DYLAN THOMAS
(1914-1953)
BIO:
·
born in Swansea, Wales
·
father
=
o schoolteacher,
read Shakespeare, Bible
o à interest in words for DD
·
left school at 16, became a reporter 15 months)
·
WWII:
BBC documentary film editor, radio broadcaster
* of boyhood reminiscence:
·
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog
(1940) stories,
·
Quite Early One Morning (1954) stories,
·
Under Milk
Wood (1954) verse drama
·
original dramatist, essayist
·
greatest lyric poet of his generation
·
Dylan Thomas:
1940s:
o return
to stylized, extravagant, romantic rhetoric
o rejected
by Philip Larkin (as romantic excesses)
POETRY:
·
childhood
influences =
o Wales
setting, Shakespeare, Bible, nursery rhymes (sound over meaning *)
·
writing poetry since a small boy
·
1st published volume at 19
·
published regularly during 1930s
(1) early poetry =
·
frustratingly difficult to read & understand
·
"I like contradicting my images"
·
obsessed with mortality/death (the power that gives life takes it)
·
Eighteen Poems (1934), Twenty-Five
Poems (1936)
2) later poetry =
·
less obscure
·
more simple, direct style
·
ceremonial style
·
accepts death:
perpetual cycle of death & rebirth
·
Deaths and Entrances (1946) = his most famous
collection
·
"Fern Hill" (1946)
o nostalgic
recollection of a childhood holiday on a farm
***nostalgia
(EVW, GO)
·
lamentation ("threnodies") like
Milton's Lycidas, Gray's Elegy, Shelley's Adonais,
Arnold's Thyrsis
·
lost youth
·
Eden before the Fall
·
mortality, corruption, time
“Do Not Go
Gentle into That Good Night” (1957)
·
villanelle
o
pastoral themes/subjects
|
§ Italian
rustic song (16th C)
§ French
poem (16th C)
o light,
simple verse
§ IRONY
·
light form @ death
·
light tone @ serious topic
·
simple structure but complex theme
o “To
an Athlete Dying Young”
o “Not
Waving but Drowning”
o 19
lines
§ 5
stanzas of three lines (tercet)
§ 1
stanza of four lines (quatrain)
o line
length = none
o rhyme
scheme
§ 1st
and 3rd lines:
·
alternate as last lines of stanzas 2, 3, 4
·
end 5th stanza as couplet
§ repetition:
·
to repeat key lines
·
to reinforce theme/message
·
to delve more deeply into his material
·
to revise, amplify, and show more facets of what
the poet feels
·
tone
o angry,
defiant
o desperate
o DABDA
§ Denial,
Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance
§ Kubler-Ross
·
to his dying father
·
4 men, 4 reactions to death
·
double meanings & paradoxes, pun
·
speaker:
o son
to dying father
·
speaker’s claim/thesis (message):
o it
is not fitting, honorable for a man such as he (great, interesting) to submit
meekly to death
o do
not resign yourself to dying but “fight it”
·
“persuasive essay” structure:
o stanza
#1: claim, thesis (2nd
person POV)
o stanzas
2, 3, 4, 5: examples (3rd
person POV)
o stanza
#5: conclusion, personal plea (2nd
person POV)
·
Stanza
#1:
o 2nd
person POV
o 3
independent clauses
o old
age “should” à
“so” you should
o “go
gentle” & not “go gently” (copulative/joining sense)
§ adjective
refers to the person, don’t be gentle
o “good
night” = death, good-bye
§ “good”
b/c death is a good thing
§ or
meant sardonically
o “light”
§ light
of day – life
§ life
= a day, death = sunset
§ light
= will to live, spirit, soul, hope, mind (faltering of body)
·
Stanza
#2:
o 3rd
person POV
o 2
subordinate clauses + 1 independent clause
o EX: “wise men”
o “dark
is right” echoes that the night is “good”
o right
= inevitable (logical, reasonable, rational), natural, unavoidable
o “forked
no lightning”: unoriginal, of no
worth/impact, nothing spectacular; did not divert from the path, followed the
given “flash”
§ poets
& poetry who wrote in the same way, did not challenge, did not change
§ BUT
this poem does that
·
Shakespeare
·
ee cummings
·
Emily Dickinson
·
Dylan Thomas
o RAGE
b/c these dying men realize they could have/should have done more
·
Stanza
#3:
o 3rd
person POV
o 1
independent clause
o EX: “good men”
o “crying”
weeping (fits w/regret) & shouting (latter fits w/“rage”)
o “frail
deeds” = previous “words that forked no lighting”
§ cannot
stand on their own
§ unoriginal,
uninspired
§ BUT
this poem does that
·
Shakespeare
·
ee cummings
·
Emily Dickinson
·
Dylan Thomas
o “might
have”
§ regret,
if only, woulda/coulda/shoulda
o “danced
in a green bay” = personification, evocative imagery, romantic
o RAGE
b/c these dying men realize they could have/should have done more
·
Stanza
#4:
o 3rd
person POV
o 1
independent clause
o EX: “wild men”
o “who
caught and sang the sun in flight”
§ had
the talent, skill
o “grieved
it on its way”
§ didn’t
realize what they had (don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone)
§ got
caught up in the daily grind, fretted over the “little things/small stuff”
§ always
worrying & not enjoying the moment
o regret
– learn, too late
o RAGE
b/c these dying men realize they could have/should have done more
·
Stanza
#5:
o 3rd
person POV
o 1
independent clause
o EX: “grave men”
o “grave”
=
§ dying
§ serious
o oxymoron: “blinding sight”
§ dying
eyesight BUT perceptive insight
§ see
with clarity, perceive
o “Blind
eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay”
§ even
w/loss of sight, life isn’t over
§ handicapped
is not end of good life
§ “meteors”
= metaphor for mind (wisdom, insight,
brain)
§ “gay”
= happy, enjoy the other 4 senses, enjoy what you do have, count blessings
o RAGE
b/c these dying men realize they could have/should have done more, appreciated
what had
·
Stanza
#6:
o 2nd
person POV
§ speaks
directly to his father
o 3
independent clauses
o show
some emotion:
§ curse
OR bless, scream & shout
§ show
some life, will to fight
§ show
some of your old fire
o TONE
= desperate, begging, pleading
·
selfishness of those left
behind
o no
more pain for the dying
§ whether
heaven or nothing, still an end to the pain & suffering
o we
= selfish b/c we don’t want to be w/o them
o we
weep for ourselves
o Toby
Keith’s “I’m crying for Me”
Intro:
The first poem that Dylan Thomas ever published, when he was only eighteen,
was an early version of "And Death Shall Have No Dominion." The cycle
of life and death formed a constant underlying theme throughout his poetry
since that earliest effort. In "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good
Night," a moving plea to his dying father, death takes on a new and
intensely personal meaning for Thomas.David John Thomas was an important influence throughout his son Dylan's life. A grammar school English teacher, he had a deep love for language and literature which he passed on to his son. In a 1933 letter to a friend, Dylan Thomas describes the library he shared with his father in their home. His father's section held the classics, while his included modern poetry. It had, according to Thomas, everything needed in a library.
"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" was in all likelihood composed in 1945 when D. J. Thomas was seriously ill; however, it was not published until after his death on December 16, 1952. Thomas sent the poem to a friend, Princess Caetani, in the spring of 1951, telling her that the "only person I can't show the little enclosed poem to is, of course, my father who doesn't know he's dying." After his father's death, the poem was included in the collection In Country Sleep. Ironically Dylan Thomas himself died just a year later. The poem discusses various ways to approach death in old age. It advocates affirming life up until the last breath, rather than learning to accept death quietly. < http://www.enotes.com/go-gentle >
Subject:
Dylan Thomas’ father had been a robust, militant man most of
his life, and when in his eighties, he became blind and weak, his son was
disturbed seeing his father become “soft” or “gentle.” In this poem, Thomas is
rousing his father to continue being the fierce man he had previously been.
Literary devices:
The form on the poem is a villanelle, with a rhyme
scheme alternating “night” and “day.” “Good night” is a metaphor
and a pun. “Dying of the light” is a metaphor. “Old age
should burn and rave” in line two is a combination of metonymy and personification.
“Close of day” is a metaphor. “Burn” in that same line is used metaphorically,
as is “dark” in line four. In line five “their words had forked no lightning”
is metaphorical.
Line eight “Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” employs personification
and metaphor.
Line ten “Wild men who sang the sun in flight” is exaggeration and metaphor.
Line 11 “they grieved it on its way” is also exaggeration and metaphor.
Line 13 “Grave” is a pun; “blinding sight” is an oxymoron.
Line 14 “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors” is a simile. Line 17
“Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray” is a paradox.
Commentary:
A villanelle is a French poetic form that originally served
as a vehicle for pastoral, simple, and light verse. That Thomas would employ
that form for the subject of death enhances the irony of beseeching a dying
person to rage. No doubt the poet also chose this form because of the
repetition of the important lines, “Do not go gentle into that good night” and
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light” and because of the tight formal
structure of the form. The subject matter which is the command to the father
not to accept death so easily lends itself to the dichotomy of “day” and
“night” which become somewhat symbolic for “life” and “death” in the poem.
Each of the six
stanzas has uniformity and a specific purpose:
Stanza 1:
The first line is a command, “Do not go gentle into that good night.”
Paraphrased, “Don’t give up easily.” The second line offers the speaker’s
belief that even when old and infirm, the man should stay energetic and
complain if necessary as long as he does not give in to death easily. Then line
three again is a command, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”: Fight,
complain, rail against the oncoming of death.
Stanzas 2, 3, 4, and 5
each try to persuade the father to “rage against the dying of the light” by
offering evidence of what wise, good, wild, and grave men have done. For
example and to paraphrase stanza 2: Even though wise men know that they cannot
keep death away forever and especially if they have not accomplished their
goals in life, they don’t accept death easily; they “Do not go gentle . . . .”
Similarly, in stanza 3, good men exclaim what might have been, their “frail
deed” might have shone like the sun reflecting off the waters of a “green bay,”
and they, therefore, “Rage, rage” against the oncoming of death. Likewise, in
stanza 4, wild men whose antics seemed to shine as brightly as the sun and who
thought they were so optimistic, but later realized they spent much of their
life in grief, still they “Do not go gentle . . . .” And in stanza 5, grave men
whose eyes are fading fast can still flash life’s happiness, as they “Rage,
rage . . . . ”
Stanza 6:
The speaker addresses his father. Paraphrased, “And so my father you are
nearing death—yell at me, scream at me, cry out; to see you do that would be a
blessing for me and I beg you to show me that militant man you once were: “Do
not go gentle . . . . ”
SONG:
READINGS:
|
Figures of Speech Thomas
uses a variety of figures of speech. Examples are the following:
Alliteration:
go, good (Stanza 1); though, their (Stanza 2); deeds, danced (Stanza 3) sang,
sun (Stanza 4); learn, late (Stanza 4); see, sight (Stanza 5); blinding, blind,
blaze (Stanza 5). Note: Go and gentle do not alliterate; they have different
consonant sounds.
Assonance:
age, rave, day (Stanza 1); blaze, gay, rage (Stanza 5)
Metaphor:
good night compared to death (Stanza 1)
Metaphor:
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight (Stanza 4). Implied comparison
of achievement to catching the fire of the sun and to singing triumphantly
Two Metaphors:
words had forked no lightning (Stanza 2). (1) Words are compared to the cause
of forked lightning. (See Notes and Comments for Stanza 2 for an explanation of
the scientific term forked lightning.) (2) Lightning is compared to attention,
notice--that is, the words had received no attention.
Metaphor/Personification/Metonymy:
old age . . . burn . . . rave. (Old age represents and is compared to a person)
Metaphor/Personification:
frail deeds might have danced
Oxymoron:
good night (Stanza 1). Good death is oxymoronic if one does not view death as
good.
Oxymoron:
blinding sight (Stanza 5)
Oxymoron:
fierce tears (Stanza 6)
Simile:
blind eyes could blaze like meteors (Stanza 5)
Study Questions
* Dylan Thomas
advises his readers to "rage against the dying of the light." If he
were alive today, what would he say about assisted suicide and euthanasia?
* Thomas, though a
popular poet in his lifetime, managed money ineptly and thus was always in
financial trouble. Moreover, he drank to excess. Research his life, then answer
this question: Do you believe his drinking was a misguided attempt to
"rage against the dying of the light"? Or was it a sign that he had
despaired and decided to "go gentle," under the influence of alcohol,
"to that good night"? (Thomas died in New York City after drinking to
excess.)
* Have you ever
"forked lightning"? (See Notes and Comments, above.) If so, write an
essay about your experience.
* In 1854, Henry
David Thoreau wrote that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet
desperation." Was Dylan Thomas writing about the same men as Thoreau when
he wrote in Stanzas 2 to 5 that certain men "do not go gentle"
because they had "forked no lightning" or because they
"grieved" the sun on its way?
* Write a villanelle
that imitates the Thomas poem. Focus on a theme of your choice.
|
Do Not
Go Gentle Into That Good Night
1 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. Point of View: Thomas begins the poem with second-person point of view, telling his father and other readers to "fight till the last gasp," as Shakespeare said. go gentle: Go becomes a copulative verb, permitting the use of the adjective gentle rather than the adverb gently. close of day: end of life good night: two meanings: (1) death, (2) goodbye light: will to live; spirit, soul, mind; hope
2
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. Point of View: Thomas shifts to third-person point of view. Here he is making a declarative statement when he says wise men "do not go gentle." Sentence Structure: Whereas the first stanza contains three main clauses, the second stanza contains two subordinate clauses, beginning with though and because, and a main clause, beginning with they. right: inevitable, unavoidable; natural forked no lightning: failed to command attention; failed to express a startling or revolutionary concept. In meteorology, "forked lightning" describes a lightning strike that divides into two or more branches resembling the roots of a plant--or, metaphorically, a fork. A common cause of the phenomenon is a second bolt that follows the path of the first bolt, then diverts away from it. Forked lightning is a spectacular sight; thus, words that "fork lighting" would be likewise spectacular. The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) used the phrase "forked lightning" in a poem entitled "The Shepherd's Brow." Click here for pictures of forked lightning. they do: example of enjambment
3
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. Point of View: Thomas continues third-person point of view. Sentence Structure: The stanza is a single declarative sentence. Parallel Ideas: Good men has the force of wise men in the previous stanza. The message expressed in both stanzas is similar: Men facing death realize they could have done more and thus fight against the dying of the light. crying: weeping or shouting bright their: another instance of enjambment
4
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. Point of View: Thomas continues third-person point of view. Sentence Structure: The stanza is a single declarative sentence. Parallel Ideas: Wild men has the force of good men in Stanza 3 and wise men in Stanza 2. The message is the same as in Stanzas 2 and 3. Wild . . . flight: These men had their moment in the sun, so to speak. But they lived most of their lives in shadows, grieving over daily travails. they grieved it: dismissed it; sent it. They did not seize the moment and capture what it offered them.
5
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. Point of View: Thomas continues third-person point of view. Sentence Structure: The stanza is a single declarative sentence. Note that the word that is understood between the words sight and blind. Parallel Ideas: Grave men has the force of wild men in Stanza 4, good men in Stanza 3 and wise men in Stanza 2. The message is the same as in Stanzas 2 and 3. Grave men: Serious men. It seems that Thomas veers close to bathos here, for the words can be read as a prosaic pun. blinding sight: an oxymoron to convey the idea that dying men with failing eyes see with illuminating insight blaze . . . gay: A blind man can see in other ways and even "blaze" with ideas and zest for life
6
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. curse, bless: In effect, "if you cursed me, you would be blessing me." Cursing his son would show that he still has fire, spirit, the will to fight. Poems of Dylan Thomas, Copyright © 1952, 1953 by Dylan Thomas. Copyright © 1937, 1945, 1955, 1962, 1966, 1967 by the Trustees for the Copyrights of Dylan Thomas. Copyright © 1938, 1939, 1943, 1946, 1971 New Directions Publishing Corp. |
Henry VI
Part I : "
JOAN LA PUCELLE:
Why, no, I say, distrustful recreants!
Fight till the last gasp; I will be your
guard. (Act I, Scene II, Line 127)
…………………
Assign'd am I to be the English
scourge.
This night the siege assuredly
I'll raise:
Expect Saint Martin's summer,
halcyon days,
Since I have entered into these
wars.
Glory is like a circle in the water,
Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself
Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought.
With Henry's death the English
circle ends;
Dispersed are the glories it
included.
Now am I like that proud insulting
ship
Which Caesar and his fortune bare
at once.
Toby
Keith’s “Crying for Me (Wayman’s Song)”
“Sorry you missed me
I’ll get back with you as soon as I can
Thank you and god bless”
Got the news on Friday mornin’
But a tear I couldn’t find
You showed me how I’m supposed to live
And now you showed me how to die
I was lost till Sunday mornin’
I woke up to face my fear
While I’m writing you this goodbye song
I found a tear
I’m gonna miss that smile
I’m gonna miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up
I’d do it all again
So play it sweet in heaven
‘Cause that’s right where you wanna be
I’m not crying 'cause I feel so sorry for you
I’m crying for me
I got up and dialed your number
And your voice came on the line
That old familiar message
I heard a thousand times it just said
Sorry that I missed you
Leave a message and god bless
I know you think I’m crazy
But I had to hear your voice I guess
I’m gonna miss that smile
I’m gonna miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up
I’d do it all again
So play it sweet in heaven
‘Cause that’s right where you wanna be
I’m not crying 'cause I feel so sorry for you
I’m crying for me
So play your upside-down, left handed
Backwards bass guitar
And I’ll see you on the other side
Superstar
I’m gonna miss that smile
I’m gonna miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up
I’d do it all again
So play it sweet in heaven
‘Cause that’s right where you wanna be
I’m not crying 'cause I feel so sorry for you
I’m crying for me
I’m still crying
I’m crying for me
I’m still crying
I’ll get back with you as soon as I can
Thank you and god bless”
Got the news on Friday mornin’
But a tear I couldn’t find
You showed me how I’m supposed to live
And now you showed me how to die
I was lost till Sunday mornin’
I woke up to face my fear
While I’m writing you this goodbye song
I found a tear
I’m gonna miss that smile
I’m gonna miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up
I’d do it all again
So play it sweet in heaven
‘Cause that’s right where you wanna be
I’m not crying 'cause I feel so sorry for you
I’m crying for me
I got up and dialed your number
And your voice came on the line
That old familiar message
I heard a thousand times it just said
Sorry that I missed you
Leave a message and god bless
I know you think I’m crazy
But I had to hear your voice I guess
I’m gonna miss that smile
I’m gonna miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up
I’d do it all again
So play it sweet in heaven
‘Cause that’s right where you wanna be
I’m not crying 'cause I feel so sorry for you
I’m crying for me
So play your upside-down, left handed
Backwards bass guitar
And I’ll see you on the other side
Superstar
I’m gonna miss that smile
I’m gonna miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up
I’d do it all again
So play it sweet in heaven
‘Cause that’s right where you wanna be
I’m not crying 'cause I feel so sorry for you
I’m crying for me
I’m still crying
I’m crying for me
I’m still crying
Dangerous Minds’ “Dylan-Dylan Contest”
Challenge: To find a
Dylan Thomas poem & a Bob Dylan song alike in theme.
Thomas’ “Do not Go Gentle into That Good
Night”
|
Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man”
|
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.
|
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for
me,
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m
going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for
me,
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come
followin’ you.
Though I know
that evenin’s empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my
hand,
Left me blindly
here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness
amazes me, I’m branded on my feet,
I have no one to
meet
And the ancient
empty street’s too dead for dreaming.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for
me,
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m
going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for
me,
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come
followin’ you.
Take me on a
trip upon your magic swirlin’ ship,
My senses have
been stripped, my hands can’t feel to grip,
My toes too numb
to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin’.
I’m ready to go
anywhere, I’m ready for to fade
Into my own
parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go
under it.
(chorus)
Though you might
hear laughin’, spinnin’, swingin’ madly across the sun,
It’s not aimed
at anyone, it’s just escapin’ on the run
And but for the
sky there are no fences facin’.
And if you hear
vague traces of skippin’ reels of rhyme
To your
tambourine in time, it’s just a ragged clown behind,
I wouldn’t pay
it any mind, it’s just a shadow you’re
Seein’ that he’s
chasing.
(chorus)
Then take me
disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy
ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted,
frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the
twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance
beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by
the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory
and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget
about today until tomorrow.
(chorus)
|
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