makes a stand for something before he is extinguished. Dylan thomas implements repetitive metaphors and strict form to underline the case he makes to his father the gift of life should be passionate and valiant up to its last fleeting seconds. Dylan thomas 039 s poetic form and usage of metaphors create a representation of all the men that he desires his father to emulate.

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Thomas begins by invoking the wise men who, because their words had forked no lightening they/ do not go gentle into that good night thomas 4 5. The wise men thomas speaks of refuse to resign to their fates as dead men because they have not yet accomplished what they set out to do. Thomas 039 s lightening is a representative metaphor of the goals set forth by the strong that serve as motivation to continue living robustly. By idolizing these wise men, thomas implicates that he desires his father to emulate them to press on toward anything that may at least give him some purpose besides waiting complacently for death to lower its scythe upon him.

Thomas 039 s use of other men as examples of a desired state for his father is repeated through each stanza of the poem. In thomas 039 s third stanza, he invokes the merits of good men, the last wave by, crying how bright/their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay thomas 7 8. These good men strive endlessly to make their mark on the world, unsatisfied with their subjectively frail deeds until finally death catches up with them. These men rage against the dying of the light thomas 9 because they have not yet met their goals, much like the wise men proceeding them. This passion for improvement and strength to persevere are exactly the qualities that dylan thomas begs his father to put forth, for dylan 039 s own sake as much as his father 039 s. Thomas 039 s next template for his father 039 s state lies in the merits of, wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight/and learn, too late, they grieved it on its way thomas 10 11.

Dylan desires his father to step forth and be optimistic, while ignoring the grief that besets men all through their existence. Grieving it on its way is a metaphor representing the pain and struggle endured by the men as they live their lives, which proves unimportant due to its discovery too late in life for it to be detrimental. Similar to the previous stanzas, these wild men serve as a representation of the behavior that thomas beseeches his father to follow. Wild men, in thomas 039 s estimation, do not go gentle into that good night thomas 12 because they love life so passionately. To have, caught and sang the sun in flight/and learn, too late, they grieved it on its way thomas 10 11 employs the metaphor of the sun 039 s path as the journey of life, demonstrating that the wild men live fully and pay little attention to life 039 s sad moments as they pass through them. Thomas concludes his repetitive demonstration of ideals with those who knock on death 039 s door. Grave men according to thomas, even through their final moments, can blaze like meteors and be gay thomas 14.

Thomas imparts this final simile to represent the happiness that the men look back on in their final moments of life, preventing them from feeling the despair and worthlessness that thomas wants his father to steer away from. Thomas concludes his poem with a final plea for his father to curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, i pray thomas 17. He cares not how his father display passion he would sooner be hated by his beloved father then watch him die so far away from his past grandeur. F ierce tears serve as yet another metaphor for the indomitable character that dylan wishes for his father to present. These final two metaphors link his desire for his father 039 s behavior with the men thomas described throughout the poem. Dylan thomas wrote, do not go gentle into that good night as a plea for his father to show the strength that he did in years past. Each man thomas describes within his poem serves as a character reference for the type of man thomas needs his father to be in his last days.

Thomas first describes the virtues of wise men, who refuse to capitulate to death before they accomplish their lofty goals. Good men are next brought forth as a template for his father 039 s behavior, who fight against death because they are unsatisfied with the marginal weight of their deeds in the world. Wild men extol virtues desired for dylan 039 s father as well, for they live life to the fullest capacity and refuse to succumb to the sadness that pervades human existence. As the final example and perhaps the most applicable, grave men, according to thomas, spend their last moments on earth reminiscing about the happy moments of their past instead of sinking into a depressed stupor. The final stanza of thomas 039 s poem links all of these men 039 s behaviors together and implores thomas 039 s father once more to stand up and fight against the darkness that will inevitably consume him. Through this tightly structured form and beautiful metaphors applied to each type of man as well as the father, thomas makes his case known he needs his father to be strong in his last days, not only for his own sake, but for thomas 039 s as well. Upper saddle river: the assignment is to analyze the poem in 3 4 pages, focusing on one to two literary elements that seem most significant to the work such as persona, tone, allusion, imagery, metaphor.

I feel like the introduction is clunky, and i 039 m not completely confident with the organization of the paper itself. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance! call toll free: 1.805.995.4101 welcome to 123helpme.com the web site , which is produced by the company. This page states the terms of service the terms or the tos under which this web site is available for use.

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