Philip Bachman

9/29/15
Blandford
UWRT 1101
Do not go gentle into that good night
The rhetor of the poem is the author Dylan Thomas. Dylan Thomas wrote this poem for
his dying father we know this because he talks about him in the poem and you, my father, there
on the sad height, curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray, therefore, we can conclude
that the audience of this poem is his father or anyones loved ones whos health is failing. The
rhetorical situation is that Dylan Thomass father is dying and Thomas doesnt want him to give
to fight to live rage, rage against the dying light. The message of this poem is very clear,
Thomas is telling us to do not go gently into that good night or fight death and hold on to hope
that you will make it through your situation.
Poetry and song lyrics can create very vivid literary landscapes for the people reading
them. There are many ways in which a poet or a singer/ songwriter can connect with its readers
using literary landscapes. Thomas show us his literary landscape in Do not go gentle into that
good night through the use of repetition in the poem. Thomas repeats the line rage, rage
against the dying light throughout the poem and includes it in almost all of the stanzas. This
line is one of the most important things if not the most important that Dylan Thomas is trying to
tell us and his father. This line, because it is repeated so frequently has the most emphasis, telling
those who hear this poem to fight or rage against death or the dying light. Song lyrics and

poetry lines are very similar in relaying their literary landscapes, often in songs the main
message is repeated in the chorus.
Poetry and song lyrics often provide a deeper meaning and special message to its readers
or listeners. The messages in poetry is usually told to the reader through the use of symbolism
and metaphors. Additionally, poetry and songs always have some sort of sentence structure,
often using different stanzas or paragraphs to explain a certain item. This is extremely different
than prose. When people speak normally we dont talk in metaphors and use symbolism for
obvious things, and there is no structure in how we speak, we just speak naturally without
metrical structure. Understanding poetry and songs can sometimes be very difficult, therefore
we often dont like to read them and simply stick with prose. However, poetry and lyrics offer a
deeper understanding and connection to peoples emotions and cast a new light on peoples
situations and struggles. Unfortunately, most readers dont want to read in between the lines to
understand what the speaker is saying so we tend to avoid poetry and continue using prose.
Poetry and song lyrics have altered our understanding of specific rhetorical/ literary
themes. They have altered them because we are able to understand what people are saying. A
person who is happy will listen to a sad song and say damn that sad where as an emotional
person will listen to the same sad song and connect with the lyrics and the theme because they
are feeling the same way. The same goes for poetry, I am able to tell you who the rhetor is, the
goal, the rhetorical situation and the message for Do not go gently into that good night I am
able to connect with the poems theme and understand it but because it doesnt relate to me I am
not attached to it.