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.
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is a poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, first published in 1951. Though the poem was dedicated to Thomas’s father, it contains a universal message. The poem encourages the dying—the sick and the elderly—to fight bravely against death. The poem also celebrates the vibrancy and energy of human life, even though life is fragile and short.
Summary
Don’t calmly and peacefully welcome death. The elderly should passionately fight against death as their lives come to an end. Resist, resist the oncoming darkness of your death.
Smart people at the end of their lives understand that death is inevitable—but, because they haven’t yet said anything startling or revolutionary, nothing powerful enough to shock the world like a bolt of lightning, refuse to peacefully accept death.
Good people, seeing the last moments of their lives pass by like a final wave, mourn the fact that they weren't able to accomplish more, because even small actions might have moved about joyously in a "green bay"—that is, could have made a difference in the world. So they resist, resist the oncoming darkness of their deaths.
Daring people who have lived in the moment and embraced life to the fullest, metaphorically catching a joyful ride across the sky on the sun, realize too late that the sun is leaving them behind, and that even they must die—but they refuse to peacefully accept death.
Serious people, about to die, realize with sudden clarity that even those who have lost their sight can, like meteors, be full of light and happiness. So they resist, resist the oncoming darkness of their deaths.
And you, dad, are close to death, as if on the peak of a mountain. Burden and gift me with your passionate emotions, I pray to you. Do not go peacefully into the welcoming night of death. Resist, resist the oncoming darkness of your death.
Themes
Death and Defiance
In “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” the speaker acknowledges that death is inevitable—everyone dies, sooner or later. But that doesn’t mean that people should simply give up and give in to death. Instead, the speaker argues that people should fight, fiercely and bravely, against death. Indeed, the speaker suggests, death helps to clarify something that people too often forget—that life is precious and worth fighting for.
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” tries to teach its readers how to face death. It starts with a basic fact: death is inevitable. As the speaker says in line 4, “wise men at their end know dark is right.” In other words, they recognize that they can’t escape from death. But that doesn’t mean that these “wise men” simply accept death. Instead, the speaker, notes they “do not go gentle into that good night.” They resist death, trying to win more time and more life. The speaker treats this as a model for other people to emulate. The speaker wants people to “rage, rage” against death: they should “burn and rave”—fight fiercely and bravely—as their lives approach the end.
One might wonder, though, why the speaker wants people to fight against death if it is ultimately inevitable. The speaker answers this question by describing a series of different people—“wise men,” “good men,” “wild men,” and “grave men”—who do fight against death. When these people are confronted with death, they realize that they haven’t accomplished everything they want to—and they fight for more time. For instance, the “wise men” in lines 4-6, realize that “their words” have not “forked […] lightning.” In other words, wise as they may be, they haven’t changed the world or created new knowledge. They fight against death so that they can have more time and make a bigger impact on the world.
Similarly, the “wild men” that the speaker describes in lines 10-12, have spent their lives in a joyous and reckless fashion: they “caught and sang the sun in flight.” But, when they face death, they realize that that they “grieved it on its way.” In other words, they realize that they have regrets about the frivolous way they spent their time on Earth. Thus they fight for more time so that they can do something more worthwhile.
In both cases, then, death helps these very different people realize that their lives are precious—and that they need to use their time on earth as best they can. Death offers a kind of corrective, helping them reconnect with what really matters in life. So even though death is inevitable, it’s worth fighting bravely against, because doing so helps reveal what really matters in life.
Family, Grief, and Old Age
In the final stanza of “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” the speaker suddenly switches things up. Although he’s spent most of the poem talking in general terms—about “wise men” and “good men,” among others—he suddenly addresses someone specific: his “father.” This changes the way one reads the poem: it feels deeply personal. The poem offers universal advice about how to face death with dignity, but it is also an intimate and heartfelt message from a son to his dying father.
For most of the poem, it’s not clear who the speaker is addressing. The speaker talks about death in general terms, discussing how different groups of people—“wise men,” “good men,” “wild men,” etc.—come to realize that life is precious and that they should fight to use their time on earth as well as possible. This makes the poem feel universal: its advice about how to face death with dignity applies to everyone.
But in the poem’s final stanza, the speaker reveals that he or she is addressing his or her “father.” The poem feels much less universal after that moment. Instead, it seems like Dylan Thomas, the poet, is talking directly to his father, trying to offer him encouragement as he faces death. Instead of being a poem about death in general, it is a poem about family, grief and old age.
The challenge for the reader will be to balance the two faces the poem presents. The reader might wonder whether it is really a universal poem or more specific and personal. But the speaker delays revealing that the poem is dedicated to his or her “father” until the very end of the poem for a reason. The speaker wants to give the reader space to identify with the poem, to think about how it applies to their life, before situating in the specific, personal context of the speaker’s own life. In other words, it is best to think of the poem as both specific and universal at the same time.
어두운 밤을 쉬이 받아들이지 마세요.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
어두운 밤을 쉬이 받아들이지 마세요.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
노년은 날이 저물수록 불타고 포효해야하기 때문에,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
꺼져가는 빛을 향해 분노하고, 또 분노하세요.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
현자들은 끝을 앞두고 어둠만이 지당함을 깨달을지언정
Because their words had forked no lightning they,
자신들의 말로 번개 하나 일으킬 수 없었기에,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
어두운 밤을 쉬이 받아들이지 마세요.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
선한 자들은 마지막 파도 곁에서 자신들의 덧없는 행실이
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
푸르른 바다에서 춤추었으면 얼마나 빛났을 지를 슬퍼하기에,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
꺼져가는 빛을 향해 분노하고, 또 분노하세요.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
열광하는 자들은 날아오른 태양에 사로잡혀 노래했으나
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
그것은 지는 해를 두고 슬퍼했음을 너무 늦게 깨달았기에,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
어두운 밤을 쉬이 받아들이지 마세요.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
위독한 자들은 죽음을 앞두고 앞이 보이지 않을지라도
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
멀어버린 눈이 유성처럼 불타고 빛날 수 있음을 보기에,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
꺼져가는 빛을 향해 분노하고, 또 분노하세요.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
그러니 슬픔의 언덕에 선 당신, 나의 아버지시여,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
바라건대 그대의 모진 눈물로 나를 저주하고 축복해 주세요.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
어두운 밤을 쉬이 받아들이지 마세요.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
꺼져가는 빛을 향해 분노하고, 또 분노하세요.
"많은 사람들이 나이가 들어 죽음이 다가왔을 때 그 죽음과 치열하게 싸웠습니다. 지혜로운 자도 그리 했고, 선한 자들도 그리 했습니다. 아버지, 아버지도 죽음을 쉽게 받아들이지 마세요."라는 내용으로, 전체적인 분위기가 어두운 이유는 1951년 시인이 임종을 앞둔 자신의 부친을 위해 지었기 때문이다.
영화 인터스텔라와 첫 행 "Do not go gentle into that good night"으로 잘 알려진 Dylan Thomas의 이 시는 villanelle(19행 2운체 시형)의 가장 유명한 예로도 잘 알려져 있다. 그러나 이 시의 중요성은 명성에 있는 것이 아니라, 시의 바탕이 되는 감정의 힘에 있다. 시인은 죽어가는 그의 아버지에 대해 이야기하기 위해 이 시를 썼다. 아버지가 원기와 건강을 잃은 것에 슬퍼하며, 아버지가 삶에 제발 매달리도록 격려한다. 시에서 나타나는 어조의 절박함은 이 시를 반 세기 넘게 세계에서 가장 많이 읽히는 작품으로 만들었다.시인인 딜런 토마스는 내성적이고, 열정적이며, 서정적인 작가였다. 그는 당시대의 문학운동인 모더니즘과는 동 떨어져 있던 시인이었다. 그가 쓴 첫 번째 작품을 그를 즉각적으로 유명하게 만들었다. 그리고 공개적인 시 낭독에서 감정의 강렬한 표현을 특징으로 하며 유명세를 더욱 더해갔다.딜런 토마스는 또한 상당한 주당으로 알려져 있다. 슬프게도, 토마스는 아버지의 죽음에 대한 이 시를 쓰고 2년 만에 자신도 과도한 알콜 중독으로 죽게 된다. 하지만 죽음의 원인에 대해서는 아직 논란이 있다. 토마스는 39살의 나이로 일찍 죽었는데, 이는 천재성이 이제 막 꽃피려던 찰나에 젊은 나이로 죽은 낭만주의시인 John Keats를 떠오르게 한다. 이 두 시인 모두 자신의 문학적 잠재력을 완전히 펼치기 전에 세상을 떠났지만, 둘 다 불후의 명작들을 남겨두었다.