Summary A son beseeches his elderly father to fight, rather than accept, death: "Do not go gentle into that good night." He gives examples of how "wise men," "good men," "wild men," and "grave men" "rage against the dying of the light," and begs his father to do the same. Keywords Aging, Death and Dying, Grief, Illness and the Family, Rebellion Interpretation of "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" "Do Not Go Gentle …showed first 75 words of 334 total…

…showed last 75 words of 334 total…to show a sign of life. The poem closes with, "Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the night." Perhaps the best Villanelle ever written, Thomas initially addressed this poem to his father who was dying at the time. The usual Christian attitude of acquiescence and acceptance towards death and a peaceful rest afterwards are shunted aside in favor of an ungentle rage. Villanelle-French verse form ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**