I imagine some of us need to hear this today
Posted by Important_Crew8890@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 113 comments
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.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
HighBiased@reddit
by Dylan Thomas
(It's always good to list the author of any piece you post or quote)
Kylearean@reddit
-Michael Scott
HighBiased@reddit
That's what she said
Ambitious-Buy-654@reddit
Haha
FillQueasy9596@reddit
That’s the one poem from my youth that I remember. It’s always stuck with me.
MrRemoto@reddit
Thornton, what does that poem mean to you?
It means... I don't take shit from no one.
MorganFerdinand@reddit
Fabulous GenX-er Michael Sheen performing the poem, Welsh as fuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-sM-t1KI_Y
summonthegods@reddit
I came to post this!
Elbomac87@reddit
Was hoping to find this here!
gothfru@reddit
Can here to make sure this was posted. Man. That guy.
MorganFerdinand@reddit
Have you seen his inspirational rugby speech? Made me want to follow him into battle
Lizzieanne68@reddit
Wow!!! This is amazing!
tjbmurph@reddit
I should have read further before posting the link myself ❤️
MorganFerdinand@reddit
You can never have too much Michael Sheen <3
tjbmurph@reddit
Agreed 😊
bonepugsandharmony@reddit
That made me tear up.
MorganFerdinand@reddit
Sheen is amazing. He's done other Dylan Thomas poems and it's always a treat. There's always so much raw emotion
warrior_poet95834@reddit
No doubt. I am 19 days from retirement and getting into the shower this morning took almost an hour. It’s like my body knows. 🤷♂️
udoneoguri@reddit
Happy retirement! I hope you get to enjoy it!
warrior_poet95834@reddit
Thx. I will be a day past 59 1/2 and I’m already watching some of my colleagues die off.
udoneoguri@reddit
It's terribly depressing, huh? My grandmother's generation (Depression-era baby) seems to have done better than Gen X, at least anecdotally. She died in her mid-90s, before her son (my dad, who was only 66). And given my current, substantial health problems, I am fairly confident I won't last as long as her. I'm just hoping I can last as my dad did.
warrior_poet95834@reddit
I’m planning on living to be about 90 I guess we’ll see.
Lanky-Perspective995@reddit
Got my AARP mailing this summer, and was completely bummed. Asking myself whether I have any business wearing a Nevermore Academy lapel pin.
ErinRedWolf@reddit
I got one of those from AARP when I was in my 30s. 😂
SocialSyphilis@reddit
I'm single and ready to mingle, old ladies of genx. 🤣
ErinRedWolf@reddit
Uh, no thanks. 😅
JayMac1915@reddit
Not mine
ErinRedWolf@reddit
I REFUSE
Miami_Vice_75@reddit
That's great but I prefer this one...
"What do we say to the God of Death?" "Not today."
IronBallsMcChing@reddit
Surely I'm not the only one who read this in Rodney Dangerfield's voice?
JuicyApple2023@reddit
Nah. I’ll be taking as many naps as possible. I’ll be watching as many streaming shows and movies as possible. I’ll be doing nothing as much as possible.
GrumpySnarf@reddit
Gay meteors is what I got out of that but I haven't had my coffee yet.
Bagoong4Lyfe@reddit
Also from Dylan Thomas, the last lines of "Fern Hill":
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
FullyFunctional3086@reddit
Damn ok...how can this be so powerful
Bagoong4Lyfe@reddit
It was one of the first poems I memorized: https://poets.org/poem/fern-hill.
I think I was 19 or so when I memorized it. It hits harder every year.
DetectiveStrong318@reddit
You know this hits different than it did in high-school
goishen@reddit
Re-read 1984, or Lord Of The Flies. It'll hit you different. That's because it was made for adults. Not teenagers writing a book report.
Lanky-Perspective995@reddit
It's shocking the stuff they have kids reading in middle and high school, stuff I read in college.
DetectiveStrong318@reddit
I did re-read 1984 about a year before the 2020 election and boy its crazy how Orwell was only off by about 40 years. When they started say that January 6th was just people touring the capital. I was like omg it's happening they are re-writing history.
Lord of the flies made me sad the and it would probably make me desolate now.
Schyznik@reddit
I don’t get the part about being blind and gay.
Redebo@reddit
Grave men (near death and conscious of it) in the last moment of their lives, eyes burning bright of all of the knowledge they've "seen" throughout their lives, so much that it blinds them, even those men who know the inevitable end is near, their eyes can be gay (happy) and shine as bright as meteors ENRAGED against the dying of the light.
That's my take at least.
FullyFunctional3086@reddit
Exactly. No DNR for me, resuscitate my ass until I'm GOOD AND DEAD.
BeLikeDogs@reddit
So good. Thanks for posting.
Agitated-Result-4029@reddit
Mmm, pass.
HildegardeBrasscoat@reddit
Who died?
Very_Annoying_Person@reddit
Jesus, we’re not that old. When baby boomers were our age, they were just beginning to permanently stand in our way.
laygo109@reddit
I first heard it in the movie Dangerous Minds. It's by Dylan Thomas, isn't it? I keep a copy of it on my phone.
hamlet_d@reddit
I'm raging against the machine instead.
Important_Crew8890@reddit (OP)
Is it a wifi router?
jakeblountknows@reddit
😂
hamlet_d@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9wsjroVlu8
orthogonius@reddit
Right up there with "First Fig" by Edna St. Vincent Millay
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!
Moondra3x3-6@reddit
THORmonger71@reddit
Dr_Feelgoof@reddit
exactly!
Equivalent-Stable347@reddit
Say it! Say it!
syn-ack-fin@reddit
He didn’t let a little old age stop him.
SonoranRadiance@reddit
Triple Lindy!
Miyagidog@reddit
Trees_are_cool_@reddit
France is bacon
ElectricBirdVault@reddit
This will only ever be Rodney Dangerfield for me.
Fah-or?
Just-Ice3916@reddit
Max_Gerber@reddit
This.
Immediate-Echo-8863@reddit
... and what does that mean to you?
It means... that I don't take shit from nobody. I'm gonna pass! Who's next?
MotoXwolf@reddit
Nice Rodney. Now go back to school!
AMGRN@reddit
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT!
TealTemptress@reddit
Ha I just signed my husband up for a 9 day PMP boot camp. I was like man you need to learn some shit.
TLKimball@reddit
Project Management? I pray for his soul.
TealTemptress@reddit
He’s 62, I can fix him!
roostorx@reddit
You still gotta nail the Triple Lindy or else the redemption arc fails.
Mysterious-Town-3789@reddit
That's how I read it! 😁
Moondra3x3-6@reddit
Winner of the day!👆
OkIron6206@reddit
Dylan Thomas Thank you
Reasonable-Cheek-214@reddit
Context? I've been out of pocket all day.
Western-Calendar-352@reddit
I prefer to Rave, Rave against the dying of the light
rocketfait@reddit
I was never really into rave, but if y'all can swing an industrial/goth nite, I am THERE!
Jack_Stands@reddit
Call somebody when you get to "The Death of the Turret Ball Gunner" in AP. Me and my friends are going to the Zeppelin laser light show at the planetarium on Friday. Carl says he's gonna trip balls.
Dphre@reddit
I found that one randomly. Talk about grim.
TheHoodieConnoisseur@reddit
“When I died, they washed me out of the turret with a hose.”
That’s so fucking hard.
One a related note, the guy who wrote “I Have a Rendezvous With Death” died in the war like a couple of weeks after he wrote that. Talk about heavy.
Jack_Stands@reddit
Yep. Now that's some GenX.
JamesPage1968@reddit
Speaking of Rave, have a listen to the cover of Buddy Holly’s RAVE ON performed by Steeleye Span. It’s pretty good.
Stevie_Rave_On@reddit
Speaking of Rave On, my username is my favorite guitarist besides your username.
JamesPage1968@reddit
We are brothers from another mother.
CaptainZippi@reddit
And how are your knees today? ;)
Western-Calendar-352@reddit
Completely shot, thanks. 😁
Neoprene knee supports for the win, from my Ultimate Frisbee playing days.
Musicman1972@reddit
His old age ended before he turned 40 so I'm not sure he'd understand what we need at all.
No_Elephant541@reddit
agreed. to put it into today's terms, yes we do need these 80yr old fuckers running the world to burn off and disintegrate into the night. the poem doesn't work anymore.
FrannyFray@reddit
I will party every day no matter the cost! Next time Post Punk Jazz dancing!
FrauAmarylis@reddit
Nah, I’m not taking any advice from a Raging Alcoholic whose alcoholism contributed to his death by pneumonia at age 39.
Important_Crew8890@reddit (OP)
Sounds like someone I should heed warnings from :)
Weird-one0926@reddit
I didn't know I needed this today, thanks universe 🌌
bougnvioletrosemallo@reddit
Ok, but I just want to wear sweat pants, do a lot of leisure reading and jigsaw puzzles, watch movies, take naps, take lots of long walks in the park, maybe take some spa/schvitz days, and have my estate planning/living will/DNR in order, into the dying of the light.
I don't want to rage or rave. That is too much. I don't wanna do all that.
mprieur@reddit
Im going to have a good night System of a down and deftones yesss gen exers
Apprehensive-Cat-421@reddit
Dunno about you, but I've been twenty for at least twenty years now... I was born old, but I'll never GET old.
Yeah, I was raised on Bob Dylan. I know who I am.
dcpanthersfan@reddit
I read that to my dog a few weeks ago as we said goodbye.
Economy-Cantaloupe42@reddit
Love this poem. It's even better when you watch Michael Sheen recite it. Michael Sheen
TheMajesticJoeJoe@reddit
Rage face, just keep the eyes, then smile. This is my professional face and I get what I want. Fuck them.
New_Perception_7838@reddit
None of us (generation X) is old yet.
I mean, nobody in our generation is even over 60!
Mako_@reddit
Organ music intensifies
DogsAreOurFriends@reddit
Chin up. Eat right. Go to doc. Way less drink. Hit the gym.
Little-Efficiency336@reddit
I think about this quote a lot.
3RaccoonsAvecTCoat@reddit
If you are going to quote something, you should really actually mention what you are quoting by name and author, at least...
3shadesoftea@reddit
Sorry, I lost track. This is about which icon death? Or is it a general call because * gestures at everything *?
tjbmurph@reddit
Michael Sheen does an amazing reading of this: https://youtu.be/w-sM-t1KI_Y?feature=shared
fietsvrouw@reddit
Do credit Dylan Thomas at the end though.
ChroniclesOfSarnia@reddit
Don't I know it.
I sing the sun in flight
I sing red moon at night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiXnfJ2aXdk
mandapandapantz@reddit
Thank you
Zealousideal-Help594@reddit
Might have to watch Dangerous Minds. It's been a while.
Fun-Distribution-159@reddit
Jack_Stands@reddit
I'm a little busy smoking behind the gym, not dressing out. Cool words. Go to drama class, and watch some dead poet movie. Your teacher is as bored as... Nevermind. Found the dummy who stole weed from his brother. Later.
OGWeedKiller@reddit
MorningAngel420@reddit
Whatever 🙄
Imaginary_Tower_4939@reddit
Love this poem.