Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay meaning
A poem full of poetic techniques, this brilliant work continues to be studied and appreciated worldwide. The events surrounding this poem make it that much more intriguing, and we wonder if Dylan Thomas himself went gently into that good night, just a year after this poem was published. 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.
When on your death bed “Do not go gentle into that good night”
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. He acknowledges that death is inevitable and that those who are wise are aware of this. However, when the time comes for the sick and the elderly, they should not welcome death, but should resist it for as long as possible.
Thomas also touches on the beauty of life and that even for those who live fully or a morally good life, there will be a time when they are on their deathbed, and they, too, should resist death. The poem had a great deal of personal meaning for Thomas as well. In the last stanza, the poem is dedicated to his ailing father, who he is asking to fight death and stay with him longer.
A style appropriate for the theme of the poem. The poem is written in iambic pentameter and follows a A-B-A rhyming scheme, standard for a villanelle. In roughly half the stanzas, Thomas uses enjambment to create more drama and suspense and a sense of forward motion. Additionally, Thomas uses personification, figurative language, and similes.
These poetic techniques were used to further the themes of the poem more on that below! Thomas presents the theme of the poem in the first few lines. Throughout the poem, Thomas uses night as a metaphor for death and day light as a metaphor for living. In this final stanza, Thomas speaks directly to his father.
This stanza ends with the two lines that have been repeated throughout the poem, enforcing the message to the reader and his father, he should not go willingly; he should fight for his life. There are three prominent themes in the poem; life, death, and the time between. The first theme is death.
The poem gets the reader to think about death, and more specifically, the act of dying. The second theme is time. He also acknowledges death-bed regrets.