Do not go gentle into that good night Do not go gentle into that good night "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in the form of a villanelle, and the most famous work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953). Though first published in the journal "Botteghe Oscure" in 1951, it was written in 1947 when Thomas was in Florence with his family. It was published, along with other stories previously written, as part of Thomas' "In Country Sleep, And Other Poems" of 1952. It has been suggested that the poem was written for Thomas' dying father, although he did not die until just
Do not go gentle into that good night the last line of the second and fourth stanzas, and the third line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the third and fifth stanzas. The rhyme-and-refrain pattern of the villanelle can be schematized as AbA abA abA abA abA abAA where letters ("a" and "b") indicate the two rhyme sounds, upper case indicates a refrain ("A"), and superscript numerals ( and ) indicate Refrain 1 and Refrain 2. The pattern is below set against the poem: Do not go gentle into that good night "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in