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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Poem Analysis

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Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night One of the key aspects of poetry is the theme of a poem. Through his writing, Dylan Thomas is a good example of how to use many different methods to display the feeling and emotion behind his writing. One example of his skill in this area is in the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”. This poem has a theme about fighting against death, which is seen through the use of literary devices such as repetition, symbolism, and rhyme scheme. One way that the poem demonstrates its theme is through its use of repetition. This can be seen through the repetition of the phrase “do not go gentle into that good night” throughout the poem. As this phrase is also the title of the poem, it clearly has a …show more content…

However, in the context of the poem, it also emphasizes how even though these people know this, they still fight. This symbolism helps to keep the reader invested in the poem. Another example of symbolism is seen in the quote “wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight” This quote emphasizes the other part of the symbolism, how light represents life. In this quote, this symbolism is carried out by using the sun to represent light. The sun represents the life in the “wild men”. These men represent how the author feels that people should live when faced with the threat of death. Lastly, the poem uses the literary device rhyme scheme to demonstrate its theme. The first place that this can be seen is in the line “old age should burn and rave at close of day”. This line is one of the first in the rhyme scheme. This poem is a villanelle, which has a very specific rhyme scheme. This is a difficult rhyme scheme to use in English because there aren’t that many words that rhyme. It takes a lot of skill for a writer to create an emotion poem with this form. The use of this rhyme scheme helps to keep the entire poem connected. A second example of the effect this rhyme scheme has is in the quote “and you, my father there on the sad height; Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray”. These are 2 of the final lines of the poem. These lines reveal to the reader who the poem is about, and why the subject matter is so important

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