Funeral reading

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Dylan Thomas

“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas is a poem read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about a minute and a half read aloud, usually by a guest reader. We do not reprint the words here — the note below says why, and what to bring instead.

Why the words are not printed here

Still in copyright. Print it from a licensed edition. It is an argument against dying quietly — read it first and decide with the family whether it fits this death.

Pieces still in copyright are listed by title and author only — we name them and tell you where to get them, but we do not reproduce the words. Public-domain text is printed in your script in full.

Where it comes from

Thomas wrote the villanelle in 1947 while in Florence, first published it in Botteghe Oscure in 1951, and collected it in In Country Sleep, and Other Poems (New Directions, 1952).

What it says

Thomas urges a dying man, at the end revealed as his father, to fight death with everything he has rather than accept it quietly. He goes through different kinds of men, the wise, the good, the reckless and the serious, and shows each one resisting at the end because they know their lives were not finished. The form is a villanelle, so two refrain lines keep returning and the poem builds like a chant. In the last stanza the son asks his father, in his anger, to curse him or bless him, as long as he fights.

Right for a fighter. Wrong for a peaceful death — read it before you offer it. Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: rage against the dying of the light · a father · fighting · a death that was resisted.

Who it suits

A fighter: someone who resisted illness, lived hard and did not go quietly, or a father whose children want to honor that strength. It is also a fit for a sudden or early death the family is angry about. It is wrong for a peaceful death after a long life, where its message is that death should be resisted.

Where it goes in the ceremony

Usually after the eulogy, when the room has heard who the person was and can hear the anger in it. A son, daughter or old friend reads it best. Follow it with something calmer before the committal.

Reading it aloud

Allow about a minute and a half at a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, from the reader’s first word to their last.

Read it to the family first and ask whether it fits this death. Its argument is that peace is not the right response.
The two refrains carry the poem. Give them the same weight every time; varying them weakens the chant.
The final stanza is personal. Drop the volume a little there so it becomes a son speaking to his father.

Questions about reading it aloud

How long does “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” take to read aloud?

“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” takes about a minute and a half read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.

Who usually reads “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”?

Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” runs about a minute and a half, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.

Can “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” be printed in a ceremony script?

Not by us. Still in copyright. Print it from a licensed edition. It is an argument against dying quietly — read it first and decide with the family whether it fits this death.

A reading is two minutes of the hour.

The rest is the welcome, the life, the remembrances, the committal — and knowing what comes next. Answer some questions about them and get the whole service, written out, with this reading in its place.

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