Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

It's interesting to see a very well written essay without a bold thesis statement. Not many people can pull it off, but you did a great job. I like this essay. Your essay is one of few that I have truly enjoyed reading. Thanks!

~Katy

I enjoyed reading your comment. While we may start an essay differently, I understand and respect your position. Given the subject of my essay, I'm tempted to paraphrase Thomas and say, "Do not go gentle into that teacher's plight. Rage, rage against the dying of your right (to be different)."


I only wish that some teachers wouldn't be so dogmatic in insisting that there is only one right way to begin an essay. Of course, the one right way is what they like best. A more commonsense approach would be to recognize that there are several acceptable ways to begin an essay. It would be pretty boring if everyone were forced to conform to some arbitrary rule as to how to start an essay merely to please someone's personal preference.


I know that you're not in favor of mindless conformity, but I've been in classes in which the teacher was. It just seems a bit silly to be so rigid when we're all different. Some of us like to get right down to business and others prefer to take a more leisurely approach. I wouldn't much enjoy a world populated with all of one type or the other. Differences in writing style can be interesting. I hope we're never forced to all be the same. Cheers!

Thank you for saying this is a very good and detailed essay. It seems "you missed a good introduction" in which I state the poem relates to the shortness of life and the inevitability of death that should not be easily accepted. I can think of no better way to introduce a poem which contains what I have described as "Thomas' powerful message." It is precisely because of the poet's powerful message that most people like this poem.


You say that you "find it difficult to understand why the author decides to write this poem." When discussing the first stanza of the poem, I state that Thomas beseeches his ailing father to fight for life. I underscore the point by stating that Thomas urges his father not to submit meekly ("do not go gentle") to a death which may seem a welcome prospect ("that good night"). Based on my statements, most people would "understand why the author decides to write the poem" even if you cannot.


You have apparently also missed the conclusion in the essay's final paragraph which states in part: "Choosing life over death can be especially difficult for the terminally ill....Thomas has decided for himself where he stands on the issue and each of us must do the same." Others who have commented have not missed the concluding paragraph. For example, Peps stated: "I totally can see the issues you have wrote about. Having just finished a research project on terminally ill patients and assisted suicide i can reflect really well with what you have wrote."


In a comment to another essay, you state that you are "not really a poem reader." That is unfortunate because you are missing out on a great deal. I encourage you to read more poetry because it can contain powerful messages concerning life and death, about which we could all benefit from gaining deeper insights.

You really are a magnificent writer and you would be insane to believe otherwise. I only wish I had half the literary knowledge that you have engulfed. Once again awesome work. I only wish I knew the mind behind these works a little better, just for my own benifit. I am so intrigued by you and your perceptions. I can only hope that you will continue to contribute your words to this site so I can remain entranced. To say the very least... good job.

It's a nice work. You follow the poem step by step, analyzing it's parts. Your way of writing reminds me of an old map, and if you follow the instructions enclosed..it will lead you to the treasure.

I have to say that your essays are really well organized. Because I struggle with this when writing, I have an appreciation for those who consistently keep essays on topic. Easy to read; easy to understand, an overall great piece of writing!!Once again, I'm impressed!!

John, I like how dedicated you are to breaking down this poem. The way you enlighten me, as the reader, with the breakdown of the stanzas is commendable. I have never really looked that far into the breakdown of poems and I appreciate the work you have done to break this down for the reader.

really good peice of work, you really analysed the poem with effecive peices of language.keep it up.

This is fantastic. I love the way you have given it direct relevance to our lives rather than leave the poem in a vacuum. The writing is so tight, not a word wasted and it has wonderful pace. I love the the passion of this poem is almost confined within the villanelle, struggling to break free. Also I just love the phrase 'blinding sight', but thats just me being shallow!

I totally can see the issues you have wrote about. Having just finished a research project on terminally ill patients and assisted suicide i can reflect really well with what you have wrote. Fantastic piece of writing which i found to be emotionaly charged GOOD WORK



Peps

I really enjoy reading your essays, they are well constructed and have a depth to them. I like your perspective on life and death.

I really did enjoy this essay, interpretations interest me because I like to see what a poem actually means in terms I can understand (I'm not too good at poems!). Again, the use of "I", though most teachers say not to do it, I find it's a good way of putting your thoughts into it and to show that you thought of them. I'm not allowed to use them in my essays though, I get marked down if I do. Your teacher must be really good!


It's a great essay for others to understand moer about poetry.

this is once again excellently written. once again i enjoy how you used first person and i only envy you for having such an astonishing professor, one who agrees with just writing what comes, rather than following a set of rules. i like how you made this very real for the readers, and i can see there was a lot of emotion in this and a lot of time went into writing this. once again great job

While I enjoyed the reading, I was happy to learn about how the poem was constructed as well. Not often will someone take the time to teach others about how something is done rather than why it is done.

Its also brilliant. You use your words wisely and display them so well. it is a brilliant essay, as are your others, but this one has more depth and meaning, well done!

this really is fantastic, u did a great job! i really like this essay, its breath taking, it was soo amazing to read. i really think out did ur self this time John!

Thanks for the nice things you say in your comments. Instead of "the purpose of this poem" I think you mean "the purpose of this essay." I'm sure there are teachers who say it's a no no. Teachers who said similar things weren't my best teachers. I've also had teachers who said not to write in the first person. Fortunately, my best English prof said it was perfectly alright. He wasn't stuffy and said to write in the way that comes most naturally to you. He was widely published, while the stodgy pedants with all of their bookish rules were not.


My introduction wasn't meant to be formal. In general, I don't even like formal writing. I like writing with a personal touch. Writers tend to pull me in when they seem to be talking to me directly by using natural language. I often find that the worst writers are those who seem to have before them a book of English rules rather than having before them the audience they are trying to reach. I guess it all comes down to who you had for a teacher. Luckily, I had one of the best although I'll probably never be able to write as well as he.

Excellent writing skills. This poem is one of my favorites. This essay makes me want to read the poem again and again

The essay started off on a formal tone, yet zeroed in on the heart of the reader to convict him of the truth in the poem. Incredible job, once again.

I appreciate your honest explanation about rating the essay incorrectly. There's no need to apologize. The rating buttons are close together, especially those near the bottom of the screen. It can be easy to click on the wrong one, especially when you are new.


As for referring to Dylan Thomas by name, it's worth noting again that the poem was addressed to his father. Consequently, I thought it might be confusing to some readers if I were to use pronouns such as he and his since it may have been difficult in some cases to tell if I was talking about Thomas or his father. I did switch to "the poet's" in the third line of the essay, which is why I didn't use "the poet's" in the second line as you suggest. Sometimes it's awkward to avoid referring to the poet by name, which is the most direct way to talk about him. Simply saying Thomas is less wordy than saying "the poet's" or "his poetry."


Thank you for saying that you enjoyed the essay and that it was great work. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" has long been one of my favorite poems, which made it more enjoyable to write the essay.

When I read your other essay, I didn't think you would be able to surpass the quality of it, however I was wrong, wonderful essay!!!! Keep up the great work once again!

I really enjoyed this, brilliantly written, you have been able to keep the writing tight and excellent use of words you seem to use them as each one is as important as the last, without wasting them.This has a superb flow. I congratulate your work well done.

I appreciate your taking the time to write a comment, jessaes, and am pleased that your overall reaction to the essay was positive. You're right when you say that professors frown on run-on sentences. I also agree with you when you indicate that we all make mistakes occasionally. I'm only human and certainly make my share of errors.


After seeing your comment, I read my essay again in an attempt to find any run-on sentences. I wasn't able to find any and was wondering if you would be so kind as to specifically identify those sentences which you believe are run-on sentences. I certainly don't claim to be an expert in grammar and would like to do better. Thank you.

I read this many times in order to know what to say...This essay is fantastic. You really knew how to bring the poem to life and link it to ours..This time, I loved the ending! It was simple yet effective. Good job.

Well written, very nicely structured. Would clock up 100% in most teachers books I imagine :)

Thanks for your kind comment. I'm not a great writer and probably never will be, but it was nice of you to say so just the same. Since most people probably don't fully appreciate how highly structured a villanelle is, I thought it would be worthwhile to devote a little less than two hundred words explaining the form. What Dylan Thomas accomplished in his poem is all the more remarkable because of the constraints of the villanelle.


Villanelles require the repetition of lines and that often introduces an air of monotony. Thomas overcame that by composing lines to be repeated which would be powerful, both in imagery and message. Largely through the expert use of enjambment, Thomas achieved a conversational tone in his villanelle which not many others have succeeded in doing. Attaining a natural tone is one of the more difficult objectives to achieve with a villanelle, which often ends up having a sing song quality.


But much more than a natural tone, Thomas achieved a magical quality in his poem that I haven't come close to emulating in the villanelles I've written. Few have come close to accomplishing what Thomas achieved in his villanelle which is considered one of the finest ever composed. It's not hard to write a villanelle, but it's extremely difficult to write a really good one. Last year marked the fiftieth anniversary of the tragic death of Dylan Thomas at the age of 39, but nobody celebrated the loss of a great talent who had mastered a poetic form as few others have.

I had read this poem once before, but had no idea about the background of it. Now that I read your anology of it, the poem really made sense and I gained a deeper appreciation of Dylan Thomas.

Once again a piece by johnjjp that is interesting to read, well-structured and well-presented.


Good work, johnjjp.

First and foremost I enjoyed the level of clarity within this piece, as many times with complex poetry it is easy to lose direction when analysing. Secondly I thought it was an appropriate structure as it was concise, commenting on the issues raised without becoming boring. Lastly I like the way that you saved your main discussion of the issue till the end, this was effective. I always seem to get impatient when analysing poetry and have a scatered discussion throughout the piece, but it has more impact at the end. Excellent Job. :)

Excellent essay. Keep up the good work.

this was a very powerful poem and at times almost scary. wow. one thing i would change is the 300 word entry describing what a villanelle is it could have been more brief and to the point but other than that it was great i loved the way it related to our normal lives very nice john your a great writer

I appreciate your comment and assure you that you are being far from shallow when you remark about Dylan Thomas' use of the expression "blinding sight." Employing an oxymoron such as blinding sight can be an effective poetic device. An oxymoron is a form of paradox and Thomas was a master of the paradoxical. Perhaps Thomas' most famous paradox can be found in the last two lines of his semi-autobiographical poem of lost innocence, "Fern Hill," in which the poet writes: "Time held me green and dying / Though I sang in my chains like the sea."


Like you, I also find Thomas' use of expressions such as "blinding sight" to be quite appealing. Since a villanelle only contains nineteen lines, and eight of the nineteen lines serve as refrains, it is essential that the words in the remaining eleven lines be chosen with utmost care. Blinding sight is an excellent example of how Thomas obtained economy of expression by using a paradox to create stunning imagery. Thomas' unparalleled ability to combine words for maximum effect makes this one of my favorite poems and a real pleasure to read aloud. Audiences particularly enjoyed Thomas' oral rendition of this poem.

I thought this was a very well written essay. I have never read poems by dillion Thomas, but I found from your essay that they were very interesting.


Good Job

a detailed analyses of Dylan Thomas work.

you show great understanding of the of this particular poet. you have explained it in a clear and simple way that this would benefit anyone for study notes.

again fantastic work.

its a wonderfull poem and the way you are working hard on these type of things it will pay off good

I've been writing my own poetry for quite a while, and reading some as well. Never have I seen this explained so clearly. It also brought to light a facet that I'd never seen before. Simply brilliant.

You have analysed this poem in great detail, picking it apart and applying your interpretation skills extremely well. I admit I havent read this poem before but after reading this peice I have left with knowledge than before, so a big thankyou! Well done on the analysing of each stanza, it takes a lot of effort & obvious dedication- and thanks, i learnt a new word.. villanelle! Getting close to becoming a walking dictionary.. almost! Keep up the good work

A very well written and constructed essay.


Really helped me better understand the poem.... great work.

i think this is well written, and thought through, strong language techniques, overall top stuff...

good job

Its also brilliant. You use your words wisely and display them so well. it is a brilliant essay, as are your other 3, but this one has more depth and meaning, well done!

Again, a well thought out and written essay. I liked the way you state and then explain ideas.

I felt u analyzed the peom very precisely and didnt mince with words

very good

this is fantastic, its great, u did a great job! i really like this essay, its breath taking, it was amazing to read. i really think out did ur self this time!

good job. another wonderful essay! super.

You always seem to see what an author intended through his writing, rather than as it is writen.

As others have said before me, your writing style is really enviable and this essay is just wonderful. I wish I had been taught poetry by someone with such a talent for bringing it to life.

Thanks so much.

Awesome! You did a wonderful job with this essay. Very well written.

This was another excellently written essay; one that I not only learned from but also enjoyed reading. Keep it up!

I agree with your comment about Thomas' special message, it is indeed why most people injoy this poem, and this essay is also just a good analysis of the poem that people like so much. Good job

Again, one I didn't have time to get into. Such a thorough explanation and the history of the author which adds so much to the story. Very well done!

we read this poem in school.


good work, you did a good job explaining the meaning of life and such.

I really enjoy you rwork john, I'm sure you could teach me a thing or 2....hundred.


A really good essay about a really good poem.

Two thumbs up.

many people have already told you this, but I found this to be a wonderfully written essay. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. You helped me to more deeply understand the poem.

u must really like poems john

anyway

really good essay though i'm not a real poems fan

Nice structure....easy to follow. And nice simple yet deep interpretation of the poem as a whole at the end which I liked alot. Great Job

You have amazing writing skills-- concise and well constructed. This is a great piece, so thanks for sharing! Nice job.

This is a very well written essay. I have not read the poem but you did a fantastic job describing the poem and it almost seems as if i have read the poem. Great Job.

god bless you for the great ability you have in analyzing poems & what poets intend to say .... hope you sumbit more essay for us to read , iam waiting you new essays ,,,

a very detailed and interesting analysis of the poem. The poetic techniques were well defined. Sounds like a great poem!!

great submission

This essay is good. I enjoy how it is filled with passion, and i feel you have analyzed this poem in great depth.

Good Job, the in depthness of the analysis amazes me

Without repeating myself entirely from my comments dealing with "My Dutchess," I just want to saythat once again you have done a great job in analyzing this poem. It is clear, (to all your readers I'm sure), that you have a great love and superb interest in both poetry and your methods of analyzing them. As you conclude in your essay the subject of death can be a very difficult subject to write about, obviously Dylan Thomas did this well, and you have done well in analysis and interpretation of his work. Once again, good job. :-)


Garrett

Nice work again mate:)

I found you put maximum power in minimum words and that is an ability we all should aspite to! :)

firstly, i need to say that being a new member of cheathouse i was confused by the rating system and i accidentally rated this essay 'average' when i had meant to rate it 'good'. sorry about that.


secondly, i enjoyed this paper very much and if had any criticism it would be that the poet's name is repeated too many times. for example in the second line "was a common theme for Dylan Thomas", Thomas' name was already mentioned in the line before. Perhaps an alternative would be "was a common theme in the poet's work" or "his poetry". The repetition just makes it slightly difficult to read.


great work though!

john,


Nice work done here. I do agree with another comment about the over use of "This essay is about, or The purpose of this essay...." I believe you can write the opening a little better, but otherwise this is a wonderful essay. As a future teach I give it an A!!

god bless you for the great ability you have in analyzing poems & what poets intend to say .... hope you sumbit more essay for us to read , iam waiting you new essays.

Very nice.

Thanks for the great essay. I enjoyed readin it

You put into words as if it were real life. I like that. If I only I could write that well.

nice work yuv'e nailed that poem

You are excellent at analyzing and breaking down poetry.

Aside from that, your writing is very nicely done. You are well aware of the mechanics of the English language, and have a good, varying sentence structure.

You fill your essay with examples from the poem, instead of simply alluding to such and such line, etc.

I like how you analyze the meaning of each stanza with detail. Good introduction about villanelle.

bravo john, i am very intrigued by your work. i have noticed you are passionate about poetry, please correct me if i am wrong for assuming. i love what i have read and cant wait to read more of your work.

Another very well written essay.

Another well written essay.

Another excellent essay..You have a great flair for writing.

I can see that this essay is an explication of the poem and possible meanings. I think this was done with clarity and ease that is shown in all your writting pieces. A possible improvement would be to look at the resistant readings and furthurmore explain to the reader why the examples you used reflected that meaning. This can be done by lookin at the literary techniques, and the context of the time - who was the poem written for.

You wrote powerfully. You are extremely unique in the way you write. Very Well accepted...

well i see there is a nice "conversation" going on below this essay and almost everything is mentioned so i guess my job is to just mention on which side I am! And of course is the positive one! I do like your style...(i'm saying this cuz i noticed you have a typical way of writing); i didn't mention it in your other essay but u do have the tendency to start your essay by stating what the essay is going to be about!

My advice to you would be to use a better thesis statement that would imply or "state" the purpose of the essay! THat would sound better to the reader!!! *wink*

other than that..enjoy the A u got...(Don't drink too much..he he =P)

What a moving piece. This is great and rarely do I get moved like this. Good work!:)

I didn't like the way you started this essay with "the purpose of this poem..." or what you meant to say.."the purpose of this essay..." It would have been nice to find a common theme or common motif of the entire poem and analyze it in a way to relate each stanza to each other. I know this is a poem analysis and not a common literary book analysis where u find a theme and formulate a thesis but i think it would be cool to do that for a poem.

Once again, I didn't really like how you started the essay. I don't know, I was just always taught to never use the first person and use the line "the purpose of this poem". It makes the tone of the introduction not as formal.

To be honest, I have not read any of Dylan Thomas's poems yet (don't worry, I have heard of him, I'm not an ignoramous) and this essay has inspired me to pick up on some of his poetry after my exams.

Once more, I liked reading your essay, you have a style of writing that is very gripping.

this is a very good and detailed essay, however, you missed a good introduction and conclusive lines. your introduction is very very average, and i think you've known that already. your conclusion though, in my opinion, is awful. it is a hard end for a good essay. it do not restate the main points, and do not conclude the idea and maybe the purpose of the poem. while it may be sufficient for most poem reader, i myself find it difficult to understand why the author decides to write this poem, and why do you like or dislike it. compare this with your other essay.

You have very good interpretations of your subjects and write very well. The only thing that I would work on if I were you is the run-on sentences. We all do it occasionally, and all your information is good, and goes together, however, most teachers/professors REALLY frown on that. Your ideas are great though! Keep up the good work!

The essay is very organise but i really don't get the relevance of you mentioning the structure and rhyme scheme to the meaning of the poem. And i kinda think you summerise and translate the poem more than analysing it. I guess it's excellent and helpful for those of us who have no idea what the subject matter of the poem is all about. God knows this is heaven sent for that matter. But as a critical appreciation you could improve it even more if you analyse it further. I did this poem as an unseen text before and i was wondering if you're talking about the persona the poet present himself to be or Thomas himself? But i really like the personal touch you add to it at the end though. Good job on that. ;o)

MORE ANALYISIS INTSEAD OF SUMMARY! WAY BELOW EXPECTAIONS IN COMPARISON TO YOUR OTHER WORKS

Looking back, it occurs to me that you are correct: there actually are zero run-ons in your analysis. Huh. When I originally read over it I was tired, (you know how finals week can be) and I can only assume that what I was referring to was your section on the structure of the poem, which I don't find very relevant to your topic and seems sort of choppy. That is not to say that it is grammatically incorrect; on the contrary, it is very well written. I apologize for my inaccurate comment.

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