Do not go gentle into that good night
"Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in the form of a villanelle, and the most famous work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Though first published in the journal Botteghe Oscure in 1951, it was written in 1947 when Thomas was in Florence with his family. It was published, along with other stories previously written, as part of Thomas' In Country Sleep, And Other Poems of 1952. The poem was also included in Collected Poems, 1934–1952, first published by Dent in 1952.
It has been suggested that the poem was written for Thomas' dying father, although he did not die until just before Christmas 1952. It has no title other than its first line, "Do not go gentle into that good night", a line that appears as a refrain throughout the poem along with its other refrain, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light". The poem currently remains under copyright, although the text is available online.
Form
The villanelle consists of five stanzas of three lines followed by a single stanza of four lines for a total of nineteen lines. It is structured by two repeating rhymes and two refrains: the first line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the second and fourth stanzas, and the third line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the third and fifth stanzas. The rhyme-and-refrain pattern of Do not go gentle into that good night can be schematized as A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2 where letters indicate the two rhyme sounds, upper case indicates a refrain, and superscript numerals indicate Refrain 1 and Refrain 2. See scheme below.Notable use in popular culture
- "Do not go gentle into that good night" was used as the text for the 1954 In Memoriam Dylan Thomas for tenor and chamber ensemble, by Igor Stravinsky. The piece was written soon after Thomas' death and first performed in 1954.
- It was the inspiration for three paintings by Swansea-born painter and print-maker Ceri Richards, who drew them in 1954, 1956, and 1965 respectively.
- It is the subject of a 1979 tone poem for wind ensemble by Elliot del Borgo.
- In the 1986 movie Back to School, Sally Kellerman uses the poem as a test question on the final of Rodney Dangerfield.
- John Cale set the poem to orchestral music for his album Words for the Dying, released in 1989.
- In the track "Rage" by Chumbawamba on the album Anarchy, released in 1994.
- The refrain "rage against the dying of the light" features in the song "Down to the River" on Ben Caplan's 2011 album "In the Time of the Great Remembering".
- In the 1995 film Dangerous Minds, retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, uses the poem to teach her students and help them identify with what they are learning in her class.
- Electronic musician Richard Burmer released a track of the same name on his 1996 album Treasures of the Saints which features a recording of Dylan Thomas reading the poem.
- In the 1996 film Independence Day, the President makes a rousing speech as he prepares to lead the attack against the alien invaders, adapting Thomas' line, saying, "We will not go quietly into the night."
- The band Brave Saint Saturn includes a recording of Thomas reading his poem in their song "Two-Twenty-Nine" on their 2000 album So Far from Home.
- The poem is referenced in the 2001 Digimon anime episode "A Million Points of Light". After subduing the heroes and beginning to cloak the world in darkness, the villain MaloMyotismon muses, "The dying of the light, and nothing to rage against it!"
- The black metal band Anaal Nathrakh has a song called "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" from the 2004 album Domine Non Es Dignus.
- In a 2007 episode of Doctor Who, "The Shakespeare Code", The Doctor, played by David Tennant, quotes the third line of this poem, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light", to William Shakespeare, played by Dean Lennox Kelly. Shakespeare says, "I might use that." To which the Doctor replies, "You can't. It's someone else's."
- In Christopher Nolan's 2014 movie Interstellar, the poem is used repeatedly by Michael Caine's character Professor John Brand, as well as by several other supporting characters. In the same movie, leading actors Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway are sent into hypersleep with the final words "Do not go gentle into that good night." In the deluxe edition of the film's soundtrack, actors John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey, and Mackenzie Foy recite the poem with a soft vocal accompaniment scored by Hans Zimmer, the composer of the film's soundtrack.
- In a 2015 episode of Doctor Who, "The Magician's Apprentice", Clara Oswald, played by Jenna Coleman, quotes the first line of this poem when she discovers where the Doctor is and what he is up to.
- The poem is cited by G-Eazy in "Intro" on his 2015 album When It's Dark Out.
- The band The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die released a song entitled "Rage Against the Dying of the Light" on their album Harmlessness.
- In 2017, Irish broadcaster RTÉ Sport used the poem in a promotion for the World Cup qualifier second leg between Republic of Ireland and Denmark, with Brendan Gleeson reading it as footage of famous Irish sporting moments were shown.
- In the Parsonsfield song "Kick Out the Windows", which appears on their 2018 album WE, the poem is referenced in the refrain "In the light dying, we'll rage and fight, go kickin' and screamin', into that good night."
- The poem was featured as a voiceover by Iain Glen in a 2018 television advert for the Ford Motor Company. The advert was subsequently banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for encouraging driving as a way to release anger.
- The poem is read in full by Iggy Pop as the ninth track on his 2019 album Free. He had previously recorded the poem at the request of an advertising agency, who wanted it for a commercial.
- In the track "Goodnight" by Adventure Club on the 2016 album Red // Blue, released in 2016.
- Part of the final line of the poem is the title of Derek Landy's book The Dying of The Light, the 9th book of the Skulduggery Pleasant series. The first three lines of the poem are also used in the front matter of the book.