Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

This poem was written by a loving son for his dying father. It is not an exhortation of rage; it is an exultation of life. An admonition never to give in, never to lower your guard. No matter the circumstance, no matter the plight, against the dying of day, always be ready to fight. Never bow before the darkness, never surrender before the night. Transient is the pain, eternal is the light.

"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.

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."

Dylan Thomas 1914 - 1953