Midterm Essay Rewrite

In the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” I believe the author Dylan Thomas is trying to give the reader a lesson in which to not take life for granted and to live life to the fullest. The speaker is trying to say that once you’re an old man you should try to make the most out of life. In my opinion, Dylan Thomas tries to teach a lesson in this poem so that people could stay in the right path in their life.

At the beginning of the poem the speaker tells someone not to “go gentle into that good night”. The speaker is using the word “night” as a metaphor for death. In line 2, he states “old age should burn and rave at close of day” by this he means that the sunset could be the approach of someone’s death. I believe that the speaker is trying to say that once you see the sunset coming down you should take that as a sign of death.

            In stanza 2, the speaker says “Though wise men at their end know dark is right” by this he meant that men know when they are about to die. In line 6 he is trying to say that when people die sometimes they didn’t achieve their goals in life. Meaning by this is that some people never really get to do what they always wanted to do in life. In stanza 3 the author tries to use a way of figurative speech by stating "Crying how bright their frail deeds might have danced”. By bright the author is trying to imply how important their deeds are and by frail he means how weak and scrawny.
            In stanza 4, the speaker speaks about “Wild men” these men were people who thought they were on their way to their dreams. Then at the end they realized it wasn’t what they really wanted. When they thought everything was alright it really wasn’t. It’s basically like regretting something that you wanted at first but at the end you wish you had never done it. In stanza 5, Thomas mentions similar lines to stanza 4, he mentions how you gain things in life you really want but at the end you wish you never gained those accomplishments. When you want a second chance you can’t have one.

            In the last stanza, 6, the speaker mentions his dying father. The speaker represents “his father” with God. He looks up to his father. He is proud of his relationship with God (his father). He begs to God to please let him rebirth in life so that he could continue with his accomplishments and not get mislead. He looks up to God as his savior and as the only person who could help him when he is in need.