Do not go gentle

Question 1

Main structure? Do not go gentle

Answer 1

1. Villanelle - strict form poem
2. Tightly controlled ABA rhyme scheme throughout
3. Mirrors poems thematic insistence - refusal to accept death passively
4. Structured form enacts the resistance it describes: a refusal to give in to disorder - just as the speaker urges defiance against death
5. Is an elegy

Question 2

Refrains? Do not go gentle

Answer 2

1. line “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “rage, rage” act as a plea
2. incantatory repetition builds emotional intensity - creates cyclical rhythm - reinforces the struggle against inevitability of death

Question 3

Volta and Emotional Climax? Do not go gentle

Answer 3

1. Thomas abandons the archetypes of previous stanzas and directly addresses his dying father
2. Move from philosophical reflection to intimate personal plea - climactic release - emotional tension

Question 4

Juxtaposition? Do not go gentle

Answer 4

1. Juxtaposition of rigid villanelle structure and poem’s visceral emotional content generates a powerful tension
2. The refrain’s metrical regularity (mostly iambic pentameter) contrasts with the semantic intensity of “rage,” - creates feeling of controlled fury

Question 5

Meter? Do not go gentle

Answer 5

1. Mainly iambic pentameter
2. Control contrasts with the violent imperative “rage, rage” - emotional power
3. Slight variations in iampic pentameter disrupt the rhythm, mirroring the disruption of life by death