Was_It_Gentle_

Was It Gentle' Dylan Thomas’ “Do not Go Gentle Into that Good Night: is a very bittersweet and powerful poem. The poem has to be read more than once; on additional readings it is apparent Thomas is referring to his own father’s death. It seems Thomas is begging his father not to succumb to death, but to fight against death throughout the poem. Thomas, by using himself as the speaker, makes his pleadings more personal. Through his use of imagery and figures of speech, Thomas allows the reader to experience the emotion he is feeling facing his father’s death. The repetition of lines throughout the poem is a perfect example of Thomas’ use of anaphora. The first and last line in the first stanza, “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”, are repeated over and over, alternately for the rest of the poem. It aids in emphasizing not to give into the darkness (death) and to “Rage, rage” against it. The repetitive phrases are then paired at the end of the poem. Rage is also stated twice in the line. It makes the phrase sound like a lplea to his father by repeating the word twice. At the end of the poem, poem, thomas, death, rage, good, father, against, night, blind, men, throughout, reader, own, life, grave, end, word, twice, stanza, refers, pun, physical, phrase, personal, paradox, over, one, might, makes, live, lines, line, light, l19, l14, go