Do Not Go Gentle

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snorple
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As heinzs said

Post by snorple » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:29 am

As heinzs said, it has mantric qualities, and should be read aloud for the words to drum on into our skulls, the sylable are counted and even throughout, and this is delibrate the first and last lines rhyming, but that isn't too important. its what the poem is about that is important and should affect us all since all must meet God in death.

The poem is about grief, and not wanting his father to go. Its echoes the plight of men who have acheived little in this life, who shoud rage that they should have left their mark and sadly now death was approaching it was too late.

Unlike his father Dylan achieved greatness in his life, he told life as he saw it, and related it in a poet's way, he used sylables to great affect, invented words and sound to fit his craft, his craft dealt with life, sounds, poetry, literature and the meaning of life. The meanings in this poem are clear, grief, sadness and the finality of death and the mundaness of life.

Although he was a great man he led a life that fell short of perfection, it was miserable, squalid and a drunken life with all the misery that that kind of life entails. As so often happens to men who suddenly find success in this life. Their light burns brightly but breifly. He became debauched with the trapping of success, money led to drink and women in abundence, the sanctity of marriage was no bar to his lust for life, but that lust was sordid and he paid the price finally as we all must do, he had to face death as did his father and look out at what he had achieved and at what he had failed in before meeting His maker.

When we look at the man we can feel dispair, and if truthful can see the seeds of our own distruction in his example, but when we look at his work we can wonder.

Snorple

Shane
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Post by Shane » Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:15 pm

Movie fans here may remember a scene toward the end of "Independence Day"

Bill Pullman as the President of the United States "butching up" what's left of the U.S. Air Force for a final attack on the aliens

"we will not go quietly into the night....!!"

Dylan Thomas would've been proud, more or less (and slightly confused, I would imagine) :wink:


:mrgreen:

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Eternum 1
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by Eternum 1 » Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:28 pm

:bump:
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Sailheat

Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by Sailheat » Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:35 am

Good Villanelle. But it needs quite some work.

Your First verse has all its lines in good and strict IP. Cool

"Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night."

Is not clear. Because their words had forked no lightning, they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Even if it has sounded like this; what meaning does it tell?

See:

The act of losing isn't hard to master.
So many things are filled with the intent
To be lost; that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something everyday. Avoid the fluster
Of lost door keys: the hours badly spent.
The act of losing isn't hard to master

Then practice losing farther, losing faster
Your realms, or realms that are meant
To be yours. All these will bring no disaster.....etc

Read it aloud, do you see the difference?

I can't go on and on taking the line in bits; it needs so much work.

Try and make your lines clear, your enjabments free; you're a great poet.

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jeannerené
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by jeannerené » Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:19 am

Sail Heat,

I'm sure Mr Thomas might appreciate your suggestions, but the Welshman left us sometime in 1953. Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night is one of his most renowned poems.
... and his words purge up and outward,
expelled and onward through desert dust swallowed,
sands he says that gorge on simple sensibilities.
And, now he spits fragments, grit, extended vowels and elongated syllables
over cracked lips. Their sounds fall
piling round his boots…
~ jeannerené

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~breathe~


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heinzs
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by heinzs » Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:11 pm

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An' it harm none, do what ye will. Blessed Be.
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Eyes Unclouded

Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by Eyes Unclouded » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:28 pm

Great choice heinzes, the Villanelle is one of my favorite forms of poetry. its repetition can hammer home both anger and grief. Another great villanelle is the one sailheat partially posted, it's an Elizabeth Bishop poem about the loss of her husband. the villanelle allows her to express her attempts (and perhaps failures) to cope.

One Art
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.


--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

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heinzs
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by heinzs » Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:32 pm

Thank you for posting that one, EU. Sailheat did not give due credit for his quote.

:thumbsup:
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Tony Fiona
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by Tony Fiona » Fri Jan 11, 2008 12:41 pm

Whenever I see this poem I think of the first time
i heard the telling of the capture and resistance to his death of Capt Lance P Sijan. All enlisted me in the USAF know of the battle he waged against his Captors. Do not go gentle is synonomous with
CMOH recipient Lance P Sijan.
Thanks for sharing this piece
Tony D.
" There's a race of men that can't stay still
A race that don't fit in
They break the hearts of kith and kin
and roam the world at will. " ------------Robert Service
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snorple
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by snorple » Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:03 pm

Because their words had forked no lightning they This line is brilliant and it cannot be bettered. Not every line a poet writes has to be absolutely crystal clear in its intent or even logical. The traditional word order is reversed, so what? It works. It works very well because Thomas had a way with words, he was a poet.

I did think it comical what Sailheat said about Thomas' poem, that it needed further work, I think Sailheat knew very well that Thomas had long departed this living earth. Until recently Thomas had a rather tattered wooden cross as his memorial. But I did think it funny and laughed.

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bags123
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by bags123 » Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:27 am

The more I read the poem,.... the more I like it. Funny how many poets are debauched isn't it? :cheers:
I prefer to keep an open mind,....but not so much that my brains fall out.- Carl Sagan
Your brain is like an umbrella. It only works when it's open- Someone Smart


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jgdittier
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by jgdittier » Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:59 am

I'm familiar with much classical poetry, but I never till now appreciated DT's wonderful piece. I didn't know it was directed to his father which for me adds immeasurably to its impact and of course, I'm impressed to by it's being a villanelle and so retaining a form of yore.
a most rewarding first read at PP for me!!!
Cheers, Ron jgdittier

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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by poeticpiers » Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:17 pm

See my rebuttal of dylan
Critiques welcome
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poeticpiers
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by poeticpiers » Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:51 pm

One of the best Dylan ever wrote.
perfect in form although I totally disagree with his thinking
I posted rebuttal if any one is interested ivor
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heinzs
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Re: Do Not Go Gentle

Post by heinzs » Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:11 pm

I have read your rebuttal. Both viewpoints deserve attention.

:thumbsup:
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