Saturday, September 17, 2011

What Dylan Said



"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."

—Dylan Thomas


I studied this poem in school. They were only words, then. I was a child. What did I know of getting older? It means something else entirely to me now. I had no clue that life itself, stretching out like an indolent teenager ahead of me, would suddenly begin to gallop. It is sobering to realize that my 93-year-old aunt was only four years older than the age I am now, when I came to New York to attend college. And it feels as if I came to New York only yesterday. Oh, it is all a bad cliche. 

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7 comments:

  1. Yeah. Who knew? We were immortal when we were young. Now, well, we know we are not.

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  2. and it goes on and on and round and round.

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  3. I'm not sure what your take is on Dylan, but I do recall that once upon a time I liked this quote. However, now that I am older, I think it best, for me, to go gently and silently into the night. Death no longer seems like something to fight, but rather something to accept when the time comes.

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  4. This morning the quote makes me think not of raging against anything, but being more for and about life, taking on more of what one loves best...for me reclaiming the art I do and writing oftener. A child, pushing the limits of bedtime, finding little tasks and excuses to stay up just a bit later, make the day just that much longer. I'm not sleepy yet. xo

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  5. Love the poem and I especially love the photograph!!
    Sending you a big hug, my friend ~

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  6. Time is moving swiftly isn't it? I chuckle as I wait for my son to call me on his way home from football practice. It seems like no time has passed at all between these calls, although 4-5 years have passed. He is now the coach and not the player. As much as things change, they also remain the same. Life is such a paradox.

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  7. My son, at age 17, read this at his father's funeral.

    A special power in those words, for me.

    xo

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