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 day,
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.

About the headline (FAQ)

First published in Botteghe Oscure (November 1951), revised 1952

Text Authorship:

• by Dylan Thomas (1914 - 1953), no title [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Mark Buller , "Do not go gentle into that good night", 2007 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wayne L. Davies (b. 1975), "Do not go gentle into that good night ", 2001 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Dylan Thomas Song Cycle, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Michael Hearne (b. 1937), "Do not go gentle into that good night", 1959 [ soprano, baritone, SATB chorus, and orchestra ], from Symphonic Cantata 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Roger S. Keele (b. 1954), "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night", 1999 [ baritone and piano ], from Three British Poems for Baritone and Piano, no. 1, Dowling Music [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Agnes) Elisabeth Lutyens (1906 - 1983), "Do not go gentle into that good night", published 1953 [ mezzo-soprano, flute, viola ], from Three songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Agnes) Elisabeth Lutyens (1906 - 1983), "Do not go gentle", 1953 [ soprano, flutes, viola, timpani ], from Homage to Dylan Thomas, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by John McCabe (1939 - 2015), "Do not go gentle into that good night", published 1963 [ soprano, chamber orchestra ], from Five elegies [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Orton (b. 1940), "Do not go gentle into that good night", 1965 [ soprano and four-part wordless TBarBarB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Horace Reisberg (b. 1930), "Do not go gentle into that good night" [ soprano, tenor, SATB chorus, horn, violoncello, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wallingford Riegger (1885 - 1961), "The dying of the light", op. 59, published 1956 [ high voice or medium voice and piano or orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971), "In memoriam Dylan Thomas", published 1954 [ tenor and string quartet or piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Graham Whettam (b. 1927), "Do not go gentle into that good night", published 1968 [ chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Geh' Du nicht sanft in jene Gute Nacht", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Jeroen Scholten

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 168