e. The opening line, "Do not go gentle into that good night," contains an euphemistic metonymy for death. "That good night" is a word association for death, but is described as "good" in order to overcome the negative connotation usually attached with the idea of death. Also, the word "gentle" which is an adjective, is used instead of "gently," the adverb which more commonly would be used. Thomas does both of these and is found describing the man and providing a tighter bond to the poem.In the line, "Old age should burn and rave at close of day", "old age" can be seen as personification, but can also be interpreted as metonymy for his father. "Burn and rave" are strong emotions Thomas feels his father should take against "the close of the day" which is a metaphor for death. In the second stanza, the phrase "dark is right" represents a concise acknowledgement of the intellectual recognition how death is unavoidable; however, the awareness that his father's words had "forked no lightning" is a metaphor for the failure to influence the powerful and brilliant forces in society (Grolier 231).In the next stanza, the line "Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay", the poet is now using imagery with the waters, however it can also be a metaphorical representation of life due to the fact green is frequently representing the vital and fertile elements of human life. Therefore, frail deeds have failed to enter into the stream of life. Thomas is saying that although his father is a good man, he had never experienced fully the joys life has to offer.Throughout the rest of the poem, Thomas uses metonymy, metaphors, and imagery to convey his idea about his father's death. Thomas writes "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears." Both the curse and the bless are metaphors. He feels the curse is the father's rage which has been passed to Dylan Thomas in the form of insecurity about his own achievements. Thomas feels he has also...
