Do not go gentle into that good night

by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night is Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' most famous work. It was first published in the journal Botteghe Oscure (1951), perhaps for his dying father who passed away shortly before Christmas. The poem was published in Dylan's collection In Country Sleep, And Other Poems (1952). His poem is referenced in popular culture, particularly its refrain: "Rage, rage, against the dying of the light." In the movie Independence Day, the president invokes Thomas' line before fighting alien invaders: "We will not go quietly into the night."

An illustration for the story Do not go gentle into that good night by the author Dylan Thomas — George Inness, The Coming Storm, 1879

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.