 Hello and welcome to summary of all you need to know about the poem Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas. I'll explain the meaning related to the poem as it appears in part 3 of the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE anthology. Now do bear in mind that in contrast to part 1 of the anthology which featured only nonfiction texts and part 2 which was a mix of fiction short stories and poems, part 3 of this anthology exclusively features poems alone. So in this video I'll highlight key language and literary devices used in the poem and you'll learn how to analyse it. So let's get started. Now I'll begin by reading through the first three stanzas of this poem and then I'll highlight important literary techniques that you need to be aware of. So let's begin. Do not go gentle into that good night. Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage rage against the dying of the light. The wise men at the end know the dark is right because the words had forked no lightning. They do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright the frail jeans might have danced in the green bay. Rage rage against the dying of the light. Now the title of this poem is really powerful because essentially this poem deals with the topic of death and it's semi-autobiographical. So bear in mind contextually that Dylan's father was actually dying in 1952 when this poem was written. So this poem was actually written at a really specific time and a specific moment in Dylan Thomas's life. Now the reference to good night. This is a euphemism for death and in this poem the speaker is essentially saying that the person who is dying should actually fight death rather than surrender and give up to it. Now in terms of the entire poem it has a very particular rhyme scheme. It's a Villanelle poem so it has 19 lines in total and in stanzas 1 to 5 which are terse, it's three line poems. It's an ABA rhyme scheme and then in the final stanza 6 it's an A-B-B-A rhyme scheme. So as you can see in stanza 1 it's A-B-A rhyme scheme, stanza 2 is A-B-A and as you can see also here stanza 3 is A-B-A. Now the first line of the first stanza is to not go gentle into that good night. It's an imperative sentence which repeats the title so the speaker in this case is adamant that we should fight death rather than surrender to it. And again the good night not only is this a euphemism for death it's also interestingly what we say to each other before sleeping. Now this is important to remember because contextually Dylan Thomas's father used to read him lots of Shakespeare plays before bed at night and this is what influenced his journey as a poet and into becoming a poet. Now in line 2, old age should burn and rave at close of day and that this is a metaphor that death can't be avoided but it should be challenged. Furthermore the repetition of rage rage in line 3 emphasises that we should fight and rebel against death and the mention of the dying of the light this is a metaphor for death the departure of the life force. Now in stanza 2 the reference to the wise men show that acceptance of death is actually a sign of wisdom it's an inevitable part of our lives however we don't have to accept it passively we can fight against it. Furthermore wise men know that dark is right this is just essentially stating that death is a normal part of life process. Again in line 6 the repetition of the title do not go gentle into that good night shows or rather is a speaker's way of stating that the desire for life should be fierce even if we should accept death as a part of life and this is a sign of wisdom we still should have a very fierce desire for life. Now in the third stanza there's the caesera good men the last wave by and this is showing the different types of people and how they deal with life and the enjambement at the end of this line shows that the life force is really powerful. Furthermore the reference to the good men their frail deeds now this is a metaphor for life's fragility and the frail deeds might have danced in a green bay now what this is showing is that these good men could have done more in life and accomplished more and they're reflecting on this at the end of their life as they are sinking into death and they feel perhaps very sad and regretful of it. Once more the repetition of rage rage this still shows that in spite of that in spite of perhaps feeling very regretful you should still fight for life. Moreover rage rage against the dying of the light what this is showing is that it's important to face death with strength and power. So let's continue. Wild men who caught and sang the Sun in flight and learned too late the grieved it on its way do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men near death who see it with blinding sight blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay rage rage against the dying of the light and you my father they're 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. Now this final part of the poem is really powerful because again it's showing the importance of fighting death and we ultimately learned that the speaker is Dylan Thomas speaking and addressing his father as he's dying. Now as I mentioned firstly the rhyme scheme as you can see in the fourth stanza is a b a in the fifth stanza it's a b a and in the final sixth stanza it's a b a a. Now in line 10 the rep the repetition of men focuses on our attention on different types of men and how they deal with death. Furthermore the reference to the caught and sang in the sun the sibilance here emphasizes the fleeting moment of singing and enjoying life before it ends and it's very brief. Now in line 11 they learn too late they grieved it on its way. Now these wild men are grieving because they realize they could have done more in life. Now in the following stanza there's a reference to the grave men the serious men who contemplate their deaths quite solemnly and once more there's a zero here again focusing our attention on these wise men what do they do when they are faced with death. Then they see with blinding sight now this shows that they experience usually an epiphany at the end of their lives and realize their mortality has given them perfect clarity on what they should have done whilst they still had the chance during life. Now in line 14 blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay that literature and simile hair show that the epiphany that these grave men experience is that their lives could have been far more richer far more powerful but they're only realizing this too late. Now in the final stanza the speaker addresses directly their father the second person pronoun you directly is Dylan Thomas' way of addressing his own father and he then states my father and then he states curse bless me. Now the oxymoron hair shows his conflicting feelings towards his father's impending death. Death is both a blessing and a curse and a part of the life force. Now his father has fierce tears and his father's tears are really heart wrenching for us to read as we read through this poem. He then repeats the title to not go gentle into that good night and he ends rage rage against the dying of the light and this ending is almost a refrain to fight death even if you have to eventually succumb to it. Now always rubbing contextually Dylan Thomas' father was a grammar school teacher who never actually realized his dream of being a poet so perhaps a sense of regret is reflected through Thomas contemplating the different men and how they take on death. However also there was a really terrible twist of fate so Thomas wrote this in 1952 when he was contemplating his father's death. However he unfortunately died a year later in 1953 so perhaps also this was somewhat foreshadowing Thomas' own death. So that's all if you found this video useful please do note that we have an in-depth extensive course covering all the texts and poems in parts one, two and three of the EDXL International GCSE anthology. So make sure you sign up for the course on explore explanations and all the texts as well as model answers. But also do make sure you check out our website which is www.firstreadheaters.com there you can find plenty of English revision worksheets, model answers and online courses covering all the major English syllabuses including EDXL, AQA and IGCSE. Thanks so much for watching.