Thomas, Dylan -- “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” (1947)

Dave — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 18:38:10 +0000

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.

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) Welsh poet and writer
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” (1947)
(Source)

First published in Botteghe Oscure (Nov 1951).

Auden, W. H. -- “Stop All the Clocks [Funeral Blues],” st. 3 (1936)

Dave — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:51:26 +0000

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

W. H. Auden (1907-1973) Anglo-American poet [Wystan Hugh Auden]
“Stop All the Clocks [Funeral Blues],” st. 3 (1936)
(Source)

This stanza is not in the original version of the poem, for the verse play The Ascent of F6 (1936) (with Christopher Isherwood).

Instead, it appears in the revised cabaret song that Auden wrote in 1937-1938. It is this latter version, less tied to the play, that is commonly collected, and that gained popularity when recited in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).

WIST Quotations

Thomas, Dylan -- “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” (1947)

Auden, W. H. -- “Stop All the Clocks [Funeral Blues],” st. 3 (1936)