How to Write a Grade 9 Poetry Comparison Essay (Edexcel IGCSE English Literature)

‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ by Dylan Thomas

Form and structure comments

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.

• The poem is a villanelle: it is written in 6 stanzas (the first 5 are tercets and the final 1 is a quatrain)

• Two refrains are repeated throughout the poem

• It is written in iambic pentameter

• The poem follows a strict villanelle rhyme scheme of ABA with the final stanza having ABAA

Question focus

Analysis of form and structure (Grade 9)

Compare how the writers present death in ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ and one other poem from the anthology 

Dylan Thomas exploits the form and structure of his poem to express the speaker’s powerful emotion and fear of death in his poem. By using the villanelle form, Thomas heightens the emotional intensity of his poem. The progression from tercets to a concluding quatrain symbolises the escalating urgency of the speaker’s plea. As a villanelle’s structure generally lends itself to an almost relentless treatment of its subject, his use of this formal structure reinforces the intensity of the son’s plea and demonstrates the depth of love he has for his father. The repetitive refrains of ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ and ‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light’ act as persistent commands throughout the poem and reinforce the speaker’s insistence on defying the inevitability of death ty. The use of iambic pentameter and the regularity of this meter creates an element of stability and control amidst the turbulent emotions expressed in the poem, creating balance.

Language technique(s)

Examples

Language comments

motif & repetition

“that good night", “close of day” and “dying of the light”

• motifs allude to the inevitability of death 

• repetition adds urgency to the speaker’s plea

Question focus

Analysis of language (Grade 9)

Compare how the writers present death in ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ and one other poem from the anthology 

Thomas’ use of language and poetic devices contribute to the presentation of death in his poem. In his poem, Dylan Thomas uses motifs to allude to the inevitability of death through the phrases: “that good night", “close of day” and “dying of the light”. He unusually uses light, typically symbolic of life and vitality, to refer to death and the fading of life. “That good night” and “close of day” have connotations of a peaceful and tranquil departure but Thomas infuses these phrases with a sense of urgency and defiance and urges resistance to the passive acceptance of death. Moreover, the poet uses repetition, with refrains echoing throughout the poem, and these amplify the urgency of the speaker’s plea to defy the natural order of death.

‘If—’ - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
    And stoop and build ’em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

   Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

   If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run—

   Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Similarities between both poems

Differences between both poems

• both poems present people giving advice to others

• both poems are personal and emotional

• both poems use repetition and are written with a regular rhythm and rhyme

• both poems use contrasts

• one poem considers a future life while the other poem considers death

• one poem is from the point of view of the father to his son while the other is a son to his father

IGCSE Edexcel English Literature Poetry Anthology

How do the poets convey strong feelings in ‘If –’ and ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’?

In ‘If –’ and ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ both poets use various poetic techniques to convey strong feelings, such as determination, resilience and defiance. Both poets use contrasts throughout their poems in order to convey these strong emotions. In ‘If-’ the poet presents the speaker’s stoical views about life and offers guidance and advice from an older speaker to a younger man (a father to his son) through the use of conditional clauses. The poem works with a series of contrasts to convey feelings such as trust and doubt, triumph and disaster, kings and common touch. While hopes and fears are important, Kipling warns against placing too much importance on either and advises that one should strive for a balanced approach to life. Indeed, ‘Triumph’ and ‘Disaster’ are personified as if to indicate that they can take a human form but are ‘impostors’ and should not be given too much importance. Similarly, in Dylan Thomas’ poem, the son’s love for his father is demonstrated through the use of powerful emotions and he desperately pleads with his father to fight against imminent death. In this poem, Thomas uses juxtaposition (‘Curse, bless’) and a range of contrasts to underscore his views: ‘gentle’ and ‘rage’, ‘night’ and ‘day’, ‘light’ and ‘dark’, ‘blind’ and ‘sight’. While the word ‘gentle’ suggests a peaceful and calm acceptance and perhaps a quiet surrender to fate, the word ‘rage’ evokes a powerful defiance and a refusal to yield. This contrast serves to convey the poem’s central conflict: the tension between accepting death and passionately fighting against it.