“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,”
This verse details the motives of “good” men’s struggles against death. Thomas suggests that the actions of the old are frail, their lack of energy proving them inept and ineffective at occupations requiring a certain level of physicality. The words “green bay” are used as a metaphor for youth. Thomas here argues that if they were young and in their prime of their life, their good intentions would “dance”. This indicates Thomas’ opinions - that the effectiveness of a young person supersedes that of an older person.
“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”.
Here he explains the realisation and regret, which dawns on “wild men”. They fight death, acknowledging that their life of fun was not appropriately appreciated and thus wish to carry on living, not even taking the most trivial of things for granted.
“Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze and like meteors be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Here Thomas justifies the reasons for “grave” men’s aversion to death; obviously “grave men”, being entirely contrary to “wild men”. Using this antithesis, Thomas provides a balanced argument, justifying his father’s opposition to death, by giving the motives of two contrasting types of people. Due to the solemn and abstemious bearing of “grave men”, their life has been devoid of enjoyment, a fact Thomas argues, they attempt to redeem, by fulfilling previously dormant aspirations prior to their death. The phrase “blinding sight” is oxymoronic, blindness being incompatible with sight. The use of this oxymoron emphasises the “grave ” revelation.
“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.”
Here the poem becomes more personal. Thomas addresses his father and allegorises his situation to being on a “sad height”. This allegory of life being like an arduous climb up a mountain, which ultimately culminates in death, is especially apt when applied to old age. Thomas imagines that at old age, his father has reached the summit of the mountain that is life and his presumably defeatist attitude is perpetrated by his realisation that this inevitable death is imminent.
Thomas’ father is hence able to “curse” or “bless”, his age putting him in a position to render all iniquities on his behalf, inconsequential. Here, although the whole poem is in effect a plea, Thomas is directly beseeching his father to impede and fight against the onset of death. For the first time in the poem, Thomas’ desperation is betrayed by his entreaty to his father to “curse” and “bless” him. Saying this, the poem does not display overly strong emotive sentiments, but rather instils an air of contemplation in the reader via its placid and rather repetitive manner.
The second poem by Owen Sheers is structured in a far less disciplined manner. The poem follows no conspicuously discernible structure and is more ad lib than Thomas’ poem. A strict rhyme scheme would be inappropriate and would not constitute to the type of poem Sheers desired. Instead he has chosen to write more freely, as epitomised by his use of enjambement: “its broken skull/ of stone….”. This more liberating form relieves Sheers of any strict structural codes that might have hindered the emotional cause of the poem, and allows him to express his despair more readily. The one apparent semblance of any structure, is the consecutively increasing number of lines in each verse. For example, the first verse has five lines, the second, six lines and the third, seven lines. This increasing number of lines pattern could be Sheers’ attempt to rise to a climax of sorrow.
The mood of Sheers’ poem is more expressive and less repetitive in language than the Thomas’ poem. The freer form allows Sheers to reminisce on the happier instances of his life with the deceased, without being encumbered by the adherence to a set structure, which would restrict the variety of feelings he has to offer.
It is possible for the reader to assume that the reader in Sheers’ poem is not closely related to the writer as Thomas was to his father. This can be inferred from the first line of the third verse: “I went to your house”. The words “your house” imply that the writer lived in a different house to the deceased. Although not conclusive evidence, it is feasible that this suggests the deceased to be a good friend or relative, an uncle for instance. This supported by the adventurous activities undertaken by the reader and the deceased: “taking the risk”.
The first verse begins with the writer escaping to the “top of a hill”. This portrays the despair and loneliness he feels. The poem throughout displays indicators that the writer is the sole mourner of the deceased. This is denoted by the lack of other characters and the solitary mourning that the writer confines himself to. This too can be seen in Thomas’ poem, as no other definite characters are mentioned. The writer’s ascent up the hill can be interpreted as his way to getting closer to heaven. This can be compared to Thomas’ allegory on life; both poets see the summit of a mountain or a hill as being within touching distance of Heaven and can consequently be associated with death.
During the first verse, Sheers personifies the hill: “….its broken skull”. The imagery of the skull reflects the strong notions of death still present within the mind of the writer. This morbid perspective is mirrored in the oxymoron used in the third line: “I watched the Black Mountains darken”. Here Sheers uses the technique of pathetic fallacy, the depressive settings reflecting the depressed mind of the writer.
Although the poem does not display any structured rhyming scheme like Thomas’ poem, Sheers has included a couple of examples of assonance in the first verse. He describes the surface of the mountain as being all rock and “wind thinned soil”. The lack of soil and fertile ground again conjures images of bleakness in the mind of the reader. From the first verses in each poem the reader can immediately recognise the difference in tone and attitude. Whilst Thomas’ poem can be likened to a plea, extenuated by pithy reasoning, Sheers’ poem has considerably defeatist and almost serene tone. This of course is down to the fact that the relative or friend of the writer in Sheers’ poem has already passed away, whist Thomas’ father continues to live, and as such there is a diminutive chance of prolonging his longevity.
The second example of assonance: “and the river slipped the grip of the town” implies the claustrophobic feelings of the writer. It is possible that he feels hemmed in by the town; again another example of pathetic fallacy, the writer’s sense of suffocation by the town, is echoed by the river escaping out of the village boundaries, and act he wishes he could emulate.
The second verse starts off with the writer revisiting a place he and the deceased used to go:
“I went to the pond,
the one in the field above the house,
its borders churned to mud by the cattle.
I thought of how we skated there,
taking the risk, despite the sound of ice,
creaking like a boat’s wet rigging.”
The writers return to the pond filled with so many happy memories indicates his desire to relive such halcyon days. The fourth line of the verse, the word “we” is used. This is the first instance in the poem the writer confirms to the reader that he is addressing a particular person. However, it is not evident that the person being addressed is actually dead. In fact, the poem throughout (again with exception to the title) does not disclose sufficient evidence to conclude that the poem is about the death of somebody close to the writer. This late confirmation, that the writer is addressing a particular person is identical to Thomas’ poem in that respect. Thomas only addresses his father directly, in the last verse. The third verse begins with the writer again addressing the deceased: “I went to your house”. The fact that the writer is telling the object of his poem that he visited their house hints at the absence of this person.
“I remembered your voice behind me,
as I, afraid of the sudden peck,
stretched my hand into the dark
to take the warm eggs, one of them
wearing a feather.”
As can be seen from the extract from above, the writer ends on a note that is not overtly sad. These four lines hardly suggest that anyone at all has died, as the writer, reminiscing of happier times, has detached himself from reality and in doing so has seemingly forgotten the reason for his initial despondency and depression. The last phrase: “one of them/ wearing a feather” illustrates the writer’s aloofness from reality. The writer’s observation regarding one of the eggs “wearing a feather” displays the vivid recollections of the past he possesses, which perhaps provide him with an opportunity to escape from the traumas of reality.
The significance of the egg could possibly a subtle portent of hope after death, even new life. The positive note that the poem ends on consolidates this idea. This concept ties in with the one used in Thomas’ poem where, as mentioned earlier, he refers to death as being “good”, thus indicating the benevolence of death, a release from suffering. Hence the moral of Sheers’ poem, although relatively elusive and ambiguous in comparison with the moral of Thomas’ poem, is that there is hope after death. The moral of Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, is much more apparent, the theme displayed in the title (metaphorically) and throughout. Thomas’ poem therefore urges us to fight against death, a message pertinent to everyone.
