Do not go gentle..., Dylan Thomas

Question 1

Meaning

Answer 1

• Writes to his sickly, dying father
• Fight against dying rather than giving up and letting it overtake him
• Theme applies to Thomas & his father – both were struggling to survive

Question 2

Imagery #1

Answer 2

“blinding sight”

• Literal: State at end of life
  
  • Seeing with knowledge of death
• Oxymoron
  
  • “Grave men” can perceive world more clearly than others
    
    • But could have done more during their lives
    • Didn’t let themselves enjoy things = must fight death
  • OR refers to blindness of “grave” men
    
    • Whose limited vision nullified joy they might
      otherwise have experienced

Question 3

Imagery #2

Answer 3

“Curse, bless,”

• Sibilance
  
  • Sound extremely different, softer & gentler than rest of poem
    
    • Father = pass away in “gentle” manner
• 2 words - separated by meaning but joined by comma
  
  • Can be thought of as opposites but also same thing
• Oxymoronic = highlights paradox of death
  
  • Advocates putting it off BUT, ironically, death = inevitable & inescapable
  • Describes Thomas’ pain & passion = begs father not to die

Question 4

Tone

Answer 4

Emotive, commanding

“Do not go gentle into that good night”

• Imperative + instruction
  
  • Shows desperation for father not to die
  • Poem seems quite authoritative
  • Ironic
    
    • Even if father fights death = it will always win
• “gentle”
  
  • Grammatically = sentence should use adverb
    
    • Sounds jarring & alters reader of important of word
    • Connotations of mild, meek, calm = tells father not die passively but fight
• “good night”
  
  • Euphemism + extended metaphor for death
  • “good ”
    
    • Death = inevitable, not terrible
    • May be relief, particularly from pain and illness
  • Reminds reader of words parents say before going to bed
    
    • Makes emotion of losing father = more powerful

Question 5

Structure #1

Answer 5

Very Strict Structure

1. Villanelle
   
   1. Fixed rhythm & rhyme
      
      1. Reader catches poem more clearly
      2. Strict command to dad
   2. Form that deals with obsessions
      
      1. Thomas relentlessly dwells on desire for father to resist death
   3. Repetition
      
      1. Gives obsessive quality
         
         1. Thomas cannot stop this thought
      2. Emphasises command
         
         1. (better to struggle & prevail than to give in to death)
2. Iambic Pentameter
   
   1. Adds rhythmical, steady, and unfluctuating quality
      
      1. Represent how death constantly occurring

Question 6

Structure #2

Answer 6

Rhyming Couplet (at the end)

“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

• Repetition of refrains = summary
  
  • Doesn’t make reader think Thomas can win
  • Ironically, not been able to move on from his instruction at beginning of poem
    
    • Had to repeat it
    • Tells he is fighting a losing battle

Question 7

Comparisons 5x

Answer 7

• ‘If-‘
• ‘Prayer Before Birth’
• ‘Piano’
• ‘Poem at Thirty Nine’
• ‘Remember’

Question 8

‘If-‘

Answer 8

Also about relationship between father and son

Question 9

‘Prayer Before Birth’

Answer 9

• Also about person facing horrible event
• However, birth is more awful than death

Question 10

‘Piano’

Answer 10

Both about son thinking about a dead/dying parent

Question 11

‘Poem at Thirty Nine’

Answer 11

Both poets are writing about dead/dying parent

Question 12

‘Remember’

Answer 12

Poetic voice facing their own death and poet facing death of someone else