Poetry Terms Line/Stanza/Speaker
Line: A sentence in poetry Does not need to be a complete sentence Punctuation does not matter Numbered, so the readers can refer to specific lines when discussing the poem *a group of words in a poem-put together the lines form stanzas
Stanza: a paragraph in poetry ***a group of lines in poetry
Speaker: Similar to the narrator in literature In poetry we refer to the narrator as a speaker b/c poetry is meant to be heard **the voice that talks to the reader, similar to the narrator (not necessarily the poet)
Repetition: The repeating of a word or phrase for effect or emphasis (if something is repeated-it most likely is important)
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” Author: Dylan Thomas Information about the poet and the poem: Thomas’ father was a strong-military man Thomas’ father became old, blind and weak during his 80s Dylan struggled seeing his father like this-it was hard to see his strong father so weak.
Stanza 1: Do not go gentle into that good night (line 1) Rage, Rage Against the dying of the light Do not go easily (willingly) Darkness->Death Fight, Fight Against the night (darkness)
Stanza 2 Wise men at their end Know dark is right (line 4) Do not go gentle into that good night (line 6) Smart men-near death Know that they are dying Do not go willingly into death
Stanza 5: Grave men (near death)-> Grave means serious Who see with blinding sight-> (line 13) Rage, Rage against the dying of the light (line 15) Grave means serious Oxymoron (opposites placed next to each other) referring to his father becoming blind Fight, fight against death
Stanza 6: And you, my father, there on that sad height (line 16) Do not go gentle into that good night Rage, rage against the dying of the light Addresses his father directly-referring to his sad state Do not go willingly into death Fight, fight against death *Almost like he is begging him
Meaning: Think about the background information about Dylan Thomas. At the bottom of the poem, write down the overall meaning of the poem.