Theme of the poem do not go gentle into that good night?

Answer 1

The command is the poem: "Do not go gentle into that good night - rage, rage against the dying of the light!" Now, what does that mean exactly? What do you think the "good night" might be that you are supposed to rage against? What is the "dying of the light"? Let's look at the words themselves: * to "go gentle" would be to simply go along without fighting, to proceed without an argument or battle * to "rage" is to fight fiercly, to battle with every ounce of strength you have * "dying of the light" would be a situation where light is fading away into darkness, like the sunset; a slow darkening of the surroundings So you are commanded not to go along blindly with whatever it is, but to fight fiercely against the coming darkness. Do you think Dylan Thomas would write such powerful words if he was talking about fighting off a sunset? The one thing that dims light and can be fought is death. He is telling you not to just fade away, but to fight with everything you have, so that when you die, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you strove to live for every second that you could. Now, read the poem again with this understanding, and see how powerful it is!

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

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

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.

Answer 2

The poet is trying to rouse his father's brave heart telling him not to be meek in front of death but face it with courage.

'Do not go gentle into that good night' is one of the best poems of Dylan Thomas. The poet is speaking from his own life's experience. Especially, through this poem he is addressing his aged father who became blind and very weak, though he was a robust and courageous man.

There are some who might suggest exhorting a dying person to 'rage' against their imminent and inevitable death is an entirely selfish attitude.

If the dying person has some chance of survival, providing positive support in order to enhance their mental and physical resilience and resistance is a natural and helpful response to the situation. Still, in this case, encouraging negative thoughts, of which rage is one, would quite possibly prove unhelpful and is certainly inappropriate. And, of course, if the person who appears to be dying clearly prefers to do so, others should accord them the respect of simply showing generous support, without judgment and certainly without argument.

Death is ultimately the sole concern of the person doing the dying. Those left alive need to deal with their own concerns privately and in their own ways, and ensure their conduct in no way distresses or takes peace from the dying person.

Where there is no possible chance of survival, the kindest response is to allow the person to die with dignity and in as much peace and comfort as can possibly be provided.

Any other response indicates a purely self-indulgent attitude in which the feelings of the dying or probably-dying person are deemed by the speaker to be of lesser importance to the speaker than are the speaker's own needs and wishes.

Answer 3

Anger (rage,rage against the dying of the light)

Death

War