First Stanza What image in the words “burn and rave” suggest? Why should someone “burn and rave at close of day
The word rage can mean “anger,” but it can also mean “passion”—an outpouring of feeling. How might Thomas have been using both meanings in the poem?
Second Stanza
Though the wise men might “know” that it is time to die, the speaker says that they still fight death because “their words had forked no lightning.” What does this mean?
What images do you see in this stanza?
Third Stanza
These good people cry “how bright their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay.” What does this mean?
What imagery do you see in this stanza?
Fourth Stanza
How might these people have “sang the sun in flight” and then “grieved” it?
What imagery do you see in this stanza?
Fifth Stanza
What images do you see in stanza 5?
Sixth Stanza
Why do all these men not go gently into death?
What role do light and darkness play in the poem?