Denisse Lopez

Mrs. Bickley
English 4 Honors
April 17, 2014
Do Not Go Gentle into That Goodnight
In his poem, Do Not Go Gentle into That Goodnight, Dylan Thomas address many themes that
appeal to readers. Thomas imagery creates visions in the mind of the reader. After reading this poem,
readers should feel inspired to live their lives to the fullest.
Dylan Thomas addresses the themes of anger, human condition, and identity in the Do Not Go
Gentle into That Goodnight. The theme of anger appeals to so many readers. One reason that this
theme appeals to so many readers is Thomas wants us to feel rage instead of peace towards death
(Themes and meanings). We feel anger because we do not want to die so soon or to see a family
member drift into darkness. Wise men, good men, and all the men in this poem are exampls in how we
must live our life. (Themes and meanings) Even though the men in this poem are good men they all
come into the same conclusion; they fight death with anger. (Themes and meanings) Anger is mention a
lot in this poem, but we must not feel real anger. Instead we must try to understand how the author
feels, his a young man who does not know how to express his emtions so instead he shows anger.
(Themes and meanings) The author is mad because his father is dying and he can not do nothing to try
to save him or help him out to his hard journey. (Themes and meanigs) In conclusion, the theme of this
poem is really anger towards the feeling of seeing someone die.
Thomas uses imagery to convey his message to his readers. One example of imagery is "Do not
go gentle into that goodnight, old age should burn and rage close of day." (Thomas) This quote does not
really mean day and night. Light means life, since living id when we see the sun and light and actually
enjoy living. (forms & devices) Night means that death is getting closer, since when we die we shut our
eyes and drift into darkness. (forms & devices). The burn and rage actually means to fight death and to
not let it win over you. (forms & devices) Last the old age means that the poem is talking about an old
person. Dylan uses a lot of imgery that helps the poem pop out adn catch the readers attention.
Thomas employs poetic devices to captivate his readers and draw them into his poem. One
example of poetic devices is in the second stanza, "goodnight" (thomas) which is a methaphor use a lot
in the poem and it means death. Another example of poetic device is the word "light" (thomas) which in
the poem means life. "Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay" (thomas) this is an alliteration. If
we go deeper in the poem we find out that it is fill with a lot of methaphors that help his point come
straight foward and really clear.
In conclusion, Thomas makes us realize that life must be lived to the fullest even if evryday we
are closer to death. We must not worry or stress over simple things, he made us feel rage and anger.
The anger is not a cruel anger, but instead is an anger of useless of not being able to do anything to stop
death. We find a lot of poetic devices and so many imageries that really makes the poem even deeper
than it really is.