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.
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The Imaginative Conservative is an on-line journal for those who seek the True, the Good and the Beautiful. We address culture, liberal learning, politics, political economy, literature, the arts and the American Republic in the tradition of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Edmund Burke, Irving Babbitt, Wilhelm Roepke, Robert Nisbet, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, Eric Voegelin, Christopher Dawson, Paul Elmer More and other leaders of Imaginative Conservatism. Some conservatives may look at the state of Western culture and the American Republic and see a huge dark cloud which seems ready to unleash a storm that may well wash away what we most treasure of our inherited ways. Others focus on the silver lining which may be found in the next generation of traditional conservatives who have been inspired by Dr. Kirk and his like. We hope that The Imaginative Conservative answers T.S. Eliot’s call to “redeem the time, redeem the dream.” The Imaginative Conservative offers to our families, our communities, and the Republic, a conservatism of hope, grace, charity, gratitude and prayer.
The featured image is courtesy of Pixabay.
Can you imagine a college freshman engaging this and writing a paper on it, struggling with attributed sources which assert that “The villanelle doesn’t tread Thomas’s feet…”
Good grief.. It’s a haunting piece and it would be 14 years before the significance of his words found their way into me. Poetry only matters when it lives—and calls the living who have ears to hear and hearts to break.
There is anguish and despair but also depth and strength in this poem.
This poem, in a beautiful poetry book, was given to me after I had graduated from college.
It has given me courage to take on difficult decisions in Life, as I remember, the dying of the light, will hold me accountable for my choices.
I suppose this is saying, “Don’t just accept things passively,” for example, we all get old, but we don’t have to curl up and die. Quite apart from being a lovely read and a technically accomplished piece of writing. As long as our muscles and thoughts don’t tyre, we can keep moving. Dylan Thomas advises his father to keep going because his father’s blindness is not the end of the world.