Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

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.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

-

Non andare gentile in quella buona notte,
gli anziani bruciano e raziono alla fine della giornata;
arrabbiati, arrabbiati contro il morire della luce.

Sebbene gli uomini saggi infine sappiano che l’oscurità è giusta,
Poiché le loro parole non hanno smosso nessun illuminazione loro
Non vanno gentili in quella buona notte.

Gli onesti, nell’onda ultima, urlando quanto splendenti

Le loro fragili opere potevano danzare nelle anse verdi,

arrabbiati, arrabbiati contro il morire della luce.

Gli uomini selvaggi che strinsero e cantarono il sole in volo,
E appresero, troppo tardi, loro lo hanno addolorato nel suo corso,
Non andare gentile in quella buona notte.

Gli uomini gravi, morenti, che vedono con vista cieca
Che gli occhi infermi possono splendere come meteoriti e essere gioiosi
Arrabbiati, arrabbiati contro il morire della luce.

E tu, padre mio, là sulla triste altura,
Condannami, o salvami, ora, con le tue fiere lacrime, ti prego;
Non andare gentile in quella buona notte.
Arrabbiati, arrabbiati contro il morire della luce.

-

The object of the present text is to provide my personal interpretation of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.

It is not meant to give definitive answers but I am going to made some possible conjectures about the message of the poem supported by textual references.

To start with, reading the title it arouses curiosity in the intelligent reader who asks himself some questions like “who is the speaking voice speak to?”, “what makes a good night?”, “why did the poet choose to attribute the adjective good to the word night?”

Therefore the reader may expect the poem to be about the death expressed by the term “night”.

Looking now at the-lay out and the structure it’s clear that the poem is a iambic pentameter arranged into five stanzas with three lines each so there are five tercets and only a quatrain. The rhyme scheme is : aba aba aba aba aba abaa. All the rhymes are full.

The first line of the first stanza report the title therefore the reader may expect the poem could be part of a collections.

So I am going to read the poem to find out if my expectations were correct or not and the reason why the poem decided to organized the poem into this way.

Considering the first stanza I immediately notice that there are two words with the opposite meaning: night and light. It is clear that the poet used the word “night” and the expression “close of day” and “the dying of the light” to refer to the death and contrary to this the term “light” to mean the life. So the dying of the light is a metaphor who underlines the arrival of the death and it is important  also for the semantic level because the poet used a gerund instead of a noun to express an activity and the dynamic effect which never end.

At lines three the poet used an imperative form “rage”  to invite the interlocutor to be contrary to the death and to give the line more strength.

Now it is clear that the poet attribute the adjective good to the term night because a night is good when the light will not die so during the young age when teenagers do not understand the life has limits and that the old age is not far away and he state not to go gentle into that good night not to accept the possibility to die

Moreover moving now to the second stanza, there is an enjambment which allow a paused follow on into the next line.

Here the poet states that not everybody are against the death but the wise men, who have learnt from experiences, know the death ( expressed by the word “dark”) is right if they have never said something significant during life.

Also in the third one there in an enjambment to connect the two lines together.

The last wave indicated the period of life before the death where everyone regrets what he did not do. The poet gave importance to the colour green because it reminds to life and hopes.

In the forth stanza the poet said that people learn too late to live fully and actively. The sun indicated the life, the amazing experiences everybody do and every important moments which people regret at the close of day.

There is an alliteration sang the sun which reinforced what I have just said.

The last tercet is one of the most important one because I think the poet wanted to tell that people near death see everything blurred because they have no more hope of life and there is nothing in front of them but the alliteration blind blaze is so important because it supports the opposite, indeed it is a metaphor to say that also when something or someone is at its or his end, it/he has never to lose the desire to shine and to live. 

Finally considering the last stanza the poet allows the reader create a personal interpretation of what the character really want indeed he juxtaposed to opposite verb “to curse and to bless”; he did this to underline the fact that he does not want to suffer so, even if he prefers living, he would also be willing to die.  

Light and dark play an important role in this poem, as symbols of life and death. From the first stanza to the last, this theme is reinforced with a lot of metaphor and particulary constructions. The use of good night ,a pun, and close of day, are a euphemism for death.In this poem there are words of one and two syllables and the only one with three being meteors however it is a poem with strong sounds indeed there are a lot of consonant.The poet created contrasts in the choice of words such as:Gentle and good – burn and rave,Frail and danced - rage andCurse and bless - fierce tearsall reflecting opposite forces at work in the poem, reinforced also by the use of the preposition against. It's as if the speaker wants to rebel from the death, like when come the sunset. 

All things consider I believe the poem gradually answers to my question.

In my opinion everyone have to live their life fully and actively because there is not so much time to appreciate it and if you do not do this when you are near the death you regret all you do not do during your life.