Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
By: Dylan Thomas

I actually really liked this poem.  It contains a wise message, but it presents it in a very clever way.  The speaker describes different classifications of people, making the poem easier for readers to relate to overall.  By addressing the different types of people, he makes it more likely for a larger audience to relate to the message of the poem.  He says that wise men know death is inevitable, but they enjoy their lives while they can.  Good men do kind deeds for others, hoping to avoid death as long as possible.  Wild men get caught up in their lives, and they seem to forget about the nature of death.  However, they at least enjoy the lives they live.  Grave men (men that are close to death) see death, but they try to blind themselves of its reality.  They do not welcome death, and they ignore it until it comes.  Lastly, the narrator addresses his father.  He presented this poem to him to motivate him.  He gives this poem with the message to live life to the fullest.  I liked the repeated line of "rage, rage against the dying of the light" (968).  This phrase is repeated with emphasis.  It tells us to keep on living our lives.  No one should welcome death before he or she has to.