Do not go gentle into that good night
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
This nineteen line poem has two rhymes that repeat throughout
it, five tercets and one quatrain. The first and third lines of the first
quatrain repeat throughout the poem. The second line in each tercet and in the
one quatrain rhyme throughout the poem, while the first and third (and in the
one quatrain, the last two lines) rhyme. There is only a rhyme scheme of aba,
aba, aba, aba, aba, abaa, so only two rhymes. “Do not go gentle into that good
night,” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” repeat over other at
the end of the lines, until the one quatrain, where both are said, it is the
refrain. “Do not go gentle into that good night,” is the start of the poem. Because
of this rhyme scheme, repetition, and structure of the poem, this is called a
villanelle. This poem is broken up into stages where it is describing the stages
of life. While analyzing the poem, the “Wise men,” “Good men,” “wild men,” “Grave
men,” is talking about everyone and how all of our days will end. Each of the
five tercets are a stage of life, and the one quatrain at the end is defining
that everyone has to face death in the end. The way the poem is structured and frame is to
emphasis the stages of life and the repetition is to show how it all comes
together in the end for everyone.