View source for Do not go gentle into that good night

{{short description|Poem by Dylan Thomas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
[[File:Dylan Thomas, drinking a pint of beer in a pub in Wales.jpg|thumb|Poet [[Dylan Thomas]] {{circa|1937–1938}}]]
"'''Do not go gentle into that good night'''" is a poem in the form of a [[villanelle]] by Welsh poet [[Dylan Thomas]] (1914–1953), and is one of his best-known works.<ref name=poets>{{cite web |url=https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/dylan-thomas |title=Dylan Thomas |publisher=Academy of American Poets |quote=He took his family to Italy, and while in Florence, he wrote ''In Country Sleep, and Other Poems'' (Dent, 1952), which includes his most famous poem, 'Do not go gentle into that good night.'|access-date=1 June 2015|archive-date=28 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828040129/https://poets.org/poet/dylan-thomas |url-status=live}}</ref> Though first published in the journal ''[[Botteghe Oscure]]'' in 1951,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ferris |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3NWAAAAYAAJ |title=Dylan Thomas |date=1989 |page=283 |publisher=Paragon House Publishers |isbn=9781557782151 |location=New York |oclc=18560227}}</ref> the poem was written in 1947 while Thomas visited [[Florence]] with his family. The poem was subsequently included, alongside other works by Thomas, in ''In Country Sleep, and Other Poems'' ([[New Directions Publishing|New Directions]], 1952)<ref name=poets/> and ''Collected Poems, 1934–1952'' ([[J. M. Dent|Dent]], 1952).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.biblio.com/collected-poems-1934-1952-by-thomas-dylan/work/13131 |title=Collected Poems 1934-1952 by Thomas, Dylan |website=www.biblio.com |access-date=13 December 2019|archive-date=28 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828040133/https://www.biblio.com/collected-poems-1934-1952-by-thomas-dylan/work/13131|url-status=live}}</ref> The poem [[2024 in public domain|entered]] the [[public domain]] on 1 January 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 1, 2024 |title=Happy Public Domain Day 2024! |url=https://publicdomainreview.org/blog/2024/01/public-domain-day-2024/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=[[The Public Domain Review]] |language=en}}</ref>
It has been suggested that the poem was written for Thomas's dying father, although he did not die until just before Christmas in 1952.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/dylan-thomas/pages/do-not-go-gentle.shtml |title=Dylan Thomas: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night|date=6 November 2008 |access-date=18 December 2010 |publisher=BBC Wales |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127042748/https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/dylan-thomas/pages/do-not-go-gentle.shtml |archive-date=27 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas? |first=David N. |last=Thomas |publisher=Seren |year=2008 |page=19 |isbn=978-1-85411-480-8}}</ref> It has no title other than its first line, "Do not go gentle into that good night", a line that appears as a [[refrain]] throughout the poem along with its other refrain, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light".
== Poem ==
<poem>Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
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
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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Dylan |url=https://archive.org/details/collectedpoems0000thom/page/128/mode/2up |title=The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas |publisher=[[New Directions Publishing|New Directions]] |year=1953 |location=New York |pages=128 |language=en}}</ref></poem>
== Form ==
{{main|Villanelle}}
The villanelle consists of five [[stanza]]s of three lines ([[tercet]]s) followed by a single stanza of four lines (a [[quatrain]]) for a total of nineteen lines.<ref name="Strand et al. 2001 p. 7">Strand et al. 2001 p. 7</ref> It is structured by two repeating [[rhyme]]s and two [[refrain]]s: the first line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the second and fourth stanzas, and the third line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the third and fifth stanzas.<ref name="Strand et al. 2001 p. 7"/>
== Analysis ==
=== Summary ===
In the first stanza, the speaker encourages his father not to "go gentle into that good night" but rather to "rage, rage against the dying of the light." Then, in the subsequent stanzas, he proceeds to list all manner of men, using terms such as "wise", "good", "wild", and "grave" as descriptors, who, in their own respective ways, embody the refrains of the poem. In the final stanza, the speaker implores his father, whom he observes upon a "sad height", begging him to "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears", and reiterates the refrains once more.
=== Literary opinion ===
While this poem has inspired a significant amount of unique discussion and analysis from such critics as [[Seamus Heaney]], [[Jonathan Westphal]], and Walford Davies, some interpretations of the poem's meaning are under general consensus. "This is obviously a threshold poem about death",<ref name="auto1">{{Citation|last=Heaney|first=Seamus|title=Dylan the Durable? On Dylan Thomas|date=2020-10-23|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9780823296552-016|work=The Ordering Mirror|pages=255–275|publisher=Fordham University Press|doi=10.1515/9780823296552-016|isbn=9780823296552|s2cid=160543415|access-date=2021-12-31|archive-date=11 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311151347/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780823296552-016/html|url-status=live}}</ref> Heaney writes, and Westphal agrees, noting that "[Thomas] is advocating active resistance to death."<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|last=Westphal|first=Jonathan|date= 22 October 2015|title=Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00144940.1994.11484115|journal=The Explicator|volume=52|issue=2|pages=113–115|doi=10.1080/00144940.1994.11484115|issn=0014-4940}}</ref> Heaney thinks that the poem's structure as a villanelle "[turns] upon itself, advancing and retiring to and from a resolution"<ref name="auto1"/> in order to convey "a vivid figure of the union of opposites"<ref name="auto1"/> that encapsulates "the balance between natural grief and the recognition of necessity which pervades the poem as a whole."<ref name="auto1"/>  
Westphal writes that the "sad height" Thomas refers to in line 16 is "of particular importance and interest in appreciating the poem as a whole."<ref name="auto"/> He asserts that it was not a literal structure, such as a [[bier]], not only because of the literal fact that Thomas' father died after the poem's publication, but also because "it would be pointless for Thomas to advise his father not to 'go gentle' if he were already dead&nbsp;..."<ref name="auto"/> Instead, he thinks that Thomas' phrase refers to "a metaphorical plateau of aloneness and loneliness before death".<ref name="auto"/> In his 2014 "Writers of Wales" biography of Thomas, Davies disagrees, instead believing that the imagery is more allusive in nature, and that it "clearly evokes both [[King Lear]] on the heath and Gloucester thinking he is at Dover Cliff."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Walford |url=https://worldcat.org/oclc/1162008686 |title=Dylan Thomas |isbn=978-1-78316-152-2 |oclc=1162008686 |year=2014 |access-date=31 December 2021 |archive-date=11 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311151340/https://www.worldcat.org/title/dylan-thomas/oclc/1162008686 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Use and references in other works==
=== Music ===
"Do not go gentle into that good night" was used as the text for [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s ''In Memoriam Dylan Thomas'' (Dirge-Canons and Song) for tenor and chamber ensemble, which was written soon after Thomas's death and first performed in 1954.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Keller | first=Hans | title=In Memoriam Dylan Thomas: Strawinsky's Schoenbergian Technique | journal=Tempo |year=1955 | issue=35 | pages=13–20 | doi=10.1017/S0040298200052360 | s2cid=143317174 }}</ref>
Other composers who set the poem to music include [[Vincent Persichetti]] (1976),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hughes |first=Allen |date=1976-02-09 |title=Music: Leonard Raver |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/09/archives/music-leonard-raver-organist-plays-the-kuhn-instrument-at-tully.html |access-date=2022-10-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[Elliot del Borgo]] (1979),<ref>copyright 1979, Shawnee Press.</ref> [[John Cale]] (1989, on ''[[Words for the Dying]]''),<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schaeffer|first1=John|title=Five Songs For Dylan Thomas|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/five-songs-dylan-thomas/|access-date=16 August 2017|publisher=NPR|date=27 October 2015|archive-date=28 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828040147/https://www.wnyc.org/story/five-songs-dylan-thomas/|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Janet Owen Thomas]] (1999, in the final movement of her ''Under the Skin'')''.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Owen Thomas |first=Janet |title=Under The Skin for tenor solo and 17 players |orig-year=1999 |year=2007 |publisher=Edition Peters |pages=50–74}}</ref> Additionally, the poem is read in full on [[Iggy Pop]]'s album ''[[Free (Iggy Pop album)|Free]]'' (2019).<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Petrusich |first1=Amanda |date=August 29, 2019 |title=The Survival of Iggy Pop |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/02/the-survival-of-iggy-pop |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828040208/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/02/the-survival-of-iggy-pop |archive-date=28 August 2020 |access-date=September 19, 2019 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref>
=== Art ===
"Do not go gentle into that good night" was the inspiration for three paintings by Swansea-born painter and printmaker [[Ceri Richards]], who drew them in 1954, 1956, and 1965 respectively.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ceri Richards: 'Do not go gentle into that good night' 1956 |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/richards-do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night-t00439 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828040144/https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/richards-do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night-t00439 |archive-date=28 August 2020 |access-date=22 October 2013 |publisher=tate.org.uk/}}</ref>
=== Literature ===
The poem influenced the writing of [[Mircea Cărtărescu]]'s novel ''[[Solenoid (novel)|Solenoid]]'' (2015).<ref>{{cite web |date=2022-10-06 |title=Een tocht door de ruïnes van Mircea Cărtărescu |url=https://www.dereactor.org/teksten/een-tocht-door-de-ruines-van-mircea-cartarescu |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=De Reactor (in Dutch)}}</ref> A phrase from the poem, "dying of the light", has been used in the titles of [[George R. R. Martin]]'s sci-fi novel ''[[Dying of the Light (Martin novel)|Dying of the Light]]'' (1977) and a 2014 installment in [[Derek Landy]]'s [[Skulduggery Pleasant]] series.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 2014 |title=The Dying of the Light |url=https://www.skulduggerypleasant.co.uk/book/the-dying-of-the-light/}}</ref>
=== Film ===
The poem is prominently referenced in ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]'' (2014), where the poem is used repeatedly by [[Michael Caine]]'s character John Brand, as well as by several other supporting characters.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wade |first=Chris |date=5 November 2014 |title="Do not go gentle into that good night" in Interstellar, Back to School, and many other movies: the supercut (VIDEO) |url=https://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/11/05/_do_not_go_gentle_into_that_good_night_in_interstellar_back_to_school_and.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828040153/https://slate.com/culture/2014/11/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night-in-interstellar-back-to-school-and-many-other-movies-the-supercut-video.html |archive-date=28 August 2020 |access-date=9 May 2015 |work=Slate}}</ref> Additionally, the poem features in the plot of the films ''[[Back to School]]'' (1986) and ''[[Dangerous Minds]]'' (1995).
The poem is referenced in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode ''[[The Shakespeare Code]]'' (2007). When the [[Tenth Doctor]] quotes the line "Rage, rage against the dying of the light", [[William Shakespeare]] responds that he might use that line himself, to which the Doctor responds "You can't. It's someone else's."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Doctor Who Transcripts - The Shakespeare Code |url=http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/29-2.htm |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=www.chakoteya.net}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.openculture.com/2018/09/hear-dylan-thomas-recite-classic-poem-not-go-gentle-good-night.html Hear Dylan Thomas Recite His Classic Poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”] (posted at ''Open Culture'', September 19, 2018).
* {{youtube|w-sM-t1KI_Y|Michael Sheen performs 'Do not go gentle into that good night' by Dylan Thomas}} - May 2021
* [https://soundcloud.com/user-708669265-769594703/dylan-thomas-poem-do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night Joe Praml reads 'Do not go gentle into that good night'] on [[Soundcloud]] - November 2019
{{Dylan Thomas}}
{{Death and mortality in art}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Anglo-Welsh literature]]
[[Category:1951 poems]]
[[Category:Poetry by Dylan Thomas]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Italian magazines]]
[[Category:Works originally published in literary magazines]]
[[Category:Poems about death]]
[[Category:Quotations from literature]]
[[Category:1951 quotations]]
[[Category:Modernist poems]]