"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

"Do not go gentle into that good nigh, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

When I first read this poem, I was ultimately extremely confused as to what this poem was trying to say. After reading it again, I realized that the central theme is centered around death. The tone of the poem is kind of bitter. The speaker is upset that good people are dying so early. He says, "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright their frail deeds might have danced." This is symbolizing that good men die off early and are unable to say goodbye. Also, people are sad that the good person's light didn't last longer. How often do we wonder this about our loved ones? Many of us wonder why the good people die young, or why God takes the good ones off first. Many of us often say that good people who die had so much ahead of them. This speaker falls into this boat. He has "rage against the dying of light." It's almost like an oxymoron because most people represent death as darkness. Here, the death is darkness, but the goodness in people's hearts represents the light. The author also is upset that the light is dying out. His diction includes words like "rage." He is genuinely upset as to the concept of death. Also, the speaker is very repetitive of phrases to showcase his point. He repeats "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "rage, rage against the dying of the light." Maybe "Do not go gentle into that good night" symbolizes that if we ARE to die young, we should die with everything we have. We should not "gently" die; we should die trying to fight for the passions in our lives. Maybe? I don't know. I'm somewhat confused, but I think that is somewhat correct.