<P> "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in the form of a villanelle, and the most famous work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914--1953). Though first published in the journal Botteghe Oscure in 1951, it was written in 1947 when he was in Florence with his family . It was published, along with other stories previously written, as part of his In Country Sleep, And Other Poems in 1952 . </P> <P> It has been suggested that it 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 which appears as a refrain throughout . Its other refrain is "Rage, rage against the dying of the light". </P>

Who said do not go gentle into that good night