Dylan Thomas

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO
THAT GOOD NIGHT

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

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.

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.

                   Dylan Thomas 



"Dylan came from the Mabinogion, a collection of old Welsh myths. His second name, Marlais, was the name of a river, but Dylan, always eager to self-dramatize, said it meant prince of darkness. Be that as it may, both Dylan and Marlais were pre-Christian names. According to Andrew Sinclair: Both had to do with the mystery of water, the big seas and the rivers of dreams that were to haunt Dylan's imaginings."