Dylan Thomas · Wales · 1951
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. 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.
“Do not go gentle into that good night,…”
Don''t accept death quietly. Even as old age closes in, fight it. Burn with life. Rage against the dying of the light — resist it with everything you have.
“Though wise men at their end know dark is right,…”
Even the wisest people who intellectually accept death still didn''t fully use their gifts. Good men regret their timid, small deeds. Wild, passionate people only realize too late how precious every moment was. They should all fight.
“Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright…”
And you, my father — dying right now — I''m begging you: curse me, bless me, cry fierce tears. But do not go gently. Fight.
“Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,…”
And you, my father — dying right now — I''m begging you: curse me, bless me, cry fierce tears. But do not go gently. Fight.
“And you, my father, there on the sad height,…”
And you, my father — dying right now — I''m begging you: curse me, bless me, cry fierce tears. But do not go gently. Fight.
Why this poem matters
Thomas wrote this villanelle for his dying father. The desperate plea to 'rage against the dying of the light' is one of the most famous lines in 20th-century poetry.