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.



1939 Dylan Thomas

I did a sort-of metrical / alliteration / rhyme study on this poem, which lives in a text document. It could be spoken several different ways. Many, infact - performance is very open to interpretation. My version here is less naturally spoken, but highlights the repetitive elements, which to me are so alluring.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

The Epic of the Great Bharata Nation

-I do not yet know proper pronunciation of names. In general with foreign words, I default to Japanese vowels even though that is usually wrong. I am trying to get used to Hindi vowels, but they are deceiving. But as I progress through this Lay, I am getting used to basics of Hindi/Sanskrit consonant combos; SH and CH are the only digraphs, but others are consonant+H (t+h is the worst offender to my English eye). With 3+ consonants, my brain broke, like with "Yudhishthir"; understood by me now as Yu-dhi-sht-hir.

-The recordings are imperfect, made by a regular person with a computer and a mic, sometimes in only one take.

-As of uploading, in February 2025, I have recorded up to Book 4 of Dutt's translation. I do not think I will be able to upload the full book to SC; it would be more than a free account allows. The amount of people who would listen would be astronomically small anyway.

-Image is a depiction of a Vimana, which show up sometimes. WHAT WERE THEY?!

-Source is Romesh Dutt's 1899 masterwork, "The Ramayana and Mahabharata Condensed into English Verse" which is an abridged translation, but at least it is cast into verse! Verse translations seem rare in the realm of English epic Hindu poetry.
https://sacred-texts.com/hin/dutt/



Book 1 intro from Romesh Dutt:
"
Book 1: Astra Darsana (The Tournament)
cxxxiv. to cxxxvii. of Book i.
	-  THE scene of the Epic is the ancient kingdom of the Kurus which flourished along the upper course of the Ganges; and the historical fact on which the Epic is based is a great war which took place between the Kurus and a neighbouring tribe, the Panchalas, in the thirteenth or fourteenth century before Christ.
	-  According to the Epic, Pandu and Dhrita-rashtra, who was born blind, were brothers. Pandu died early, and Dhrita-rashtra became king of the Kurus, and brought up the five sons of Pandu along with his hundred sons.
	-  Yudhishthir, the eldest son of Pandu, was a man of truth and piety; Bhima, the second, was a stalwart fighter; and Arjun, the third son, distinguished himself above all the other princes in arms. The two youngest brothers, Nakula and Sahadeva, were twins. Duryodhan was the eldest son of Dhrita-rashtra and was jealous of his cousins, the sons of Pandu. A tournament was held, and in the course of the day a warrior named Karna., of unknown origin, appeared on the scene and proved himself a worthy rival of Arjun. The rivalry between Arjun and Karna is the leading thought of the Epic, as the rivalry between Achilles and Hector is the leading thought of the Iliad.
	-  It is only necessary to add that the sons of Pandu. as well as Karna, were, like the heroes of Homer, god-born chiefs. Some god inspired the birth of each. Yudhishthir was the son of Dharma or Virtue, Bhima of Vayu or Wind, Arjun of Indra or Rain-god, the twin youngest were the sons of the Aswin twins, and Karna was the son of Surya the Sun, but was believed by himself and by all others to be the son of a simple chariot-driver.
"

Mahabharata B1.6 The Rival Warriors

Mahabharata B1.3 Bhima and Duryodhan

Mahabharata B1.8 The Chariot-Driver

Mahabharata B1.7 The Anointment of Karna

Mahabharata B1.1 The Gathering

Mahabharata B1.9 Close of Day

Mahabharata B1.2 The Princes

"We heard of the horns in the hills ringing,
the swords shining in the South-kingdom.
Steeds went striding to the Stoningland
as wind in the morning. War was kindled.
There Théoden fell, Thengling mighty,
to his golden halls and green pastures
in the Northern fields never returning,
high lord of the host. Harding and Guthláf,
Dúnhere and Déorwine, doughty Grimbold,
Herefara and Herubrand, Horn and Fastred,
fought and fell there in a far country:
in the Mounds of Mundburg under mould they lie
with their league-fellows, lords of Gondor.
Neither Hirluin the Fair to the hills by the sea,
nor Forlong the old to the flowering vales
ever, to Arnach, to his own country
returned in triumph; nor the tall bowmen,
Derufin and Duilin, to their dark waters,
meres of Morthond under mountain-shadows.
Death in the morning and at day’s ending
lords took and lowly. Long now they sleep
under grass in Gondor by the Great River.
Grey now as tears, gleaming silver,
red then it rolled, roaring water:
foam dyed with blood flamed at sunset;
as beacons mountains burned at evening;
red fell the dew in Rammas Echor."

1955 - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings, Book V, Ch VI, "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"

'Mundburg' is what the Rohirrim call Minas Tirith (Tower of the Guard)

The Mounds of Mundburg

In the willow-meads of Tasarinan I walked in the Spring.
Ah! the sight and the smell of the Spring in Nan-tasarion!
And I said that was good.

I wandered in Summer in the elm-woods of Ossiriand.
Ah! the light and the music in the Summer by the Seven Rivers of Ossir!
And I thought that was best.

To the beeches of Neldoreth I came in the Autumn.
Ah! the gold and the red and the sighing of leaves in the Autumn in Taur-na-neldor!
It was more than my desire.

To the pine-trees upon the highland of Dorthonion I climbed in the Winter.
Ah! the wind and the whiteness and the black branches of Winter upon Orod-na-Thôn!
My voice went up and sang in the sky.

And now all those lands lie under the wave,
And I walk in Ambarona, in Tauremorna, in Aldalómë,
In my own land, in the country of Fangorn,
Where the roots are long,
And the years lie thicker than the leaves
In Tauremornalómë.

1954 - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings, Book III, Chapter IV, "Treebeard"


In the willow meads of Tasarinan

Be ware: Intro background music is quiet, my voice will come in louder.

Lyrics JP
------------------------------
Gomen ne sunao janakute
Yume no naka nara ieru
Shikou kairo wa shooto sunzen
Ima sugu aitai yo
Nakitaku naru you na moonlight
Denwa mo dekinai midnight
Datte junjou doushiyou
Haato wa mangekyou
-
Tsuki no hikari ni, michibikare
Nando mo, meguriau
Seiza no matataki kazoe, uranau koi no yukue
Onaji kuni ni umareta no, mirakuru romansu
Shinjite iru no mirakuru romansu

Lyrics EN [customised]
------------------------------
I'm sorry I haven't been forthcoming,
I can only say it while I'm dreaming.
My brain's about to SHORT circuit!
But right now, I just want to see you.
I can't help but cry in the MOONLIGHT,
I can't call you - it's past MIDNIGHT!
But I'm so devoted, what should I do?
My heart is a kaleidoscope.
-
Guided by the light the Moon casts on the Earth,
we're destined to meet again and again.
The shining stars from a constellation, may indicate our love's destination
What are the odds? There is a good chance, this is a MIRACLE ROMANCE.
I believe in a MIRACLE ROMANCE!
-
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/sailor-moon-ost-moonlight-densetsu-english
https://wikimoon.org/index.php/Moonlight_Densetsu by Jadeite2

Intro version: https://soundcloud.com/princess-serenity2/moonlight-densetsu-tv-size
Instrumental version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr0nNxuIeAE

I have been enjoying Moonlight Densetsu for many a moon. It's close to the heart so I nearly (but not quite) know it by heart.

Moonlight Densetsu [TV size] t_dschaei singing

(Shelley's)

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

No thing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

---

(Smith's)

In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desart knows:—
"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
"The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
"The wonders of my hand."— The City's gone,—
Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.

We wonder,—and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess
What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

---

From a legendary 1818 rap battle between britishers Percy Bysshe Shelley and Horace Smith

I have read Shelley's poem many times, but never really liked it. I only like the inspiration for it and the simple meaning. The main reason is the taste. It does not flow well off my modern tongue; I concede that 207 years of English is a barrier to appreciation, so I could well be reciting it wrong. Indeed the pronunciation discrepancies are immediately apparent. The words do happen to rhyme, but the actual sentences flow better simply as a spoken paragraph rather than a metric poem. Another reason is, the poem itself is short but has 3 different voices: Narrator, Traveler, and Ozymandias. So that increases the challenge of reciting them distinctly. That all being said, this poem is timeless because it conveys a simple lesson from Ancient Egypt; or really, from all time. And I certainly haven't immortalized a piece of history or wisdom through a famous poem! I still respect Shelley for his creation, and he deserves to be celebrated and remembered.

Smith's poem is way better, but nobody knows about it.

Ozymandias by Percy Shelley and Horace Smith

〽The fox went out on a chilly night,
〽he prayed to the Moon to give him light,
〽for a many a mile to go that night
〽before he reached the town-o. Town-o, town-O!

SC missing feature: Tag Following
https://soundcloud.com/tags/george%20carlin
https://soundcloud.com/tags/alan%20watts
https://soundcloud.com/tags/david%20icke
https://soundcloud.com/tags/graham%20hancock
https://soundcloud.com/tags/terence%20mckenna

〽When the going gets tough,
〽and the stomach acids flow,
〽and the cold wind of conformity,
〽is nipping at your nose.
〽And some trendy new monstrosity,
〽has brought you to your knees.
〽Come with us, we'll sail The Seas of Cheese.

t_dschaei

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