Everything you need to understand or teach Do Not Go Gentle into
That Good Night by Dylan Thomas. The first tercet introduces the
poem's theme; it also introduces the two recurring refrains that
end alternate stanzas. Although these two lines, the first and
the third, both state Thomas's basic theme about resisting
death, they contrast in several ways. Each of the predominant
words in line one finds its opposite in line three. "Gentle" is
paired with "rage," "good" with "dying," and "night" with
"light." The tone of the two lines also is quite dif ferent.
Line one is subdued; the verbs are deliberately simple, vague.
Thomas uses the predicate adjective "gentle," making it describe
the personality of the individual, rather than the more obvious
choice "gently," an adverb which would only refer to the action
of the verb. "Good night" when it refers to dying becomes a
paradox for Thomas, meaning a good death. Although this line may
be an exhortation to resist death, its entire tone is... View
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