Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas' 1951 poem, Do Not Go Gentle into the Night, was an ode to his dying father.
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The title line appears as a refrain throughout. The poem has been used extensively in popular culture and its message echoes the pervasive sentiment that one must defy death at any age. In the poem, Thomas exhorts his dying father not to be meek when facing the end, but rather to “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” He beseeches us to be unyielding as we fight a battle in which no mortal can prevail. Among my patients, the waging of the anticancer fight is often seen as paramount and, as is so often encountered in Palliative Medicine overall, the loss of this war as death ensues is sadly viewed as personal and medical inadequacy; succumbing to the night.
Here, in tribute to the human spirit and Dylan Thomas, is an alternative stance: To go gentle into that good night.
Gently insinuate into that beneficent night,
Ancients may cry that they cannot stay,
Still and tranquil ebb into the fading light.
The sage are aware of their fleeting plight
Because their being has lightened they
Can gently move into the kindness of night.
Blessed ones past the swell and clamorous fight,
Wondrous selves turning from the luminous fray,
Receive and accept the waning of the light.
The lively that touched the sun despite fright,
And learned with time to lament and sway,
Are gently urged to the embracing night.
Those who approach the end with clear sight,
Eyes shining as comets and remembering the day,
Peacefully recede into the wilting light.
And you, my patient, rested on the mortal kite,
Lift me now with your knowing calm, I say,
Be gently cloaked by that fine night.
And drift serenely into the vanishing light.
