With particular attention to the use of metaphor, how could it be argued that Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night should be included in the literary canon?Traditionally, texts within the literary canon are considered to be so due to different factors such as complexity, value and language. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas may be considered to be a text worthy of canonic status. The use of extended metaphor contributes greatly to this conclusion, especially as the subject of the metaphor is highly universal and important.

The poem takes the form of a villanelle, a medieval structure originating in French poetry. This could be seen as complex, as conforming to such a strict structure would be technically challenging; there are only two rhymes, A and B, each line must be in iambic pentameter, and certain lines and phrases should be repeated periodically throughout the poem. The extended metaphor representing the emotional subject matter of death is reinforced through the repetitive nature of the structure, with words associated with negativity, such as death and dark, being repeated within the repeated lines emphasising the metaphor. Thomas message of fighting against death is also reinforced through this constant repetition, allowing the reader to draw more of a definitive conclusion as to what the poet is attempting to convey. The metaphor of death is highlighted with the phrase dying of the light. Not only does this realise the natural human aversion to darkness, it also brings to attention the metaphor of light representing life and goodness. That good night arouses the implication of death appearing good, almost inviting; this could be seen as a dead metaphor, in a way, as throughout history death has been viewed as the end of suffering.Within the poem, the message realised is that one should not embrace death; rather it is a force to be denied. This theme of death would be instrumental in giving the poem canonic status due to its universal nature. Death is also considered to be serious and somewhat philosophical, as the addressing of such is the addressing of the unknown; that which is beyond full human comprehension. It is possible to draw complexity from this topic, as death is emphasised through the strong, juxtaposing light and dark imagery. The sun, lightening and meteors, each one evoking connotations with the forces of light and energy, strongly oppose the almost monotonous repetition of night and dying of the light as representations of death, through both the variety of positive language and strength of this same imagery. Socially, light is associated with heaven and dark with hell, which helps towards the moral of the poem because of this prominent light verses dark essence of the poem, along with the strength of the light against the plain, and therefore weaker, portrayal of darkness. Burn and rave each give pronounced energy to this battle against death, their monosyllabic nature, and therefore rapid delivery, adding to this effect. Not only do these seem energetic, but they give a commanding sense to the poem. The imperative do not is repeated four times within the poem, five if the title is included. Rage, rage again has a commanding feel, with the repetition echoing the strict confines of the villanelle structure as well as emphasising the order delivered by the speaker. Thomas mentions the sad height of his fathers position. This could be literally symbolic of a raised sick bed, metaphorically distancing him from those he holds close, towards heaven (relating to the previous point about heaven). However, it may also be viewed that this sad height relates more to the emotion felt towards the nearing death. In this case, height would relate to priority; generally, ill family members are those of concern, therefore whilst Thomas father is of priority, it is upsetting that he is so. Not only does this metaphor, whichever image it is seen as to be representative of, continue with the extended metaphor of death, but complexity and applicability of message are addressed. Thomas has written of a personal image, however, due to death being common and experienced second hand by many, it is possible for the reader to relate to the sad height of Thomas father, thus adding justification to the poem being included in the literary canon.The message is also addressed through the use of four types of men; the good, wise, wild and grave. Each of these men, generalisations of the population, have different views on how death should be met. The wild men caught and sang the sun in flight have done a lot within their lives, the wise realised that their words...forked no lightening and so on, and as a result each on realises too late that death has come. Within each of these short metaphors are more efforts to fight the dying of the light. The wise intend for their words to fork...lightening, or ignite a spark of inspiration within others. As previously mention, lightening is an example ferociously energetic language; in the sense of metaphor, it juxtaposes darkness, and within canonical writing it proves the complex nature of the language used. Furthermore, the use of multiple types of people allows for Thomas to give an insight to the natural grieving processes undertaken by humans upon the death of others, or before ones own death, which differs to the views upon how death should be met.Metaphor is a great contributor to Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Nights inclusion within the literary canon. The extended metaphor of rejecting and fighting death, as opposed to the traditional view of embracing it as a release, is a prominent feature in the poem due to the repetitive nature of the villanelle. The villanelle also conveys the needed complexity to define a poem as being within the canon, because abiding to such a strict form is technically challenging. As a subject matter, death is also highly complex and, in this case, universal, thus furthering the plausibility of defining the poem as being in the literary canon. An aesthetically pleasing piece, Thomas poem draws together many aspects shown in other pieces of the canon, legitimising Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night as a piece of poetic literary canon.