Dylan Thomas 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'
The first poem that Dylan Thomas ever published, when he was only eighteen, was an early version of “And Death Shall Have No Dominion.” The cycle of life and death formed a constant underlying theme throughout his poetry since that earliest effort. In “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” a moving plea to his dying father, death takes on a new and intensely personal meaning for Thomas.
David John Thomas was an important influence throughout his son Dylan’s life. A grammar school English teacher, he had a deep love for language and literature which he passed on to his son. In a 1933 letter to a friend, Dylan Thomas describes the library he shared with his father in their home. His father’s section held the classics, while his included modern poetry. It had, according to Thomas, everything needed in a library.
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” was in all likelihood composed in 1945 when D. J. Thomas was seriously ill; however, it was not …show more content…
The image, “caught and sang the sun,” is joyous and powerful when compared to frail deeds. These men have lived live fully, not realizing that they, too, will age and die. Since Thomas himself cultivated an image as a wild Celtic bard, this stanza seems ironically prophetic about his own death.
Line 13
The word “grave” carries two meanings here: seriousness and death. These are the men of understanding; paradoxically, although they are blind, they are able to see more clearly than those with sight.
Lines 14-15
The mentions of blindness are references to his father. Thomas spoke of this blindness again in the unfinished elegy he wrote after his father’s death, describing him as:
Too proud to die, broken and blind he died ... An old kind man brave in his burning pride.
In this stanza, Thomas contrasts light and dark imagery; for instance, the term “grave” is countered by “gay,” just as “blind” is contrasted with “sight.”
Lines
David John Thomas was an important influence throughout his son Dylan’s life. A grammar school English teacher, he had a deep love for language and literature which he passed on to his son. In a 1933 letter to a friend, Dylan Thomas describes the library he shared with his father in their home. His father’s section held the classics, while his included modern poetry. It had, according to Thomas, everything needed in a library.
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” was in all likelihood composed in 1945 when D. J. Thomas was seriously ill; however, it was not …show more content…
The image, “caught and sang the sun,” is joyous and powerful when compared to frail deeds. These men have lived live fully, not realizing that they, too, will age and die. Since Thomas himself cultivated an image as a wild Celtic bard, this stanza seems ironically prophetic about his own death.
Line 13
The word “grave” carries two meanings here: seriousness and death. These are the men of understanding; paradoxically, although they are blind, they are able to see more clearly than those with sight.
Lines 14-15
The mentions of blindness are references to his father. Thomas spoke of this blindness again in the unfinished elegy he wrote after his father’s death, describing him as:
Too proud to die, broken and blind he died ... An old kind man brave in his burning pride.
In this stanza, Thomas contrasts light and dark imagery; for instance, the term “grave” is countered by “gay,” just as “blind” is contrasted with “sight.”
Lines