Well, I suppose that Dylan Thomas's poem affects each of
us in different ways, i.e., we interpret it slightly differently, but to me it has
always said to resist death, resist it with all your strength, don't give in to it,
since life is so wonderful, so productive...and so unique: we only get
one.
Thomas's father was a strong figure in his son's life,
and this poem was written as his father lay dying, so the last verse lets loose all his
anger over his father's seeming quiet acceptance of death. How many children have
expressed anger at a parent's death? The parent seems to be deserting them, abandoning
them-- or rather, fate seems to require this.
Thomas uses
other images-- wise men want to continue influencing others, good men want to continue
doing good deeds, grave men realize the joy they have not yet experienced-- and they all
find the idea of death unfair. Of course, most people realize that death is just
inevitable and that it is a 'good night' in some sense, but any thoughtful person would
realize that our one experience here on earth is of much more personal value and would
naturally fight to keep it.
I have provided links to the
poem itself and to some more detailed analysis of it as a villanelle
below.
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