Laudate_Dominum Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 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. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 P.S. Typing this from my phone so unwilling to reproduce the complete poem. Forgive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Something I don't like about this poem, not sure what it is. I like a few lines from Robinson Jeffers' "Shine, Perishing Republic" in contrast: life is good, be it stubbornly long or suddenly A mortal splendor: meteors are not needed less than mountains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 btw was this featured in Interstellar? Haven't seen the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 (edited) It was quoted in Interstellar a few times. Once would have been enough. (It quickly felt cliche.) I saw the film with a fellow pmer who didn't like the (supposed) suggestion that we ought to sanction something other than a peaceful and pious death, and I disagreed. That is the impetus of this thread. Edited December 22, 2014 by Laudate_Dominum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 It was quoted in Interstellar a few times. Once would have been enough. (It quickly felt cliche.) I saw the film with a fellow pmer who didn't like the (supposed) suggestion that we ought to sanction something other than a peaceful and pious death, and I disagreed. That is the impetus of this thread. hmmmm. I don't think it necessarily has to be peaceful and pious, but "rage" maybe is too strong and why I don't like the poem. Closure of some sort is important. The light never dies, it just gets passed on (or at least that's my idea of a happy death). At close of day a new day is not far off. What's the thematic context that Interstellar uses it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PartesVulpiumErunt Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 "Death can be met as an enemy, or it can be met as a friend. It should never be met as a stranger." - Francis Quarles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollinaris Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I've always disliked that poem. The only person who would "rage" at death is the one who doesn't believe that anything comes after, or someone who knows he's headed for hell. St. Augustine: “Fire, water, the sword, and the power of princes may be resisted ; but death cannot be resisted” We should accept death in whatever manner and time God pleases to send it. And at that time we should not fear death, but embrace it with joy, because it means union with God at last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollinaris Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 - But I can see what one might mean, in regards to a cancer patient for instance, struggling for survival. Thinking of the poem in that light, I think I can appreciate it more. God is the only one who can give death, and so as long as we can live, God wants us to live. It's even our obligation to try to keep living. When he wants us to die, He'll take away the possibility for survival. The exception would be when a person willingly lays down their life in selfless sacrifice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 - But I can see what one might mean, in regards to a cancer patient for instance, struggling for survival. Thinking of the poem in that light, I think I can appreciate it more. God is the only one who can give death, and so as long as we can live, God wants us to live. It's even our obligation to try to keep living. When he wants us to die, He'll take away the possibility for survival. The exception would be when a person willingly lays down their life in selfless sacrifice. You made me think of this scene in Breaking Bad: Walt spends the whole show "living" in response to his cancer diagnosis, later pleading with them not to kill Hank, while Hank stoically accepts the end as the inevitable, but keeps his honor in doing so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST BERNARD Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 I think sometimes a person needs to 'rage against the dying of the light' - especially as anger is a stage of grieving. But a person needs to be helped out of that stage eventually, to reconcile themselves to the fact and to move onto acceptance. Even Catholics don't always 'go softly into that good night' because they hold vigils and pray to saints to intercede and ask God to cure them - and many of those prayers are answered - hence the miracle cures attributed to those who are canonized. This is the 'bargaining' stage of grief. Sometimes those prayers are answered and sometimes they aren't, and a person then needs to move on out of the bargaining phase into acceptance. Perhaps when that poem was written, the person was still in their anger phase and needed to express it - but it can't be the last word on death by any means. It's really beautiful when a dying person reaches a stage of peace about their life and their death, and I have seen this in some dying people - it really is an inspiration. I asked one person who was dying if they had any regrets about their life, and they said, No, they had 'reconciled everything.' This is where I hope to be when I die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 I read somewhere, a long time ago, that Thomas wrote that poem about/to his father, not about himself. So it's the poem of a younger man (Thomas died just after he turned 39), addressed to his father. The father may have been more accepting of his impending death than the son was. Thomas was also a raging drinker, if not alcoholic. Rage was apparently his modus operandi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST BERNARD Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 (edited) I read somewhere, a long time ago, that Thomas wrote that poem about/to his father, not about himself. So it's the poem of a younger man (Thomas died just after he turned 39), addressed to his father. The father may have been more accepting of his impending death than the son was. Thomas was also a raging drinker, if not alcoholic. Rage was apparently his modus operandi. That makes a lot of sense. If his father was accepting but he didn't feel ready to let go of his father, then his rage could have been terrible, and the sense of loss. I was fortunate that I had time to adjust to the death of my parents before they died, and both of them were at peace when it happened. I think if one wasn't ready to let go of a dying loved one, then their pain might feel almost unbearable. Edited January 13, 2015 by ST BERNARD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritasluxmea Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 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. Thoughts? As times I've found this poem both inspiring and despairing. It has a message of fighting on, even if there's no hope, even if death is inevitable. It kind of begs the question "why keep on fighting? Why not just give in?" and the poem doesn't answer it, just says to press onward with fighting. It sounds like he's begging someone who is ready to surrender to keep fighting anyways (and knowing the background of the poem, he is). So, it's inspiring and depressing at the same time. This reminds me of Brittany Maynard, the women who committed assisted suicide after being diagnosed with cancer. As a Catholic I disagree with her decision but I'm not posting this to get into a debate. I think this poem brings up a lot of feelings family members of the dying person feel when facing end-of-life decisions (hospice here or at home? Keep up treatment until the end or stop and allow the process to happen as it does? what about afterwords?). Everyone faces the same questions and make decisions about it, for better or worse. It would be great if it was always a clear process and everyone felt like they made the right decisions, but it's not. You can know you made the best decisions, know there is life after death and hope for the dying and have faith in Christ, and it still feels wrong. Due to human weakness and the conditions of life, you still feel despair. Even if the person who's actually dying is more peaceful and surrendered than you are, that how you, the person going through it with them, feels. The notes of despair in the poem used to make me feel uncomfortable but I understand the son's perspective now. It is an uncomfortable poem because it's an uncomfortable situation to be in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 You made me think of this scene in Breaking Bad: Walt spends the whole show "living" in response to his cancer diagnosis, later pleading with them not to kill Hank, while Hank stoically accepts the end as the inevitable, but keeps his honor in doing so. :cry4: Saddest part of breaking bad! Thats all I have to say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now