101 Poems, Number 78

Favorite Poems Throughout My Life

78: “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” 1951, by Dylan Thomas (1914–53)

“Do not go gentle into that good night”—

Yes, I remember when those words I heard

For the first time. In high school. It was right

There in my junior year. And it occurred

That day our English teacher* played for us

A record—Thomas reading. What a voice

He had! We listened. Then he said, “Discuss

The lines you heard.” (We didn’t have a choice.)

Of course, at age 16 what did we know

Of loss and age, of death** and of regret?

It takes a lot of years for things to show

Themselves—things that we really can’t forget

Until the curtain falls, and all is gone.

Our teacher was completing his last year

That day he gave us Thomas. Yes, a dawn

For me. Lines I have loved—despite each tear.

*Mr. Augustus H. Brunelle (1894–1978)

**At our request, my older brother read this at the funeral of my father-in-law.

Link to poem.

Link to recording of Thomas reading the poem.