When the father of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was dying, it
inspired Thomas to write one of his most famous works, “Do not
go gentle into that good night.” The poem encourages Thomas’s
father, and its readers, to fight for their lives when they
approach death. The constant refrain in the poem is “Rage, rage
against the dying of the light,” meaning that one should defy
death as much as possible. Similarly, in the opening stanza,
Thomas states, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day”
(2), continuing his theme of staying strong, as well as the
metaphor of nighttime as death. Thomas isn’t necessarily
negative in his attitude toward death. He writes, “…wise men at
their end know dark is right” (4). By this he means that smart
people realize that death is the next logical step, and they
acknowledge that it must happen. The rest of the poem offers
examples of people who come to realize their misconceptions
about life, and how this makes them reluctant to die. One of
these instances is, “Grave men, near death, wh