2. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - Dylan Thomas

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.

Poet Dylan Thomas wrote this poem to his dying father. It talks about not merely accepting death, how you should fight your fate, and fight death. Stanzas 1 - 5 each show different types of people and their pre-death thoughts. They talk about what they wanted to do but didn't, and what causes the rage against the dying of the light. The lines "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" are repeated, alternating between verses, and in the final verse both lines are used. The message of the poem to his father is that all of these kinds of people feel this anger and resentment towards death for multiple reasons and that his father must not simply accept his fate, and he must fight to stay alive.