Poem | Do not go gentle into that good night (Turkish Translation)

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” is a villanelle—a strictly patterned kind of formal poetry. Villanelles are written in tercets and follow an interlocking, repetitive structure. The first stanza of a villanelle is very important because its first and third lines establish the two refrains that will repeat throughout the poem. Here, those two lines are "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." This specific villanelle is also written in iambic pentameter and follows the standard rhyme scheme for a villanelle, ABA. I tried to achieve that rhyme.

Though first published in the journal Botteghe Oscure in 1951, it was written in 1947 when Thomas was in Florence with his family. It was published, along with other stories previously written, as part of Thomas' In Country Sleep, And Other Poems of 1952. The poem was also included in Collected Poems, 1934–1952, first published by Dent in 1952.

It has been suggested that the poem was written for Thomas' dying father, although he did not die until just before Christmas 1952. It has no title other than its first line, "Do not go gentle into that good night", a line that appears as a refrain throughout the poem along with its other refrain, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light". The poem currently remains under copyright, although the text is available online.

M.A. Munir

Mavi Boncuk |

Dylan Thomas ( 1914 - 1953 )[1]

Poem | Do not go gentle into that good night (Turkish Translation)

Note: This was a poem with no title and was popularized by it's first line. The night being a metaphor for the end of the day meaning death.

M.A Munir February 09, 2021 | Dylan Thomas | Cevat Capan (1933-    )

Uysalca gitmeyin o güzel geceye, | Do not go gentle into that good night, | Gel gitme usulca iyi geceye,

Yaşlılık gün sonunda tutuşmalı ve çıldirmalıdır | Old age should burn and rave at close of day; | Yaşlılık tutuşup çıldırsın gün kavuşurken;

Haykır, haykır ışığın yitişine. | Rage, rage against the dying of the light. | Bağır, bağır öfkeyle ışığın tükenişine.

Doğrulasa de bilgeler sonlarında karanlık o geceye | Though wise men at their end know dark is right, | Bilgeler gecenin er geç geleceğini bilseler bile,

Nedense kelimelerinde bir ışık parlamasa da onların | Because their words had forked no lightning they | Şimşek çakmadığı için göklerde onların sözlerinden

Uysalca gitmeyin o güzel geceye,  | Do not go gentle into that good night. | Gitmezler usulca iyi geceye.

İyi adamlar, nasıl da ağlayarak son vedada, gidişine | Good men, the last wave by, crying how | İyiler vedalaşır ve yeşil bir körfezde

Yetersiz çabaları dans etmişse de yeşil bir koyda, | Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, | Son direnişlerinin dans edebileceğine ağlarlarken,

Haykır, haykır ışığın yitişine. | Rage, rage against the dying of the light. | Bağırır, bağırırlar öfkeyle ışığın tükenişine.

Yabani adamlar ezgileriyle eskiden tuttuklari giden güneşe, | Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, | Güneşi yakalayıp öven azgın kişiler türkülerinde

Ve öğrenince, çok geç, yadsıyıp artik gittiginde | And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, | Onun yasını da tuttuklarını geç öğrediklerinden

Uysalca gitmeyin o güzel geceye,  | Do not go gentle into that good night, | Gitmezler usulca iyi geceye.

Vakur adamlar, anlayinca  yamacında ölümün kör edişine | Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight | Ölüm yaklaşıp kör eder gibi onlara gösterince

Görmeyen gözler alevli göktaşları gibi ve şen | Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, | Kör gözlerin de göktaşı gibi ışıyıp coşacağını sevinçten,

Haykır, haykır ışığın yitişine. | Rage, rage against the dying of the light. | Bağır, bağır öfkeyle ışığın tükenişine.

Ve sen, babam, orada hüzünlü  o yükselişine, | And you, my father, there on the sad height, | Ve sen, babacığım, o hüzünlü tepede,

Lanetle, kutsa beni şimdi öfkeli gözyaşlarınla, duacıyım. | Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.| Küfret, kutsa beni taşan gözyaşlarınla içten,

Uysalca gitme o güzel geceye, | Do not go gentle into that good night, | Gel gitme usulca iyi geceye.

Haykır, haykır ışığın yitişine. | Rage, rage against the dying of the light. | Bağır, bağır öfkeyle ışığın tükenişine.

[1] Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953)  was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion"; the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood; and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became widely popular in his lifetime and remained so after his premature death at the age of 39 in New York City.

"In his life he avoided becoming involved with literary groups or movements, and unlike other prominent writers of the 1930s—such as W.H. Auden and Stephen Spender, for example—he had little use for socialistic ideas in his art. Thomas can be seen as an extension into the 20th century of the general movement called Romanticism, particularly in its emphasis on imagination, emotion, intuition, spontaneity, and organic form. Considered to be one of the greatest Welsh poets of all time, Thomas is largely known for his imaginative use of language and vivid imagery in his poems.

Like James Joyce before him, Dylan Thomas was obsessed with words—with their sound and rhythm and especially with their possibilities for multiple meanings. This richness of meaning, an often illogical and revolutionary syntax, and catalogues of cosmic and sexual imagery render Thomas’s early poetry original and difficult. In a letter to Richard Church, Thomas commented on what he considered some of his own excesses: “Immature violence, rhythmic monotony, frequent muddle-headedness, and a very much overweighted imagery that leads often to incoherence.” Similarly, in a letter to Glyn Jones, he wrote: “My own obscurity is quite an unfashionable one, based, as it is, on a preconceived symbolism derived (I’m afraid all this sounds wooly and pretentious) from the cosmic significance of the human anatomy...The range of  (his) interpretations was summarized by R.B. Kershner Jr., in Dylan Thomas: The Poet and His Critics: “He has been called a pagan, a mystic, and a humanistic agnostic; his God has been identified with Nature, Sex, Love, Process, the Life Force, and with Thomas himself.

On July 11, 1937, Thomas married dancer Caitlin Macnamara; they were penniless and lacked the blessings of their parents. After spending some time with each of their reluctant families, they moved to a borrowed house in Laugharne, Wales. This fishing village became their permanent address, though they lived in many temporary dwellings in England and Wales through the war years and after, until Thomas’s death in 1953. The borrowing of houses and money became recurring events in their married life together. Korg associated these external circumstances in the poet’s life with his artistic development: “Thomas’s time of settling in Laugharne coincides roughly with the period when his poetry began to turn outward; his love for Caitlin, the birth of his first child, Llewellyn, responses to the Welsh countryside and its people, and ultimately events of the war began to enter his poetry as visible subjects.” SOURCE