"Do Not Go Gentle.."

Paper Summary:

In the poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas we are shown a very personal view of the poet's beliefs on life and death as the poem is directed as much to his dying father, whom the poem was written for, as to the reader. The paper explains that in choosing death as his subject matter, Dylan grants the reader an intense view of his psyche and his feelings about his father as well as life in general. It discusses how Dylan's poem can be read as a command to his father and the reader. His imagery and figurative language, coupled with emotive choice of words commands the reader to not waste their life and to live their life with purpose until the very last second.

From the Paper:

"Though certainly a poem packed with metaphor the two repeated metaphors address Dylan's subject matter directly. The use of light to represent life and goodness and dark to represent death and evil permeates the piece at nearly every line. The use of light and dark is easily understood in even the most lax reading of the poem, but Dylan makes good use of them. One particular adapt use of his light and dark metaphor is brought to the reader in line 14, "Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay" (Dylan, 14). Here Dylan uses the "Blind eyes" to represent death and dying and his use of the word "blaze" represents both someone refusing to give into to death, tying in with his message, and the bright light of life forcing death away for the happiness found within living. Dylan's use of figurative language extends to his description of various men who find is necessary to fight off death for another day."

More papers on "Do Not Go Gentle..":

• Analytical Essay # 57258 : "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night"
• Poem Review # 52399 : "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
• Analytical Essay # 17790 : "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

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