"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas
In this poem by Dylan Thomas, the phrase "good night" refers to old age and death. Accordingly, as the poem was written for Thomas' dying father, the central message is to hold on to life relentlessly and to live well as one dies. Thomas reinforces his paradoxical message of living to the fullest in one's death with phrases like "dark is right" and "Curse, bless, me now" (Thomas 968). Being paradoxes themselves, these phrases add to Thomas' message. Additionally, Thomas implores his father to live on by describing four sets of men: the wise, the good, the wild, and the grave. Wise men, according to Thomas, willing accept that death is imminent but live on because it is not yet time for death. Good men continue to perform good deeds as death nears, sorry only that their deeds are not as influential as they were in youth. Wild men live freely with nature and the sun only to realize death once it has actually come. Grave men fight death, cognizant of life still within them. Therefore, Thomas begs his father to "Curse, bless, me now" by assuming the characteristics of all these men in fighting his imminent death (Thomas 968). His father curses him by suffering in front of Thomas, but blesses him by remaining alive a little longer.
No comments:
Post a Comment