Poetry Response- villanelle

Anna Cantwell
Mrs. Jernigan
AP English Lit
22 March 2011
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
Dylan Thomas’ villanelle entitled “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” boasts the sharp dichotomy between peace and violence. The rhyme scheme and repetition of the 5 tercets and single quatrain provide fluency that lulls the reader into a tranquil state. The content, however, strays far from serene.
The second line of the poem reads, “Old age should burn and rage at close of day,” painting a perplexing picture of, perhaps, an elderly man with belly-button high trousers and starched short-sleeved collared shirt and enormous bifocals poised to pounce upon death himself. The first stanza introduces the two phrases that will be repeated throughout the poem, which include the following: “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “rage, rage against the dying of the light”. Thomas’ diction savors strongly of physical ferocity; he uses words like “rage,” “curse,” “fierce,” and “blaze”.
The second stanza speaks to those men who have gained wisdom in their time on earth. They know when their time comes, yet still the instincts of survival triumph over intellect. The next stanza tells of good men, who realize how insignificant their deeds were, and they, too, rage against their fading lives. Even the grave men’s eyes “blaze like meteors” in the face of death.
Thomas speaks to his true meaning in the final stanza—his own father battles death and Thomas doesn’t wish to let go. He cries a final refrain, writing, “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” The punctuation here symbolizes Thomas’ adamant nature; his words switch from caveat to command.