Analysis of 'Do not go gentle into that good night' by Dylan Thomas
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2024
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Analysis of 'Do not go gentle into that good night' in preparation for the Edexcel IGCSE English Literature exam, Paper 1.
Thank you for this explanation. It really helped to interpret the poem. My father is at edge of his life, 75 years old. But he is still raging on, I pray.
I hope your father did not go gentle into that good night
In the last stanza, I took 'sad height' to mean he has the 'best view' on life as I think this could be a reoccurring theme throughout the poem: people close to death have the best vision. There are also notes of aggression throughout 'burn and rave', 'rage' which I think could represent when Thomas loses his mental combat with grief and gives in and results in aggression and violence against an abstract noun: death.
Hope this made sense.
Thank you so much for this video.
I love this interpretation! Thank you for sharing!
The green bay paragraph: I thought the dancing, combined with the idea of a bay and a wave, referred to how the light ("bright") will reflect and hit the eyes of those around the water. Much like how in life, these "good men" have their "frail deeds" make impacts on people around them, but only for a short, fleeting moment, hence the "frail." Just my interpretation.
This is an incredible craft of Dylan Thomas, how he explained the universal meanings of death inside such a "controlled structure", Villanelle, is amazing! Thanks for the details!
I interpreted the Fixed structure of the poem as a tribute to his father, a representation of the discipline instilled in him by his father, a way to honour his upbringing. As for the line "sad Height", it brings this scene to my head, Dylan Thomas in the hospital room and his father in one of those tall beds, writing the poem from a chair, which are usually below bed height, this image comes from having thought something along those lines while watching someone dear to me die.
I took the "Wild Men" paragraph as men who focused their whole life on trying to conquer or achieve something great, but onced they have achieved they realize they have ran out of time and their great achievement means nothing
Could be but I always thought of them as the impulsive men
Your style of explaining multiple interpretations makes this poem irresistible .Keep up the good work !! . Keep posting videos 👏
mrs rumsey has saved more peple than you couldever imagine
i've got my lit pp1 tomorrow, just watching a bunch of her videos make life easier! thank u Mrs. R
Good luck for your exam!
@@mrsrumsey Thank u! Did the paper and was so smooth bc of you haha!!!
I think he chose the phrase "good night" because it's what you say before you go to sleep, not because he's saying the night (as a symbol for death) is good.
Isabel Traistaru
Exactly! I thought of it the same way and I'm going to interpret it in the same way in the video that I will be making on the poem tonight! It will be in Tamil, though! 😁
Its a poem is "riddled" with oxymorons and paradoxes essentially rueing and simultaneously celebrating the inevitable.
E.g. 'good' and 'night;'
"old age," "burn and rave;"
"Dark is right"
"Blinding sight" etc.
With respect to that green bay stanza, I perceive the poet is making a specific metaphorical/literal reference that perhaps his intended audience would have been privy to. There may be no way of interpreting its specific use .. and we just have to accept this as a possibility. There is a pun or double entendre in the use of "wave by." It could speak to both a literal sea wave (i.e. in the green bay) but also a wave good "bye" from someone departing. There are other similar instances in the poem I'm sure. This is my first encounter with the piece ...but very compelling.
Cheers
Your interpretation is extremely good !
Thank you very much for the beautiful explanation! I was here yesterday, watching your video and reading and replying to some of the comments here! Today, I made a video on the poem on my channel, in Tamil! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I am comparing and contrasting "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" and "When I Consider How My Light is Spent." Thanks for the analysis!
That's a beautiful comparison!
Especially the last line of Milton's sonnet, " They also serve who only stand and wait" is in complete contrast with the fighting spirit of this poem by Thomas! 👍👍
The fisherman
Really helped me pass my GCSE!
I also think good men is a reference to the soldiers and the last wave by is referencing the sending off of waving goodbye, many of the soldiers were young and virile and the green bay connotes this.
Umm we can see these "men categories" as the way they percieve life; their attitudes yoward life. For example, "Wild men" they think that life is short thus we shoulg enjoy it, whereas "Grave men" believe that one should be ready for answers during the doom. Basically its thomas way of showing how people treat death as well as informing us to fight and rage against it.
Thankyou for your great analysis over this poem .
It helped me a lot ❤️🙏
Height = Achievement
Poet considers death as an achievement in an individual's life but for him it is sad height(achievement).
Really good explanations, thank you so very much for helping me analyze this poem
His emotions are so overwhelming and desperate for his father to fight for life that he uses a villanelle to control it.
@JeanClaude Clemenceau lol
@JeanClaude Clemenceau what
I am thankful for your explanation. It is really helpful to me. May God bless you!
the ‘green bay’ paragraph could symbolise regret? (‘crying’ , ‘might have’). they wish they had more time to do good things. also, ‘last wave’ seems quite calming (it makes me think of a little wave on a calm sea) and this juxtaposes to ‘rage, rage’ which makes me think that they are trying to put up a fight against their inevitable death. however, the use of words like ‘frail’ , ‘dying’ and ‘crying’ helps us realise that this fight is in vain. this might be a load of rubbish but it’s just the message i got.
Thank you for this analysis, this was very helpful since I was able to complete my English class
sad height could also be interpreted as its a high in one sense as he is being relieved of his suffering but at a great cost, therefore, rendering the high (height) saddening.
Wonderful explanation indeed!
thank you Mrs R for this amazing video! It was equally imformitive and creative.
i think the last 2 lines, the refrains meet, because they run paralell to each other throughout, but then they finally meet, this could indicate that he has now either possibly come to terms with it or it could show his death has arrived?
what a great explanation !thank you very mush
In the “good men” stanza i took “last wave” as in the last wave of goodbye to his loved ones and i took “green bay” as the norse mythological bridge to hell so it could also means he’s going on the pathway blinded by his memories
In the 3rd stanza, I also interpreted it as soldiers but there may be a link to heaven and religion. The "Good men" may be obedient but meekly. The "green bay" can be heaven, and they may be the last good people to enter heaven. These men may have been fighting to see their good deeds flourish so their good deeds "might have danced in a green bay". Additionally, they could be regretful as they may have not done many deeds as he uses the word "frail". Just another interpretation :)
Thank you for your contribution!
Thank you ma'am
It's really a good explanation.
fixed structure= only fixed part of life is death
That's great! Death arrives unannounced at the fixed time in the fixed manner, as neat as a villanelle! There's no clumsiness about death.
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.
Pretty sure he is referring to all martyrs.
6:10 what i interpreted is the green bay being the gardens of paradise?
since it mentions "deeds" i assumed some link to religion especially since these people are "good men".
by using the adjective "frail" to describe their deeds, Dylan Thomas shows us what he thinks about religious men
jus the inference that popped into my head
and then the "rage rage" reminds me of the raging fire of hell
and then the "good men" "rage rage"ing would ultimatly show us that they are not actually "good" men.
since goodness comes from the inside.
you wouldnt expect "good men" to "rage"
this is fun
Very good analysis, thank you
Could “do not go gentle into that good night” be differentiating between all previous wishing’s of good night, when his father would have been expected to arise in the morning, as opposed to being on his death bed, so imploring his father to fight against death.
This was really helpful. Thank you ♥️
I wonder if sad height represents his death bed? The bed on which he lies
Hi, could you make a video on 'Poem at Thirty Nine'? these videos are really good and helping me with my work building upto my gcse's next year
GingaHenn there is one on that poem. Have a look at my playlist for poetry and it’s in there.
Is anyone here after 'Interstellar'....?
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay to me seems a generation ago people were stronger, wiser, and would've listened.
It’s him facing his own fear of death...ungracefully, with all his poetic might.
Your the greatest!
my gcse is in an hour, thanks Mrs Rumsey😁
English Lit tomorrow!!
7:34
maybe nature- peace
THEMES?
love ya rumsey
Doing it at school: I sleep
When it’s in interstellar: real shit
I really hope I don’t have to do it at school when I do GCSEs and get it ruined
Me who has a test on this tomorrow:📝
Anyone from 9th grade Ibn seena
ok
FUck, only reason why im here is cuz of a stupid assignment