If you've seen "Interstellar," you should recognize this poem. It was originally written about the poet's father who was near death, and the power that resides in the prose is explosively emotional - at just the right amount.
"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."
The first tercet contains the famous verses that anyone educated in poetry knows by heart. In my opinion, the author is finally coming to terms with the fact that his father is dying, and he almost begs him to go down swinging, even if it hurts and means suffering. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." He repeats "Rage" twice for a couple of reasons:
1. To amplify the word itself
2. To intensify the denial he is finally overcoming in coming to terms with his father being so close to death.
The next 4 tercets are ideally grouped together. He attempts to paint all men together: Wise, Good, Wild, and Grave men.
"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."
2nd tercet: Here he realizes that wise men know that death is inevitable. Their words cannot halt the death that is approaching, and they have no power over his terminal state. They must remember that until the light is extinguished, there is still something they can do that is capable of leaving a mark.
3rd tercet: Imagine the ocean as a beautiful concoction of beautiful deeds. The bay is green because it is full of life: the algae, seaweed, plants, the salt in the ocean. The waves (the men of this generation) crashing onto the rocks is about to happen, signaling death. It is a sudden motion. Being out in the sea is life, while returning to shore is death, opposite to what the reader might think. This can mark the state of turmoil and confusion Thomas is in, in my opinion.
4th tercet: Thomas here describes another type of man, wild ones. The ones who are indifferent to how they look when they embarrass themselves, the ones who "Sang the sun in flight," meaning they didn't care how crazy they sounded when they proclaimed the beauty in the earth... then grieved it during this intense proclamation whilst the sun begins to set.
5th tercet: He mentions grave men now, who he does not want his father to become like, who have tunnel vision near death...blind eyes that can still blaze like meteors whilst dying. There's a pun on "grave" as well: Grave here can either describe those who are dying and those who are serious. I believe the fifth stanza is the most powerful after the first. It represents that although we can be near death, we still have the power to wield and allow to "blaze like meteors and be gay." We can still go out swinging.
"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."
He describes his father on a sad height on his deathbed, also he tells him to "curse, bless" him with his father’s fierce tears, symbolizing a ton of confusion and inability to express himself clearly. He continues to beg his father to fight and go out with a bang, even if it hurts. It's heartbreaking.
Definitely one of the saddest things I've ever read, especially because personally, death is something I am not yet comfortable with, and probably never will be. This villanelle is complicated both in form and in rhyme scheme, which only adds to Thomas' mental and emotional state. This is quite the gripping piece. Powerful and heartbreaking at just the right amount.
