Do not go gentle Flashcards
Rage, rage
Repetition shows anger and frustration of father dying. Has no control .
Their words had forked no lightning
Wise men made no impact on the world, they resist death when they know they accept it.
Their fragile deeds might have danced in a green bay
Modal verb might. Feel they could have done more good in the world
Crying how bright
Not ready to die. Grieve the fact that they could have done more good if they had more time
Sang the sun
Alliteration, sibilance. Emphasises that they like to live life for the moment.
sun in flight
Illusion to Icarus who flew too close to the sun. Implies men’s wildness can be dangerous
And learn, too late
Caesura emphasises ‘too late’. The men realise too late that their wild living has hastened their death
Grave men
Men are serious. Also has connotations of death. Wordplay
Who see with blinding sight
Oxymoron. They see with dazzling clarity how they could have lived life differently
Blaze like meteors
Simile- realise they could have achieved greater heights in life if they had enjoyed it more + been less serious
Villanelle form
Repeated lines gives poem desperate insistent quality in message to rage against death.
Curse, bless
Imperative. Just wants father to show some emotional response + not passively await death
I pray.
End-stopped line slows pace of poem. Suggests speaker realises father’s death is inevitable
Tone
At end- plea to resist dying but deep down speaker knows death is inevitable
