The twentieth century produced no greater poet than Dylan Thomas (1914-1953). And Thomas produced no poem more powerful or impassioned than \u201cDo Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.\u201d You read that right: Thomas said \u201cgentle,\u201d not \u201cgently.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the poem Thomas exhorts his dying father not to be meek when facing the end, but rather to \u201cRage, rage against the dying of the light.\u201d<\/p>\n
The poem\u2019s title is also its opening line, a line which since its first appearance in 1951 has been \u201cimproved\u201d by a host of armchair grammarians who prefer gently<\/em>.<\/p>\n It happened again last week, in a sentence written by a damn good journalist: \u201cYou know what Dylan Thomas wrote about going gently into that good night.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2007 documentary called \u201cDo Not Go Gently\u201d received the Gold World Medal in Humanities at the New York Festivals Film and Video Awards. I am sure the film is a fine piece of work, despite its bungled title.<\/p>\n An Internet search turned up this article: \u201cPoem Analysis of \u2018Do Not Go Gently into That Good Night\u2019 by Dylan Thomas.\u201d One can only hope that the heedless chowderhead who wrote that heading did not also write the essay. But just to be on the safe side, I didn\u2019t read a word of it.<\/p>\n Another online expert proclaims: \u201cOK, Dylan Thomas gets a pass, but if he were still in school and that were an assignment, his teacher would probably take off points. It should read, \u2018Do not go gently.\u2019 \u201d Well, no, actually it shouldn\u2019t. This mastermind is the one who needs a remedial English class.<\/p>\n In Thomas\u2019s poem, go<\/em> is an action verb<\/strong> (see short essay below), which is why these clueless critics insist on the adverb gently<\/em>. True, we modify action verbs with adverbs, but certain sentences complicate the issue. We could say Don\u2019t go into that meeting angrily<\/em>, but we could just as properly say Don\u2019t go into that meeting angry<\/em>.<\/p>\n Action verbs and adjectives combine forces all the time. In Joe sanded the table smooth<\/em>, the adjective smooth<\/em> describes table<\/em>, not sanded<\/em>. Same with The book is lying open<\/em>: no one would argue for the adverb openly<\/em>, even though is lying <\/em>is an action verb.<\/p>\n There is a subtle but pronounced difference between go gentle<\/em> and go gently<\/em>. And great poetry raises subtlety to an art form.<\/p>\n Thomas would never have chosen gently <\/em>because it trivializes and vitiates his message. As an adverb, gently <\/em>lasts only as long as the action it describes. Thomas is concerned with much more than one finite action. By choosing gentle <\/em>((Do not go gentle = “This is no time for you to be gentle”), Thomas puts the focus on you<\/em>, all of you; all of us. He implores us to be tenacious and unwavering as we brace for the battle no mortal will ever win.<\/p>\n \u2014Tom Stern<\/em><\/p>\n Action Verbs and Linking Verbs<\/strong><\/p>\n Main verbs fall into two broad categories: action verbs<\/strong> and linking verbs<\/strong>. In a sentence with an action verb, A does<\/em> B. In a sentence with a linking verb, A is<\/em> or is like<\/em> B.<\/p>\n An action verb describes something being done (He left <\/strong>home<\/em>) or taking place (The building collapsed<\/strong><\/em>). A linking verb is a kind of equal sign. It connects a noun with an adjective (They appeared <\/strong>restless<\/em>) or with another noun (Bill was being <\/strong>a jerk<\/em>), or it fleshes out the subject (I remain<\/strong> your friend always<\/em>).<\/p>\n Where action verbs take adverbs, linking verbs require adjectives. This is why it is incorrect to say I feel badly<\/strong> about what I said<\/em>. When feel <\/em>is a linking verb, we feel bad <\/em>(adjective), not badly <\/em>(adverb); we only feel badly when our hands are numb. And when we feel with our hands, feel <\/em>is an action verb.<\/p>\n Many verbs we think of as action verbs can sometimes be linking verbs. In They were getting breakfast<\/em>, it\u2019s clear that were getting<\/em> is an action verb. But They were getting sleepy<\/em> makes were getting<\/em> a linking verb.<\/p>\n Pop Quiz<\/strong> 1. She looked fond of her husband.<\/em> 2. She looked fondly at her husband.<\/em> 3. Katie says that when she and Ana grow older, they will grow the best tomatoes in the county.<\/em> 4. When I turned to reply, her face turned red.<\/em> Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. She looked fond of her husband.<\/em> 2. She looked fondly at her husband.<\/em> 3. Katie says that when she and Ana grow older, they will grow the best tomatoes in the county.<\/em> 4. When I turned to reply, her face turned red.<\/em> The twentieth century produced no greater poet than Dylan Thomas (1914-1953). And Thomas produced no poem more powerful or impassioned than \u201cDo Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.\u201d You read that right: Thomas said \u201cgentle,\u201d not \u201cgently.\u201d In the poem Thomas exhorts his dying father not to be meek when facing the end, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,12,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives-adverbs","category-effective-writing","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}* * * * * * * * * * * * *<\/strong><\/pre>\n
\nCan you tell linking verbs from action verbs? Answers are below.<\/p>\n
\nA) In this sentence looked<\/em> is a linking verb.
\nB) In this sentence looked<\/em> is an action verb.<\/p>\n
\nA) In this sentence looked<\/em> is a linking verb.
\nB) In this sentence looked<\/em> is an action verb.<\/p>\n
\nA) The first grow<\/em> is a linking verb; the second grow<\/em> is an action verb.
\nB) The first grow<\/em> is an action verb; the second grow<\/em> is a linking verb.
\nC) Both the first and second grow<\/em> are linking verbs.
\nD) Both the first and second grow<\/em> are action verbs.<\/p>\n
\nA) The first turned<\/em> is a linking verb; the second turned<\/em> is an action verb.
\nB) The first turned<\/em> is an action verb; the second turned<\/em> is a linking verb.
\nC) Both the first and second turned<\/em> are linking verbs.
\nD) Both the first and second turned<\/em> are action verbs.<\/p>\n
\nA) In this sentence, looked<\/em> is a linking verb. (She = fond)<\/p>\n
\nB) In this sentence, looked<\/em> is an action verb.<\/p>\n
\nA) The first grow<\/em> is a linking verb; the second grow<\/em> is an action verb.<\/p>\n
\nB) The first turned<\/em> is an action verb; the second turned<\/em> is a linking verb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"