Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

I’m in a sombre mood today. First thing this morning, I discovered that my feisty, beloved cat, Hunter, had passed away. I had him for over eighteen years and he was almost nineteen years old. He was old, sick, and in pain but it still hurts that he’s gone. As with most people, my pets are my family and losing them has not gotten any easier over the years, even when they die of old age. Anyway, I’m not up for writing a full-blown post today but I figured I could still share a good poem with you: “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas.

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, retrieved from poets.org

While I lost a four-legged family member rather than a two-legged one, I still thought Thomas’s poem appropriate given my feelings about the situation. I don’t have any deep thoughts or analysis regarding the work right now, but hopefully it will resonate with anyone who has lost a loved one, either human or animal.

I’ll try and bring you a more uplifting–or at least not depressing–post next time. For now, I will leave you to rage against the dying of the light.