Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.‘ – Mary Anne Radmacher, American author and artist.
In his most iconic poem, Dylan Thomas pointed out that one must rage, rage against the dying of the light even in old age.
He said, “Do not go gentle into that good night.
Old age should burn and rave at the close of day; said Thomas, but rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
It’s no surprise that this poem is one of the most famous poems of the 20th century.
The fact that Dylan Thomas composed the poem while out on a family trip to Italy in 1947, made it more awe-inspiring.
Mind you this was two years after the second world.
During that time, the people’s confidence and optimism were beginning to fade away as new challenges and threats were beginning to resurface.
During the war years, Thomas managed to avoid military service. Given his chronic asthma and bronchitis disease he’d endure since his early childhood, he was rejected for active combat. Unfit for military service. Though against all odds, the Welsh poet did not go gentle into that good night.
The poem was a dedication to his father –begging for him keep alive his spiritedness for life in the face of death.
It should also be noted that Dylan Thomas fought like hell (in his own way) for years, and even dying did not come easily.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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Thomas is considered to be one of the most influential, and perhaps the most famous Welsh poets of all time. His poetry is distinctly modern, even though being influenced by surrealist poetry.
One can actually say Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas is a nudge to all of us to rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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In her 1995 book, In High Tide in Tucson, author Barbara Kingsolver writes, “Every one of us is called upon, perhaps many times, to start a new life. A frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of a job, a limb, or a loved one; a graduation, bringing a new baby home…’ To be hopeul, to embrace one possibility after another–that is surely the basic instinct… Time to move out into the glorious debris. Time to take this life for what it is.
“Darkness follows night,” writes the Irish author Dr. Joseph Murphy, “but morning will come again.“
“You do not want things to stand still. Said Murphy. And you also do not want to stand still either, for there are new worlds within and without to conquer.”
The goodness inside you is like a small flame, and you are it’s keeper. It’s your job today and every day to make sure it has enough fuels. And so long as your flame ignite, there will be some light in the world.
Thank you for reading.
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