TheWorldofDylanThomas 10196319 PDF

W o rld
of
D ylan T h o m as
by
C lark E mery
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI PRESS

CORAL GABLES 46 FLORIDA
,
C op y ri g h t 1 962
U ni v er s it y of Mi a m i P re s s
L ib rar y of C o n g re s s C a t a l o g C a r d N u m b er : 62 - 21 7 4 2
F i r st P ri n t i n g
S ec o n d P r i nt i n g
P r i n te d th e U n i t e d S ta te s A m e r ic a
A T L A N T I C P R I N T E R S A N D L IT H O G R A P H E R S
’
, IN C MIA MI BE AC H , F LORID A
A ll th at sh ap es f ro m th e c a ul and suc k le ,
Stro k e o f mec h anic al leshf on mine ,
S q uare in th ese w o rlds th e mo rtal

_
c irc le .
ACKN OWLEDGEMENTS
I a m i ndebted to J M Dent and Sons and to New Directions for per
. .
mission to quote from Th C ll d P m f Dy l Th m ( copyright

e o ec te oe s o an o as
1 9 5 2 by J M Dent and Sons Ltd ; copyright 1 9 5 7 by New Directions ) ;

akndi toT New . .
,
Directions f permission to quote from A d

or
.
i h v en tures n t e
S n d
ra d O h
e an S i P
t er i f h A i
to r es , Y g D g and
o rtra t o t e rt st as a o un o
i g ( copyrights espectively by New Directions

,
Q i E ly O M
1 9 5 5 1 94 0 a nd
u te ar ne o rn n r
, ,
C O N T E N T S
Introduction
1 . T HO M A S AND F RIE N DS
Fern Hill
T wenty Four Years
Poem in October
Poe m hi Birthday on s
Once Below a Time

Lament
Ears in the T urrets Hear
0 Make Me a Mask T O th ers tha n Y o ou
Th Hunchback in the Park

e
Th T ombstone T old when She Died

e
After th e Funeral
Grief Thief f T ime o
When All My Five and Country Senses See

Unluckily f a Death or
A Grief A g o
It is the Sinner s Dust Tongued Bell

’
-
Not from this Anger

Out f the Sighs
o
I Mak e This in a Warring Absence

Into her Lying Down Head
A Saint About to Fall
If My Head Hurt a Hair s Foot ’
In Country Sleep
2 . LO V E AN M
’
s A TO IST
I See the Boys f Summer o
When Once the Twilight Locks

Our Eunuch Dreams
All All and All the Dry Worlds Lever
If I Were Tickled 1 12
On the M arriage a Virgi of n
From Love s Firs t Fev r ’

e
Fi d Meat Bones
n on
Ballad Of the Long Legged Bait —
In the Wh ite Gia t s Thi gh n

’
Author s P ologue’
r
3 . T HE W O RK O F W O RDS
In My Cr aft or Sull en A rt
H W S h ll My Animal
O a
Espe ially Wh en the O ctober Wind

c
T oda y thi s Insect
Should La terns Shi

,
n ne
Th Sp ire Cra es
e n
Bec ause the Pleasure Bird Whistles -
My Hero B a es his Ner es r v
On No Work f Words o
Love i h Asylum
n t e
Once it Was the Colour Of Saying

4 . THE W RO N R N
G AI
Th e Hand that Sig ed the Paper n
Wh en I Wo k e
Ceremony after a Fire Raid
A R efusal to Mourn
Daw R aidn
On a Weddi ng A niversa y n r
Th ere Was a S vi our a
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 . FA BU LO U S D EA R GOD
,
Shall Gods be Said

I Have Longed to Move Away
Why East Wind Chills
In the Beginning
Incarnate Devil
T his Side of the T ru th
Before I Knocked
T his Bread I Break
And Death Shall Have N Dom inion O
T hen Was My Neophyte

Th Altarwise Sonnets
e
We Lying by S d easan
Conversation f Prayer o
Vision and Prayer

A Winter s T ale ’
6 . T HE IN T RIC A T E I M AGE
Th eForce that through the Green Fu se

A Process in the Weather of the Heart
Light Breaks where N Sun Shines O
D You Not Father Me

O
Where O nce the Waters Of Your Face

Foster the Light
T h Seed t Zero
e -
a -
N ow
Soon the Servant Sun
How
Was There a Time
Here in This Spring
Hold Hard These Ancient Minu tes
Over Sir John s Hill ’
I Fellowed Sleep
I Dreamed my Genesis
My World i Pyramid s
I in my Intricate Image
,
Bibliography 3 19
IN T RO D U C T IO N
I
How m any Thom a ses had Dylan? T here were several but all were
linked by acqui ed i m piety First w
,
the child who was father f the man

the child f Th P h with the demon haunted im agination cribbed in
r . as O :
o e eac es -
,
the domesticated fussiness of the Victorian parlor reveling in the slops

f the pig S ty frightened by dru n ken Uncle J im solaced by Annie i m
,
pressed by evangelistic Gwilym forsaken by his rich friend J ack

-
o , , ,
T h child s sense of aloneness in an alien world of adults pervades the

.
,
’
story He S its in a cart in a dangerous street while his uncle drin ks in com
e
pany inside th e tavern ; he dreams i the warm safe island of his bed
.
while all Swansea flows and rolls outside h house ; he thinks that he had
n ,
been walk ing long damp passages all ! his ] life and climbing stairs in the
t e
dark alone ; because Of his Uncle s temper h e loses the companionship f

, ,
” ’
ainfriend ; he turns away even fro m the entrancing Gwilym when the latter
,
hi religiosity pries O nly Annie s loving warmth welcom s him into a

’
, O
community f souls
s . e
o :
One minute I was small and cold skulking dead scared down a black
passage in my stiff best suit with my hollow belly thumping and my
-
,
heart lik e a time bo mb clutching my gra mmar school cap unfamiliar

, ,
, ,
to myself a snub nosed story teller l st in his own adventu es and

longing to be home ; the next I w a royal nephew i n smart town
,
- -
o r
clothes embraced and welcomed standing in the snug centre f my

as
, , o
stories and listening to the clock announcing me .
tyranny of the Uncle ; of a religion whose basic commandment is

The
Prepare to Meet hy G d of a G d wh can and spy and watc h
us all the time in the terrible shadows pitch black pitch blac k
t o o
,
o see
f a preacher who insists public confession f the worst thing you ve “ ’

o on o
done of the respectability which shamed Annie wh wore her best black ,
o
dress ( smelling f mothballs ) but had forgotten to change out f her gym
O O
shoes such tyranny Thomas fought or mocked the rest of his life And
: .
he needed and sought for the rest Of h i life the warmth and light of s
Annie s arms and Annie s kitchen

’ ’
.
Th story is built a series f contrasts the Obvious ones of light

and dark warm and cold big and small inside and outside rich and poor ;
e on O :
and more subtle ones the child s grasp of fact and his escape in im g
, , , ,
’
a
i ti
na o n from it ; the declension Of the abstract to the concrete ( God s ’
*
I rea i ze l th at th is i s fi c tio n rat er t h h an auto b i o grap hy Ho wev er
.
, T h o mas is regu ar l ly th e
rea l t oad i n hi s i magi nary gard ens .
°
1
omnipresence expressed thus God mun you re li ke a bloody cat and ’
the fitti g f domestic and gory in to

: , ,
n o context h told me as o ne s e ,
h cut bread and butter

s e how Aunt R ach Morgan had fallen on
her belly a Such appraisal if t reconciliation of opp sites
characterizes Thom as s poem from the first t the l ast
on ,
no , o
’
Thomas s often re m arked distaste f cleanliness and neatness is antici

s o .
pated here I wanted to wear my ld su it to look like a proper farm boy

- or
“
: o
and have manure in my shoes and hear it squelch as I walked ; and his
,
”
preoccupation with sex he wanted to a cow have calves and a “
bull top f a w Both are the norm al desires f any boy in the
see
”
country In this instance they are t affecting a norm al b y and they

on o co . o
.
,
no o
accordingly assume an t i the ordi ary significance ou -

o — -
n .
So with M Williams with a jutting bosom and thick legs her ankles
sw llen over her pointed shoes ) descending upon the farm house in
rs .
,
her Daimler to remove her son to more respectable surroundings Th ere

-
o
can be small doubt that her image came t represent a whole class in
Britain and in the United S tates which needed to be opposed and which
o ,
he did oppose by putting consciously or by almost unconsci usly

,
lapsing into the truculence and uncouthness at odds with his natural
on ,
o
warmth and friendlines s Th phony telephony world undid him

, so
shows the observant but unawak ened rebel ; Th F igh

. e ,
.
Th P h
e eac es e t,
the dedicated poet walking the avenues like a prince reciting his poems
, ,
aloud hi veiled and passi ned thoughts issuing from hi mind s well ’ “
f fu rtive l u st
, s o s
”
In this story Thomas is w y about his w early pretensions bu t he

o .
r o n ,
i not acerb
s in H w M k P he is about others , for behind ’
w pretentiousness he k new there existed an integrity f purpose he

, as, o to a e a oe t,
hi
intended to be a poet not a First just down from O xford and slated for
s o n o :
the diplom atic with a volume f verses on the remainder shelves

,
T his meant resistance an avoidance f being sucked into co mpromise

, o .
But it w a resistance that went forward and back ; against on the

, o .
as o ne
hand the forces that had tried to mold him into a workaday Welshman
,
, ,
and the other those that would try to shape him into a London lit
, on ,
terateur .
In A d i h Sk i T d
ven tures he signalizes his departure from
n t e n ra e,
Wales b y shredding photog aphs of his mother and sister defacing his r
schoolmaster father s already graded history papers and destroying the

,
’
- -
tea service It is a purposeful rite

-
.
come and see me break the china :
W thout any noise

i that I can never come back so .
Having disposed f these he turns his attention to society at large

On the train t London hefl monopoli es the lavatory f hours edeeming
.
o , .
the time by ripping and ushing away names and addresses f people in
o , z or r
,
2 o
London wh could be f use to h im. Ho me and help were over
o o
Many p ople have begun worse he said aloud I am ig orant lazy dis
honest and sentimental I have the pull over nobodyB
e , . n , ,
”
Thomas in h is lavatory i country cousin t the

, , .
yronic hero rootless s -

o ,
and alone self pityi g self loa hi g and given t theatrical gesture His
vanity i too great for his self depreciation to be authentic and f this
,
-
n ,
-
t n , o .
s -
, o
he is aware ( A letter written t Vernon Watkins in 1 93 8 shows that he

never at evens with himself A sens e f hum ur is I hope about
. o
“
w
t be lost but not quite yet the self dra m a continues bl uff after blu ff
as : o o , ,
until I myself as then again the deadly humour

o : : -
:
In a society he despises for taking stances he is himself a stance taker

see o ne : .
His doubt must be whether an element f hyp oc isy taints his w stand
-
.
,
o r o n
against hypocrisy Th doubt is not resolved in this prose piece He knows

. e .
pretty well what he i against I have always been brought up to believe “
that Mortimer S treet is what is right and I would not wish that any
s :
body But he is u ncertain of what he is f and t conscious of his w

,
on
. or oo o n
inadequacy to dare even to plan a positive program He is left with only .
a snook to cock .
His start in London is not auspicious he is bellious but uncertain ;

fearful but determ ined to defeat fear as to act with rashness ; obsessed
: re
with the idea of breaking all ties but guilt ridden It is quite in the order
, so
-
.
,
f things that his fi st experience f Life should devolve into a series

“ ”
o r o
f anticlimaxes
But it i experience He participates in the life f th at mythical man
o .
s . o
i the street and finds it other than degraded Th ceaseless toil f

”
bread and butter th e ogres of unemployment the pettifogging gods f

n - -
, . e or
gentility the hollow lies of th marriage bed may have m ade the man i
, , o
”
the street a mere bundle of repressions and useless habits and T homas
, e - -
n
may have fought again st himself being infected Nevertheless coming to

-
,
understand that his w fears gu ilts excessive responses and anticlimaxes

.
,
were as Gertru de remarked t H mlet common he is moved to a com

o n , , ,
passion that does t dull his rebelliousness but illuminates it

, o a , ,
no
Th light of th e
e weak lamp in a rusty circle fell across the brick
o ne
heaps and the broken wood and the dust that had been houses once
wher the small and hardly k nown and never to b forgotten p ople
,
e - —
e- e
f the dirty t wn had lived and loved and died and alway s lost
o o , ,
.
But his sympathy for the losers did not imply an active campaign for
their resti tution Thomas seems never to have been doctrinaire in y w y
He does not discuss the Depression as such ; he does not seriously join
. an a .
organizations with colored shirts t combat it ; he is not moved by the o
3
class guilt which angui shed his imm ediate predecessors in literary ci cles
his guilt i li ke Joyce s hi w His b u siness as he w it was to
- r
’
Observe to experience to under tand and to u tter the life love death
- s, s o n .
,
sa ,
,
f the individual in his co mmon pl

,
s , , ,
and his uniqueness not t

,
constru ct T ables f O rganization

o
-
ac eness , o
,
o .
He did not of course advocate poverty as a seed bed for nurturing -
the toughly alive and quaintly idiosyncratic But he w also not unaware
, ,
that could result from universal middle

. as
of the homogenized ml
class liberalism Th reason I haven t written for su ch a time i s
c rea essness
’
b cause I have been in London in penu ry and in doubt In London

. e
because m oney lives and breeds there ; i penury because it doesn t ; and
e , , :
’
in doubt as to whether I should continue an outlaw take my fate

n ,
a walk in the straight and bowler treed path ) Th tyranny f

as or
”
f
or -
s e o te
b i li bulked larger in his mind than that of poverty and the

t reveal itself as it does in Yeats a s an im poverishment
s ec a
p t y t ; t y y r ann
f time does
f the phy s ical b d y b u t
o no , ,
a closing f the shades f the prison house

upon the growing boy Children drunkards and lovers ( th at is outlaws )
o o ,
as o o -
rather th n soberly married adults are th e heroes f Thom as s stories and

.
, , ,
po ms Thomas inveterately allies him self with those who do not think
-
a o
that the law i instinct with perfect virtu e and th at its enforcers take that
e .
virtue upon themselves He sees the law ( moral ecclesias tical or other
s
wise ) not an end bu t as a means the i fri gement f whi ch need not
.
, ,
impugn th t ue end
as n n o
If he did not have a program to advocate he did have a vocation to

e r .
pursue lear ing th e craft Of poetry However boisterously he socialized

,
in these early days and later apparently dissipating h I tim e and powers
n .
a dedicated part of him w always monastically secluded quietly sifting

, S| ,
th e worldly experience to s alvage whatever could be pu t to poetical use

as ,
His dissipating w not a dissip ating f his powers but a defense against
.
their being dissipated by the dem ands f Mortimer Street Believing with
as o
Blake that the road f excess le a ds to the palace f wisdom he swore

o .
the vows Of poverty dis bedience and unchastity damning braces bless
o o ,
ing relaxes
, , , ,
He understood his responsibili ty As he rem arked

.
a poet is a poet for such a very tiny bit f his life ; f the re s t
.
f whose responsibilities is t know and

o or ,
he is a human being
feel as much he can all th at is moving around and within h im
, o ne o o
that his po try when h e co mes to write it can be his attempt at

, as , ,
an expression f the summit f m an s experience on th is very peculiar

so e , ,
’
and in 19 46 this apparently hell bent earth

o o
-
, , .
Th paradox f the poet is that th e m ore intently he honors his

e o p res on
4 o
pre sent h as no narr ative movement movement at all and is con “
equently dead There must be a progressive line theme f move

, no ,
ment in every poe m Th more subjective a poem the clearer the

s .
, or ,
-
o
narrati ve line Narrative in its widest sense s atisfies wh at Eliot talk

. e ,
habit f th e reader Let the narrative

.
, , ,
i g f meaning call s
“ ” “ ”
take th at logical habit f the reader along with its movement and
n o ,
o ne o .
the essence f the poem will do its work h im

o ne o ,
o on .
When much later he commented on his early poems he did not

visualize them as Poirots or Peter Wimseys but b bbies
, , ,
,
as o
I like to think th at the poem s m ost narrowly dd are among

those I wrote earliest and that the later poems are wider a nd
o
deeper
I do not remember that is the point the first impulse that
pumped and shoved most of the earlier poems along and they are
— —
still t near to me with their vehement beat pounding black and

,
green rhythms like th ose f a very young policeman exploding f

oo ,
-
o ,
or
me t the written evidence f it

o see o .
Neverth eless in spite of facts and circumstances and devotedly if

vehemently pounding h is beat he realized the potential of his precocity
, , ,
He w only twenty when his first book f poems was published And
.
, ,
as o .
his second appeared only tw years later o .
Neither w gladly received by what Durrell s Pursewarden calls the ’
m ffi eating m oralists
as
F them Georgi an poetry with its good

mwereannered pastoralism was still the norm And among th e elect there
u n- . or , ,
tw groups wh viewed th e newcomer wit h no particular enthusias m

, .
o o :
the aged eagles appraising the Western shards for their potential f
despair ; and the young airmen also surveying the terrain and noting
o
the areas f decay but more constructively in the context of the New
,
o ,
Plan mapping locations f industrial parks and worke s communities ’
T ho m as s volumes did not encourage the Left justify the R ight

, or r .
satiate the Middle with formulas But th ere w a new note here and a
, ,
or
. as ,
new world which brave or not demanded attention F every million who
, , , . or
rejected there were a baker s dozen t accept and now these few years ’
after his death only a stubborn few would deny him his place in the
, o , ,
Establishment not among th Giants and T itans but somewhere not t

,
remote from the Marvells and L d who without ever achieving the
—
e ,
oo
an ors
big thing are still indispensable to the anthologi ts s .
II
Thomas has said that h is poetry is th e rec rd o of my individual struggle
6 o
from darkness towards some measure f light And h aving been asked o .
,
whether he had been influenced by Freud he replied , :
Yes whatever is hidden should be made naked T be stripp d of

darkness is t be clean t strip f darkness is t m ake clean Poetry
,
. o e
recording the strippi g f th individual d arkne s s must inevitably

o , o o o .
,
cast li ght on what has been h idden f t long and by so doing

n o e , , ,
make clean th e naked exposure

or oo , , ,
A movement from darkness to light may mean one f several things

physically the em ergence from th e womb to the light f day ; intellectu all y
o :
th e prog ess f mi f m ti through knowledge to wisdom ; emoti nally

,
o ,
a dissipating f th e murkiness surrounding ends and confusi g will ;

r ro n or a on o ,
i lly a displace m ent f tabu and e u phemism by honesty ; re ligiously an

o n so
ill umination f obsessive gu ilt by g ace ; cosm logi cally the creation by
c a , o ,
fortuitous concourse by fi at ; biologically th e worki g t f evolutionary

o r o , ,
proces s ; aesthetically the inception and growth f a p m ; weatherwise

or ,
n ou o
progress f the season s

, o oe ,
th
A proble m i interpreting so me f Th om a s s poem s will consist in
e o .
determini ng which movement from which d arkness to which light is being

n o
d escribed Suppose for example th at h e seems t be following with

obstet ical manual at hand the progress f an organi sm th rough i ovular
.
, , o ,
e mbryonic and fetal stages to birth Is hi subject no more than this? N

r , o ts ,
he may be exploring the relation b tween phylogeny and ontogeny or

, . s o,
ma icrocosm and macrocosm O r the progress f the organism may offer

narrative structure for the work ing out of social psychological or moral
.
e
o
,
judgm ents And if the organism happens to be Christ an entirely new

, ,
di mension i added and the additional question f wheth er Christ i a

.
,
mepitome
s , o s
ember f the T rinity a facsimile of Lawrence s Man Who Died an ’
f all the fertility deities i n Th gh or T ho m as

o , ,
G ld
raised to the nth d egree
o B -
e o en ou ,
Since like the m odern psychologists Thomas does devote much

.
attention to th e unborn ch ild the proble m of h i debt to them arises

, , so
immediately Thomas applauded Freud f h mg done what he himself

, s
. or av
proposed to d Freud cast light a little of the darkness he had expos

“
ed But he seems to feel that poetry has capacitie s beyond those Of

o: on
”
.
psychology .
B enefiting by the sight f the li ght and th e knowledge f the hidden

nakedness poetry must drag further into the clean nakedness of
o o
light more even of the hidden causes th an Freud could realize

,
Th e inference is that Thomas was no t a cl ose stu dent of Freud and

°
7
did not feel a need to be He merely recogni e d a similarity f interest and
f purp ose and perhaps fo u nd a reservo ir of i m ages as u seful as those i
. z o
o n
Christianity
And here another proble m arises t a specifically Thomas proble m
.
but one relating to the Freudian Jungian interpretatio of poetry in

,
no
general A k ind f sentence not uncom monly encountered in doctoral

or n
dissertations in this psycho analyzing era might run something like this
. o
-
:
Apart from the Obvious sexual meaning the branching trees in Where er ‘ ’
you walk trees crowd into a shade signify in their shade casti g function
,
’
surrogates f death ; this antipodal phallus malice complex ( analogous

, , ,
-
n ,
to the mo e common womb tomb cluster ) provides the ironic paradox

-
O
without which wit is deprived f the tensio n necessary to its success and
—
r
b ecomes m ere R o m antic irony

o
”
It would see m plausible th at in this species of sentence the jargon

.
conceals an over implifi ti consisting in an arbitrary choice among

-
s ca o n, o ne
a number of alternatives Th critic inte preting a symbol needs to

consider whether the poet has made a conscious reason determined choice ;
. e r
been impelled by sub rational force s to m a k e a ch oice that he

-
,
h
mistakenly thinks he has willed ; has willed away will that choice would
as -
be imposed upon him ; has volitionally adopted his symbol because of his
so
ktonowledge f Freud ; has in the light of his knowledge of Fre u d willed

reverse the meaning of the Freudian symbol ; h as been compelled
o , ,
to will the reversal of the Freudian symbol Unless accepts an iron clad
or
. o ne -
cause and effect determinism ( and as is likely an ascription f all effects

to a single cause ) there would seem to be reason to differentiate among
- -
, ,
o
c nsciously unconsciously and self consciously u sed symbols That

,
o - -
.
still life involving two radishes and a spear of asparagus was the painter
-
:
compelled b y color or form or texture possibilities of arrangement?

Or by his libido? Or by his sense f humor ( and a low estimation f
, , , or
Freudian critics ) ? O r by the fact th at his kitchen afforded no other

o o
vegetables? And there rem ain s always the broader question How much
mwhatore nearly th an Robert Burton says does Freu d says equate with
God says ”
“ “ ”
:
Some tentativeness in ascribing Freudi an or Jungian meanings to

.
T homas s symbols is valid because though Th o m as affi rmed Freud s

’ ’
ends he had read only desultorily in and about the modern schools f
,
psychology and was neither a scholar nor an enthusiast Some hint of his
, o
attitude is exhibited in this anecdote f B i i o r nn n s :

’
Approaching Manhattan we shot into a long dimly lighted tunnel

I can never help shuddering a little when I have t g through one
.
,
“
o o
f these passages I said D you suppose it has something to do “

o , . O
8 o
with m m ories f birth trauma? Dylan snorted and as w came fro m ”
darkness into icy light made a high cooing sound E EE it

e o , e
“
rem i d m e f Mummy he s aid

: e- cc - —
”
d oes n o , .
Elder Olson warning that the reader who seeks t interpret the
symbols f Thom as in terms f Fr ud is t likely t fi d th poetry
, o
o o e no o n e
very clear cites a few danger spots

, :
Whereas for Freud fruit symbolizes the fem ale breast and definitely
does not symbolize offspring it is generally a child symbol f
, ,
,
-
or
T homas Whereas for Freud caves churches and chapels refer

to the female genitalia Thomas uses caves t signify th in ermost
.
, , , ,
, o e n
recesses of the self and churches and chapels particularly sunken

,
—
ones to signify lost pristine faiths Thomas associates ladders and

climbing t with sexual intercourse but with man s spiritual ascent
—
.
’
,
no , .
T homas w influenced by modern psychology ( wh is not ) fli m d

as as o ,
a r e
i ends insofar
ts they coincided with hi w and made of some f
as s o n, use o
i findings But he r mains at most a lay writer and it remains for the
reader to extract a meaning from each symbol in its context not to
ts . e
impose upon it the meaning traditi onally ascribed

His connection with Surrealism seems have been similarly disengaged
.
A belated Romantics the Surrealists observed that children live at a n

to .
s ,
intersection of the world f fact and the world of imagination these two
worlds blending to form
o ,
But education devised by Gradgrinds to o ne .

,
perpetuate Gradgrinds separates the tw and derogates the world of

that adult life conforms to a practical and rational
, o
imagi nation
conventionalism However im gi i ti and mystic al tendencies are not
so
.
,
a n s c
destroyed but pressed down into the subconscious Th purpose f the

Sworlds
urrealist is to liberate these tendencies integrate those bifurcated
that the individual once more at with himself can achieve
, t e-
. e o
a co mmu ion with th e basic forces f natur impossible to the intellectual

, so , o ne ,
n o e
izi g imagination depressing emotion aborting half man If as is pre

n
mi d this sub m erged world h its order an d thi s an order more nearly
- - -
, , .
,
in harmony with uni versal order th an th at tif t d by intellect dream s

se , as ,
have ia logic which canf beth apprehended Derangement f normalized ar ac e

.
facult es cultivation
. o o ur
dream like tate f mind the evocation f

im ages by psychic automatism facilitate understanding f that logic
, o e -
s o o
,
Th close a ffi nity betwee n Surrealism and the tenets f psycho analysis

o .
e o -
is immediately evident David Gascoyne ( whose M Lif i hi M ’
li ke Thom as s Eigh issued by the Pa ton Boo kshop )

. an s e s t s eat
w P m
’
emp hasi es it
as, teen oe s, r
z :
Surre alism profiting from the discoveries f Freud and a few other
, o
scientithe c exphand
lorers aofperpetual
fi the unconsciou s has conceived poetry as bein g
functioning of the psyche a perpetual
, ,
on o ne , ,
flow irrational thought in the form of images taking place in every

of
human mind and needing only a c rtain predisposition and discipline e
in order to be brought to light in the form f written words ( or plastic

images ) and on the other hand a universally valid attitude to
o
experience a possible mode of li ing

,
,
v .
Since the Sur ealists were underm ining the logic and th e values f
r o
Mortimer Street since thei concern was the stripping f the individual
darkness and since they felt Thomas d id Love to be a tremendous
,
r o
“
, as ,
cosmic experience in which man participates anonymously through the

,
sublime act f eternal creation T homas could not but sympathize with ”
what in general the movement stood for But he did not join their pa ty
o ,
He could learn from them derive from them a sense f support in an

. r .
, o
unpopular cause as Yeats sought support in theosophy and R osicruciani sm

Unlik e Yeats
.
,
in another sense Eliot the bank cleric h felt no

need to become a joiner as also unli k e Yeats he did feel re quired
—
o r, — e
, ,
to systematize his insights outside his poems Th roughout his life b

, , ,
no t
.
,
e
praised G d without benefit f clergy

T homas then avoided the cults S o far as his relations with in divid u al
o o .
.
, ,
poets of his time are concerned aff nities bulk larger than borrowings or , i
even influences An alert young writer in the 20 and early 3 0 lear ing
.
’ ’
s
’ ’
s, n
his craft forming his sensibility and organizing his ideas enjoyed a
number of alternatives He could carry the tradition f escapist Georgian
, , ,
. on o
sweet song ; he could h w t crabbed Metaphysical think pieces ; he

-
e ou -
co ld be cryptically precise i the Classical Imagist vein ; he c uld render

u n —
o
i fl b l states
ne a ef being after the fashion
o f the Symbolists ; he could o
communicate his Yea yea Nay nay according t the Party line ; he
could join a fringe group such as the Dadaists their successors and
or o or
defy the alphabet He could adopt the plain speech f a Hardy Fr st

or
. o . or o
or the aristocratic ornateness f a Sitwell ; the Anglo Saxonisms f Hopkins

o -
o
the Latinisms of Hart Crane ; the iambics and pentameters and sonnets
of Rupert Brooke the cadences of Pound and Eliot ; the pylons and
or
or
ai craft f the Auden gr up or Cummings cathedrals and prostitutes

r o o ,
’
.
Express train or hestnut tree waste land or bridge Dedalus or Bloom

c ,
Malatesta Leni light or primordial ooze rood tree golden bough

, ,
libido or archetype might preoccupy his thought and dictate his theme
or n, , or ,
T homas made the most f the broad possibilities It has been said th at
.
birth copulation and death his constant theme This is at least in its
o .
aphoristic statement a gross over implifi ti T ru e h e goes into the

, , ar
e .
,
physiology of birth as no poet before him had done is t unaware f and

,
-
s ca on .
,
, no o
10 °
not averse to state the causal relation between copulation and birth
recognizes that what gets born also dies He d be a damn fool if he didn t
,
’ ’ ’
But the Eliot words are t confining Thomas is not concerned merely
. .
with birth but with every sort f creation He is t concerned merely

oo .
but with eve y form f human rel ati n He

— o . no
with the physical act of

concerned merely with mortality but with th e possibility that
sex— r o o .
is no t —
mortality can be transcended

T o sa
y also is com m only,
said hat
as for T homas all i
tomb womb is again t aphoristic ; it has th e unfortunate mnemonic
t womb tomb
.
, s -
,
quality and about the same elation to truth as a singing commercial Hi s

-
oo
poems about friendship tyran y rebellion against the bourgeoisie m an s

r .
inhumanity faith and reason science and myth dogm a and fre thought
,
n , ,
the integration f the personality tradition and the individual tale nt

, , , e ,
o , ,
body and soul the poetic process the natural scene and above all love
, , ,
— —
belie such a narrowing f hi scope It i t ue that in these latter some

elementary text gives hi m th physiology f birth and
o s . s r
and that
Freud harnessing birth and death love and hate joy and gu ilt offers
e o sex ,
dram atic psychological insights But th is is only where he starts not

, , , ,
where he ends With Donne Blak e Whitman and Lawrence he raise s

.
,
sex ( not without diffi culty f course ; he was not the m ost integrated f
.
, , ,
persons ) to love without emasculation He i not t of accord with

, o o
. s ou
Whitman and Hardy in their tenderness ( it i t too strong a word ) for

lTifhompson
e human and natural He explores with the Apostles Donne Hopkins
a more exalted love And in Frazer and Darwin discovers
.
s no
, , ,
confli cting testim ony relative t love in man God and nature He need
.
t have studied th e m and scarcely even h ave read the m A poet takes
o , , .
easily what suits him from book convers ation and is t required to
no .
or no
fo tnote
,
There can be no question that in the crafting of h i poe m s he learned

o .
from the Metaphysical poets Vision and Prayer is the only obviously
s
“ ”
shaped poem but th e shaping process i at work in for example Now

.
in Author s Prologue with its tric ky rhyme scheme ; in the expe iment
, s , ,
“ ’
, r
in caesura I Dreamed My Genesis ; in the exercise in 1 endings in

,
”
-
“
I in My Int icate Image ”
T here are other resemblances Lik e th e nti Petrarchan Donne h e

, r .
avoids the sugar sweet and i troduces words im ages and figures which
-
. a ,
mcancer
ay contribute to a poem s tru th but t to its Beauty
n
-
, ,
’ “ ” “
p t t no : s en o u
maiden s Slime blew t the blood gauze red wagged

,
” “ ’
,
” “
ou ,
” “
,
root He is t perturbed th at Love has its consummation in a conjunction

”
f sewer pipes Like the Donne f Batter m y heart and Extasie

. no
and “ ” ”
the Hopki s of th Terrible Sonnets he does not Shudder away from

o . o ,
agonizing stress physical pain Finally a good many of h is poems have

n e ,
or .
,
11
the dramatic structu re and quality which mark such a poem as Th e
Pulley It is an illusory almost entirely verbal drama f very few f the

”
poems establish conflict between real protagonists and antagonists But

.
, , or o
Thom as h a trick of transmuting states of being abstractions into

.
characters which confl ict with act upon the poem s speaker in a
as or
’
dramatic w y Thomas does t doze ff he fellows sleep ; he does not

or
age time track s him down ; he do s not fall in love love s rub tickles him;
a . no o ,
’
dreams whack their limbs the wind punishes with frosty fingers grief
,
e ,
crawls ff time s mouth suck s And always there is action the force
, ,
’
o . :
d ives and blasts ; my hero bares and unpacks ; dry worlds lever ; images
,
stalk ; gods thump ; hands grumble

r
Th in fl uence of J oyce coincides with that f the seventeenth century

.
poets Hi denigration f wine dark into snot green

e o -
his urine“ ” ”
scented k idneys his general recognition that if man is little lower than
. s o - -
sea,
the angels he is little higher than the beasts could not have failed to affect
T homas J o yce followed Aquinas in organizing hierarchically the various
,
kandindsheof ldidove notthat ignore

.
man comprising body intellect and soul is capable f

or tiptoe round its lowest manifestation He
, , o ,
followed A quinas as well in his e ffort after analysis towards synthesis If

.
.
,
in Uly B loom and Dedalus and Molly are differentiated in F i g

, ,
’
sses, nne an s
HC B is united within himself with his contemporaries his
,
W ka e, —
, ,
forebears and his posterity T o achieve a simultaneity of spectral colors

, .
and their resolution into whiteness Joy e uses the dynamic pun as in the
title itself with its lin k age f I ish hero and workm an romance and comic
,
c ,
o r ,
song fish and man birth and death and rebirth T his is not word play
th word is made to wor k too hard And T homas has a similar seriousness
, ,
.
-
:
f purpose and a similar end in view in his exploitation f the sa m e device

e .
His search for the light in darkness is no less a s earch f the unity in
o o .
or
variety
No trace f Bloom reveals itself in the Joyce f C h mb M i h e is
.
o o a er us c ;
here the lad with the delicate air and the musical ear And he and Thomas
part company T hough Thomas s poems lend themselves t reading aloud
.
it cannot be said that many Of them have song like qualities I d not m ean
. o ,
that they cannot be given musical ac ompaniment (as Stravins k i h as in

-
. o
fact done ) but that they do not have in themselves the m llifl
which w associate with song Their vowels do not I p with ease Like
e uo u sness
“
e . e O e ,
summer birds o er summer seas There is something of the throat and

’
.
”
-
mouth taxing quality f Donne and Hardy in such lines as Split up the
-
o
“
brawned womb s weather Her fist f a face died clenched a round

’ ” “
pain Pluck cock my sea eye said medusa s scripture Hi are poems
, o on
” “ ’ ”
, , , , . s
constructed f declamation rather than singing and offer the pleasures

or
o f soliloquy rather than lyric Th sentences crackle with verbs but are . e
12 °
After the eye s moment f delight in the poem s design comes the
’
O
’
mind s hour f struggle with the meaning It is an exhausting struggle

’
o .
and made the more in many poems because Thomas also attacks his so , ,
reader physically In characteristic first lines he is called upon to act

make me a wall and a mas k to respond kinestheticall y ( Th
. ,
“
e
spire to feel the impact thudding sharp of dentals ( If my ,

or ,
“
head hurt a hair s literally to widen and narrow his eyes ( in

’
Vision and Prayer to p articipate in intimate activities ( I dreamed “
my genesis in sweat f His breath ta k en away by thi sudden

attack he is kept breathless by the periodicity f the sentence which
o s
follows Th mind wearies under the strain f carrying s o much its

,
o
shoulders O r it may have to expend energy in the carpentry of fitting

. e o on
words together as in mankind m ak ing Bird beast and fl ower

.
“
,
Fathering And a fatiguing tension results from the reader s resistance

.
’
,
when he wants t pause and observe to Th omas s pushi g him down hill ’
hou se breakneck of
o ,
n -
with image ( torrent salmon sun “

h k
” “ ” “
rocks with and connected se ies ( in A Winter s

,
seas a en ,
” “ ’
with enjambement It i easy t fall and s kin a shin in a Thomas poem

— as or
r
. s o .
And the reader flli t d with images f pain becomes sensitive to physical
, a c e o ,
hurt as the hypochondriac reader of medical books becomes sensitive to

symptoms dh i d cancers cataracted eyes snipped fl esh raw edg d
nerves whacked limbs bruised thumbs rack twisted sinews lopped
: re a re , , ,
-
e
tongues pin sharp tear drops the cramp f love Thomas s eems to h ave
-
, , , ,
-
, , o —
omitted only the bamb o splinter under the fi g nail

multiplicity of sensuous detail ( much f it painful ) the
o n er- .
Th
propulsion the verbal activity the run over line the emphasis of llit
e so o ,
, ,
-
,
a er
ation the periodicity Thomas did not necessarily derive them from
Hopkins but he did not ignore them when he found them there
, :
.
,
As for another of hi characteristic devices the ff rhyme he could

have found examples in Hopkins ; but the practice of Wilfrid O wens a d
s , o -
,
closer to hand At the time indeed full rhyme

n
f the Auden group w
very nearly t of fashion
o as .
, ,
w
Brie fly Thomas blends the qualities of several literary lines each
as ou .
different in one w y another but all related in their essential non

, ,
formism There is the Blake Wordsw rth Shelley Yeats line with its
a or -c
on
propensity toward adulation f the child or oth er ou tsider ; the Don e

.
-
o - -
Blake Whitman Lawrence J oyce Yeats line with its concept of total love ;
o n
the Donne Herbert J oyce Eliot Auden line with its crafting its wit its
- - - -
functional word play ; the Keats Hopkins li ne with its crowding sensuosity ;
- - - —
, ,
the Donne B rowning Hardy Eliot line with it verbal ruggedness and its
- -
- — -
s
sense of poem drama

Different in the soun d and tone and manner f their work all these
as .
o ,
14
were ali ke in being at outs with a prevailing dogma litera y fashion —
a r ,
a moral code a social situation a religious creed And all are linked too
, ,
.
, ,
i that they are seeking God a lost Christian God the true Christian
n : ,
God a substitute in Nature or Art History or Man

or or .
And is Thomas Th body of his poetry is a r cord f the search

,
so . e e o ,
a search never satisfact rily concluded And here another problem arises
th e problem f interpreting a poet whose attitude toward Christianity is
o . :
never constant but wh constantly uses Christian symbols For his insistent
questions Thomas found answers th at satisfied the intellect and answers
o .
that satisfied the heart O ly rarely did the answers satisfy both simultan
, ,
. n
ly Because he made the search he i as Watk ins has said a religious

poet Because he fli m a crucified Christ and i witness to the test the
eou s .
, s, ,
. a r s s ,
fall the judgment the agony and the redemption i him lf he m y be

said to be a kind of Christian B t in his l
, , ,
n se ,
a
and his f ll . u sec t essness sex u ness,
he is a Christian with a difference one wh may be said b y more orthodox ,

o
Christians not to be one at all Life light love are as Apollonian as Chris .
, ,
tian and the sacrifice is just as Dionysian There is something in Th omas

f th Malatesta wh built his T e mpio celebrating an illicit love for I
, .
o e o t xo t a
over a shrine f Mary o .
No new thi g appears in Thomas s teachings That living is a dying ’
and dying a changed living ; that love can con quer all though all things
n .
,
conspire to conquer love and that to be all conquering it must be totali

tarian but not monolithic ( love s pyramid has many mansions ) ; that the
-
,
’
country is holy ; that to see k Him there or elsewhere or to fl Him ee
is to find Him though uncertainly ; that reason is tethered by a short rope

to a stout stake ; that the world s maverick s are blest ; that the things of
,
Mortimer Street will t leave the saddle unless they are vigorously bucked
no
ff Th themes are traditional that is to say trite T ite except that

what is common to man is novel to a man for who m the world i born
o . e . r
,
with his birth

,
T homas can someti mes denounce but he can n ever wholly renounce
.
Christiani ty He is not the one to cry Thou hast conquered O Pale

,
Galilean but rather to exclaim who would h ave thought the young
.
, ,
”
man to have so mu ch blood in him It is not the Christ of Mortimer

, ,
”
.
Street or of St Paul s Blake Shelley Freud Darwin Frazer Yeats ’
Lawrence and their lik e have seen to that But He is de p as a well

. : , , , , , ,
wider than a church door and He will be served T homas both denied
, . e ,
and served Him

-
.
,
Thomas s great app al is to the child f the twentieth cen t ry moved

’
rem ain an organization

e o u
b y the Christian story but t led to become no , or ,
Christian ; seeking a faith which does not deny but assimi lates Frazer
Freud Darwin ; seeking a solidarity which does not m ean conformity
,
‘
15
the tabus f the elders the demands f the bureaucratic state ; seeking
a retreat from the responsibilities f the t ea ly adulthood comp lled
to o or o
by the needs of a world in revolution ; seeking e scape from suburban

o oo- r e
monotone to pastoral idiosyncrasy T

It is an appeal heightened because homas is young like them ( even
.
into middle age ) aw kward rash sloppy in manner a n d dress but good
hearted and with a sense of humor ; t a Prufrock a Beckett ( th ey
, , , ,
“ ”
may appreciate Eliot s resonance and wit but they cannot identify with
no no r
’
him as hey cannot with the aloof Yeats the su spect Pound the cold
,
,
t , ,
Joyce the public school Auden the porcelain fi i h d Stevens or even

,
-
,
-
n s e ,
the erratic Cummings and too queer Crane )

T here are color and excitement and yo u th fulness and honesty in
-
.
that neither denie s conceal s

,
Thomas s poems And an fli m ti

’
. a r a on no r
the facts of existence but accepts them Thomas offers religion in th

sense that it is the sign f the hard pressed creature the heart f a heart
. e
“
less world the soul f s oulless circu mstances Th tim es are such that
o -
, o
”
what he offers h been gratefully received becau se it is ( in the sense f

, o . e
capable of meeting ) equ al to even if t T ue

as o
“ ”
no r .
III
Nowhere am ong the poem s not even in s o annunciatory a po m a s
Vision and Prayer i it clear th at T ho m as ever fully succeeded in i
, e
t g ti g sense and sensibility T old to reason by the h eart he h ad bee n

, s n
unable to quiet an active mind s insistence upon validating the conclus

e ra n .
,
’
ions reached What Vision and Prayer repre s ents i t much a “ ”
coupling f the dissidents as a subjugation of to the other a silen

. s no so
cing of the voice which contended that th e point f termi nu s is pi

o o ne
ly similar to the point of departure a nd th e line f reason ing a trip

o sus
i
c o us o
round Robin Hood s B rn

,
’
Examination of Thomas s language reveals th at failing s ucces sful inte

a .
it was i evitable that heart would assume hegemony over hea d

,
g ti
In the collected poems Thomas employs a working vocabulary of aro nd
ra o n, n .
, u
thirty i hundred words As would b expected in a ly ic poet the fi t

person pronou n is ubiqu itous appearing betwee n two and three hundred
-
sx . e r ,
rs
times as subject and over seventy as Object B u t it i s th next forty m o t

,
uassedfollows
words th at putting the I in its context are most revealing The se are
:
, ,
. e
.
s
1 00 2 00 uses
-
9 0 1 00 lik e
ma n l ove sea, ,
eye as tim e
-
8 0 90
lie ( in its verbal forms ; and as noun )
-
sun, , ,
70 80
-
60- 7 0 ni ght wind water light , , ,
5 0 - 60 sleep over ,
4 0- 5 0 green moon house ky turn ghost fire grave star tree

, , , s , , , , , , ,
white world ,
30 4 0 stone tongue wound see sing tell still ( in both senses )

sum mer
, , , , , , ,
20 - 3 0 walk word seed weather voice year lover

, , , , , ,
.
Th e characte i stics of these words are clear at a glance most are mono
syllables none having more than two syllables ; Latinisms are at a mini
r :
mum ; m t words concern the areas of normal experience especially the

,
os ,
normal experience of a chil d ; some are abstract but most relate to sensory ,
experience preeminently sight and sound ; considered together they have

, ,
a pastoral quality somewhere between that of the Twenty third Psalm

and that of A yone lived in a pretty h w town
-
“
n o .
Some generalizati ns could be made from even so small a selection o ,
but there i i te est as well as value in making a more elaborate analys i s

Adding to the words already listed those used from ten t twenty times
s n r .
o ,
and roughly classifying them under descriptive heads does more than put
the I in context ; it creates its world Thu s
,
“ ”
. :
P Adam boy bride child enemy Eve father fellow gentle

msonan strangers
girl I infant king ladies lovers man me mother sir sister
erso ns : , , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , , , ,
, tailor thief woman , , , .
B dy blood body bone brain breath cadaver cancer ear

o : , y , , , , , , , e e,
face finger fist fl esh foot hair hand head heart heel jaw limbs
lips loin marrow mouth nerves skin skull smile tears thigh
, , , , , , , , , , ,
, , ,
throat womb wound

, , , , , , ,
H m bed candle clock cloth cradle do r k ey lamp room sheet

, , .
o e: , , , , ,
o
thread
, , , , ,
d bread mil k salt

.
Foo : , , .
Im gi i dream ghost image spell tale word

h bell blessed chime christen cross devil dome faith gl ory
a na t o n: , , , , , .
Ch
G d grace g ave g ilt heaven hell holy hy mn miracle praise
urc : , , , , , , , , ,
o , , r , u , , , , , ,
pray priest saint i soul spire spirit

,
, , , s n, , ,
.
O d
ut o o rs: (G l) air bud bush cloud dew dust farm field
ene ra , , , , , , , ,
fl ood fl ower fountain frost fruit garden grain grape grass

ground hay hill ice lake leaved light ing m on m ountain rain
, , , , , , , , ,
river rock root scyth e seed shade shadow ky snow star stick
, , , , , ,
n ,
o , , ,
, , , , , , ,
s , , , ,
stone storm straw stream street thorn thunder wind wood

) beast bird claw cock feather fi fi h fo x g ll s h awk
, , , , ,
sun, , , ,
.
(F
heron h ors insect maggot wl wings wo m
a una : , , , , , n, s , , u , ,
,
e, , , o , ,
r .
°
17
(S ea) : b ay boat h arbour sa d shell ship shore tide , , n ,
sea, , , ,
.
lone bare blind born bright cal charm

,
C di i ( G l) m
cold cool damp dark dead dear death deep dry du mb fear foul
on t on: enera a , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , ,
full f ry gay good g eat grief hard hollow hooded hunger i

, ,
u , ,
r , , , , , , n
nocent j y labour legged life light living lost loud love mad
, ,
male mortal na ked old pain proud quick rest ruin secret silence
,
o , , ; , , , , , , ,
slow small still sweet tall think young

, , , , , , , , , , ,
( C l ) black blu e colour gold golden green red white

.
, , , , , ,
(Sh p ) circle crooked ro u nd shape

o or : , , , , , , , .
) awa k e bl w b ow break burn call carve cast climb

a e : , , ,
.
(A i
cling coil come cry t dance descend desire die dive drift
c t o ns : ,
o , , , , , , , ,
, , , ,
ou , , , , , , ,
drive drop drown enter fall find fl ash fly fl w fold fork give
, , , , , , , ,
o , , , ,
glide grow hammer hang hear hold hide jump keep kill kiss
, , , , , , , , , , ,
kneel knock know lay lead leap learn leave let lie lock look
mraiseake ride
markringmayrisemoveroarmurder
,
,
,
must open pack print pull rage

,
run y sail see set shot sing sleep

,
, ,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, ,
,
,
,
,
snap speak spin stand strike suck suffer swing take tap tell
, , , , , , sa , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , , , , ,
throw
always beginning day dus k en d ever first fo ever genesis
.
Tim e: , , , , , , , r , ,
hour last midnight morning never night once season second

spring sum mer winter year
, , , , , , , , ,
away back center city cou ntry down earth far h igh home
.
, , ,
Pl
house island land low near over place side world
ac e: , , , , , , , , , ,
.
, , , , , , , ,
Q i y all every half double i ch least little long many more

uan t t : , , , ,
n , , , , , ,
nothing some
air earth fire fl ame w ter
.
,
Mi ll sc e (E l m ) aneo us : e ent , , , , a .
(N mb ) five four three two

armour coat shroud
u er , , o ne , , .
(D )
ress , , .
(E drum globe horn how iron jack like name il only

rod sake s und stroke than
tc . as, , , , , , , , , O , ,
, ,
o , , .
It is still the limited world of the seaside village child His family sur -
.
rounds him ; hi body intrigues him ; his home protects him ; church b ells
s
ring for him ; landscape and seascape encircle him ; his imagination p oples
them ; he knows fear and joy love and pain bright and dark damp and
e
d y qu ick and slow ; he responds to primary instead of pastel colors knows

, , ,
r ,
his numbers to five ; awakes breaks calls climbs lings cries cuts dances
,
, , , ,
c , ,
falls hides jumps lea ns and so on ; finds things to be ever or never in

, ,
season high and low and near and far an d all or nothing at all It i a
, , , r , or
, , . s
world solid with things with things that blow and dive and drift and
fl ash and fl y th at rage and roar and snap and spin And in th e center f
:
it all is himself until fter bread and milk and possibly hearthstone tale
, . o
, a ,
an hour in th front parlor where are t be found th e Bible and the
Illustr t d Ha dy Reference Home Medical Manual he is sent with Candle
or e o
lamp t b d and sleep and d am

ae n -
,
Particul ar concrete active short Angl o S axon th ese are the Old
or o e re .
familiar fi t learned words the words f immediate impact comm oner

-
, , , , ,
“
th an water It is f th e se words that Thomas make s hi s exotic poems

, rs -
, o ,
One is reminded Of P wy remark about Rabelais

. o
o
’
s s :
.
I G g R ab lais terrible infant mentality shows itself i the

’ “
way h e uses what might be called the child s f g d mi d in egard

n ar an tua e -
n
’
t geography Th garden fence ; the padd ock beyond the churc h ; th e

o re ro un n r
sloping
o
meadow above the ruins ; the orchard beyond th br ok ; the

e -
.
vill age g een and th e vil age pond all these th ings e l arged e x
e o
tended i crease d deepened widened and heightened everything

r , n ,
i s t a little child become the backg ound of the whole Cosmic B attle
,
n , , , as
o , r .
It is with Th omas s comparisons as with his vocabula y ordinariness

’
is of thei essence They are t those striven f by the writer calcul ati g
r :
o igin ality but those learned early from parent servant aunt and village
r . no or n
r , , , ,
post mistress Thomas seems t have gone to comparisons as to words t

link the p sent with the traditional past as Eliot went to Virgil Dante o o
-
.
Shak esp are Andrewes and the like t link with the tradition on another
re , , ,
level Consider the following

e , , o
. :
th i c k as th iev es , c o ld as b utter , ligh tly as a f

ea the r, c o ld as s to ne ,
dead as nai ls , me ek as mi lk , s traigh t as a y o ung el m whi te

, as woo l,
c o ld as s no w , wh i te as the sk ele to n, q uie t as a b o ne , whi te as mi lk ,
suc k ed li k e a sp o nge , ran lik e a wi nd , si ng li k e a b ird .
list could be extended but these will suffice to Show how caref l
Th e
never to divorce himself utterly from his plain as Old shoe
,
u
Thomas w
heritage f langu age and figur
as - -
an- -
Nor do s he cut hi mself ff from traditi onal rhythms and stanza forms
o e .
e O .
This i pa ticularly true of th earlier po ms Where Pound and Eliot had

made a fetish f breaking the pentameter Thomas writes line after line
s r e e .
“ ”
o
beat iambics
,
offi v e-
I the boys of summer in th eir ruin

see
A process in the weather f the heart

Th force th at drives the water through the roc k s
o
My hero bares his nerves along my wrist

Arranged in stanz as ru ning from three t seventeen li nes they are made
to work togeth er with trimeters tetram eters and hexameters ; they are
n o ,
, ,
°
19
va ied Drives my green age hat bla ts oots t s they th e r of
weakened by f ee fem nine end n s ha ts

r ; t s ree are
o y
u se o f i i g ( A nd t
“ ’
th e rub , th e nl
they are m ade by enjamb m nt to over ow Never

r
rub that fl
iambic beat and the pentam eter length p v ai allying the
,
e e , .
th eless, th e l,
p ems with all the sonnets odes pastor a s epistles epics and dram as
re
l
English
o , , , , ,
that have meant home and mo her to th e
the later poems the beat becomes less insistent troch ees an ape sts
t ear .
In
and spondees are mixed with iambs lines are shortened and length
,
: , ,
th e
ened with the result that rhythm subtly tran smuted cadence But
,
is to
is he anywhere
.
,
nowhere does he exercise an extravagant freedom , nor
(so far as metre and structure are concerned an innovator h ty years ) T ir

of experimentation had made what homas was to do in these respects
.
T
quite customary
f ll rhyme All of his p e m s use
.
too with his dis ncl nation

SO i i to u se u . o
some sort of linking sound effect the i li ne stanza f I in My Intricate -

: s x -
o
“
,
Image is held together by l sounds peril natural devil parallel ; Poem

” “
on His Birthday rhymes vowel sounds

- —
, , ,
scud sea beak birds Spurn

”
grave age ; in Love in the Asylum consonants h ave the duty birds
- —
sun- ,
-
,
-
,
“ ”
clouds words possessed dust last ; he shows a Miltonic fondness for i

- —
,
-
,
- -
n
ternal rhyme :
T ime by thei dust was fl es h the s wineherd rooted ly

Flared in h reek of the wiving y with the ru sh
, r s ,
t e
Light of his high spreadeagle to the dungh ill ky

st
t s, s .
But Owen Auden Day L wis and others had domesticated these m ethods
of echo linking long before Thomas made his appearance i the literary
, ,
e ,
-
n
wo ld
ll these respects then Thomas s poetr y is at a far remove fro m
r .
I
’
the eccentric or exotic And an additional home liness is impressed upon

n a , ,
many of the poems because of Thomas s fondness f parallel structure ’
Foster the Light Th Seed Z ro Light Break s Where N Sun

or .
“ ” “ ” “
e -
at- e , O
Shines Now In the Beginning Th Force that Drives the Green

,
” “
, ,
” “
e
Fuse all deri ve a simili tude of classical lucidity from this classical device
,
”
.
A reader f these previous paragraphs unacquainted with Thomas s ’
poems might asily get the idea that w are concerned with a k ind of
o
Welsh counterpart of R obert Frost O ne can imagine h w great his shoc k

e e
would be when he confronted a poem in the flesh F if Thomas never

. o
writes a poem with a line like Cummings

. or
’
a imflitt i gi h is are fl i ing f ll ll ! mil ky milb igh tli

: cr er n s o ats s a a , s , r o ns
he writes few that susta in th e homely simplicity f y Frost s I m o , sa ,

’ “ ’
20 °
an d their location we will probably not know their character or ta tu,
as s s—
Th Seed Zero ”
in e -
at -
.
Speaki g acting but humanized p ifi ti t f abstractions

but f biological entities ( eggs spermatozoa f t s es ) which m ay be
n , ,
u n- erso n ca o ns, no o
abstractions moving th ough a fantastic shifting l andscap ambiguous i

o , ,
oe u
thems lves d made the more confounding by contrived ambigu ities f

, r ,
e, n
styl puns unspecified symbols elusive syntax ; the whole so m agnified

e an o .
by melodramatic u se f langu age as to make difli lt achieving any sen e

e— , ,
of proportion possibil ity of di fferentiation ; these th ch aracte is tic s

o cu s
which run counter to Thomas s fondness for the simple fam ili ar imm di
or are e r
’
ately d fi b l word and figure

, , e
-
e na e .
Indeed it i from the famili ar village words grains wounds water

s —
, , ,
jour ey fire heat and cold li ght and dark breaking ground insect wind
,
word sewing hatchi ng green womb seaweed m arrow h air weather

n , , , , , , ,
worm stone feather scissors scythe fork clothes t llow and others
, , , , , , , , ,
that the ambigu ities arise that m ark hi s poems as native but unwarbled
, , , , , , , a ,
since they furnish the ymbols

,
Th ambigu ity im plicit i giving th concrete no un an abstract meani g

s .
t maintain through th e body f his

e n e n
i enh anced b ecause Thomas does

work a simple A to A relation but v aries the lation a cording t conte xt
s no o
T herefore each ti m e a given word f symbo lic potential appears it must

. re c o .
, o ,
be approached questioningly Is th word regardless f earlier later

this instance being used as a symbol? If with a n identical
: e , o or
i
meani ng? Is it being used specifically ( quasi allegorically ) or i a
u se , n so ,
, n
connotati onal sort f way? Does it have an ascertainable and limited o
number of associations? If not where does the reader stop the association
fi di g process i n order to equate with Thomas s intention rather than t
,
’
n n o
exercise his own ingenuity?

Th following paragraph quoted from an elab rate study f T homas s ’
imagery e xhibits the need for such q uestions Th author has earlier stated
e o o
that birds are a u iversal symb l f resurrection and the spirit and th is
. e
“
n o o
without qualification that the skeptical reader begins at once to query

,
All birds even the vulture and carrio n crow? All birds equally th
, so .
— —
e
yellow belli ed sapsucker no less than the dove? All birds in the same
the R oman eagle the Thanksgiving turkey the thievish magpie
~
w y a —
, , ,
the self deluding ostrich the hot sparrow? But the author h not stayed
a question and h go s on
-
, as
for , s e e :
heron who appears in Poem in O ctober Over Sir John s

Th e ,
” “ ’
Hill Poem His B irthday and Prologue is clearly a holy

,
” “ “ ”
and spiritual bird heron priested shore herons steeple s temmed

, on , ,
“ ” “
bless the fishing holy st l king heron It may also be sig ificant
: -
, ,
-
,
” “ ”
, a . n
22 °
that the heron was sacred to the Egyptians and w asso iated by ,
as c
them with the phoenix In Ch apter LXXXIV of Th B k f h

D d the heron is one f the transformations of O siris
. e oo o t e
ea , o .
Now in Prologue the heron simply ta kes its place in a long se ies
of things seen among them gulls pipers and geese and is in no way
,
r
, , , ,
singled t from the other water birds nor even in any w y described Here
ou -
,
a .
it is not clearly holy and spiritual but clearly a bird among birds In
“ ”
Poem in October Thomas i aw a e f

.
“ ”
, s r o
the mussel pooled and the heron Priested shore

And when he goes out for a walk the heron dives If
.
automatically , . o ne
responds with spiritual when the stimulus heron is given

“ ”
will “
,
o ne
give the above phrase a deep meaning though some difficulty may attach —
to lending the mussels an equivalent sig ifi ance B t there se ms to be n c . u e
no reas n to believe that Thomas is saying any more than that the pools
are full of mussels and the herons stand around ( hungrily? ) li ke priests
o
T hat is T homas is emplo ying

, t symbol but metaphor ( How does one no .
interpret the heron s dive symbolically? ) ’
“
O ver Sir J ohn s Hill presents a somewhat different case Here we have
’ ”
the fishing holy stalking her n the elegiac fi h b i d saint heron o

” “
s er r
.
” “
, ,
hymning and the tilting whispering / Heron And T h m depicts

,
”
. o as
himself and the heron grieving the death of the small birds T his latter
action if taken se iously would be an egregious example f pathetic fallacy
.
B ut such emphasis is placed upon the heron as a ki ller ( he stalks and stabs
,
r ,
o .
and fishes and bows his tilted h d ) that it is clear that T homas s ea s to ne
’
real intention is precisely to compel us to recognize the absurdity of

pathetic fallacy i reading human motives and emotions into natural
— O
events Th heron here i a symbol but t of resurrection or f the

spiritual but of natural process which is in itself holy Heron hawk and
. e s , no o
.
, , ,
small birds are f the company Of Wallace Stevens quail that Wh istle
o
’ “
about their spontaneous cries in this old chaos of the

us where we ” “
sun
”
live unsponsored free Th title f another Stevens poem sums up ”
Frogs Eat Butterfl ies Snak es

, . e o
Thomas s bare bones theme very neatly

’ “
Eat Frogs Hogs Eat Snakes Men Eat Hogs But Thomas fl h out these
-
: .
”
. . . es es
bare bones His herons spear d spire ; they walk in their shroud but
. an
“
,
they are steeple stemmed Merely b y being ali ve and foll wing their
“
-
. o
natures they gl rify the natural order f which they are a part Further
in their k illing and being killed blessing is involved ( the word bl i g
,
o o .
,
ess n
derives from b l d i to consecrate with blood ) B t no tincture of

,
supernaturali m enters
oe s an . u
,
s
B rie fly in none f the poems cited is it necessary uin .
seful t concern
oneself with the transformation of O siris or the resurrective proclivities
o or o
23
Oi the phoenix ; such ingenuity leads inevitably to misinterpretation Again .
,
in none of the poems is the heron exactly the heron f other poems In o .
“
Prologue he is an unimportant member of a group and to b regarded
literally; in Poem in October he is still a bird but important to the
e
,
“ ”
seascape and given a metaphorical heightening ; in O ver Sir John s Hill

, ,
’ ”
and Poem on His Birthday though he is further heightened to beco me a

“
full fl dg d symbol it is not a universal symbol but Th omas s and

,
“ ” ’
-
e e ,
o ne
whose symbolic reference is confi ed to these poems

against identifyi g Thomas s symbols with universal
n .
Th ese warnings
’
— n
symbolism against going too far in the search for allusiveness against
”
responding to a word with Pavlovia automatism apply most p rticularly

, ,
to the later poems In the Obscurer p e ms the reader m ay need at first

n — a
. o , , ,
to g to these ex esses to explore all possibilities But having done

o c ,
. so ,
he must be prepared however regretfully to give up those associational

meanings which do not consort with Thomas s general practice and are
, ,
’
not contextually relevant

T his I suppose is the ultimate test of the explicator s clevern es s and
.
learning when they cloud the issue instead f enriching the poet y they
, ,
need to be ta ken in hand Thomas asked to be read literally His statement

: o r ,
Obviously cannot be tak en Yet when the temptation is strong t

. .
so . o
rebuild Thomas s cottage into an edifi ce it should be remembered Th

’
of T homas s k ey symbols There are others h wever that

,
. e
heron is no t o ne
’
.
,
o ,
appear with some regularity and though shifting in meaning according to , ,
context maintain a consistent general sense Most of these are relatively

conventional or logically arriv ed at
.
,
T homas s Adam is Scripture s natur l man once i nocent as a child

’ ’
then tempted lik e an adolescent w in hi adulthood guilty and conscious

a , n ,
of being subject to Time and Death His J esus i also Scripture s redeeming
,
no s
’
through sacrificial love that gu ilt and vanquishing Death

. s ,
But it is Adam and J esus as they appear in each m an t th ey

.
,
app ar in a book that coerce Thomas s attention He sees the history f

, no as
’
man in scientific terms as a slow develop ment from prim itive

e , . o
born
simplicity to its present land locked co mplexity And he sees this history
: , sea-
-
.
( as he sees the Adam Jesus hi story ) recapitulated in each individual He

-
.
can therefore the water a symbol f the spaw ing ground

f life either of m an of a man and the as a symbol for the life
use sea o r as or n -
maintaining g owth inducing force which the spawn f sea of womb

o or , sun
, r -
o or
omes to experience
But he can graft upon the inform ation of the scientist th e wisdom of
c .
Scripture S this spawn becomes the Ada m wh w te mpted to aspire

and lost his ac eptant simpli ity and h Jesus wh practicing aspiration
. O o as
c c t e o,
f another order regains it

,
o , .
24
It is the wisdom of Script re It is also the wisdom f Blake u . o :
T hou a Man God is no more ;

art ,
T h y w humanity learn to adore

o n ,
F or that is my Spirit f Life o .
Man s complexity consists in his having become not a mortal but a

’
mortal ghost As with the animals his cells multiply lik e the sand which “
is upon the seashore he develops a cadaver which undergoes winds and

.
, ,
weathers the fevers and chills of life the ripening and decay f time
, ,
o ,
and at length the feather touch or scissors snip of death But here is no
cessation for the cells will conti ue their process T urning ! as Bed does
-
.
daisies gently in the grave But unlik e the animal within that
, n ,
puts it ]
cadaver ( crocodile skin suit of armor similar hard cover ) and unhappy
to .
,
in its confi nement is the spirit recognizing and defying death imagi ing
-
, , or
, , , n
eternity aspiring to immortality perhaps crying t ( in Beddoes words )

, ,
ou
’
By heaven and hell and all the fools between them ,
I will t die nor sleep nor wink my eyes

no , , ,
But thi k myself into a God

n .
f T homas s symbols describing the e x perience of ascent and

’
F w
descent (assent and dissent) are as I have said in any way exotic
e o
eccentric As a matter f fact I have woven m any into the preceding

, , or
. o
paragraph They apply to any villager s life and are part of almost any
.
’
villager s language Such as do I shall consider later as they appear

’
. no t ,
in the poems
As Thomas breathed in the village v cabulary he breathed i its stock
.
phrases These he put to his own u se he did the S ingle words sometimes
o , n
.
,
as ,
by raising them to symbolic significance always by varying them to produce

that sort of fillip hat Wilde s subversion f the sentential evokes For
,
’
t o .
example
Sh ll fall awake s kull of state j w f news tooth and tail fi and
:
a , , a or , , ve
country senses dressed to die stations f the breath sins and days the
pyre yet be lighted up to his tears the quick of night near and fire
, , o , ,
garden of wilderness once below ti me lie down and live the nic k of
to , , , ,
, a , ,
love happy the grass w green the spa ows hail

, as as ,
rr .
Each f these wittily and fancifully refurbishes a cliché each enriches

o ,
the earlier meaning in part by alerting attention through a greater p i

, art c u
l i y but more especially b y insinuating an opposing conc pt whi h

ar t ,
e c ,
conside ed in conjunction with the original produces a third that f life s

r , , o
’
parado ical ambivalence T h head of state whose hand signs the paper
is indeed a d ath s head the dandy dressed to kill is a dying animal ; there
x . e
’
e ;
is much sensitive life and movement is often necessarily rapid i the dead
, , n
°
25
of night ; the wilderness with hum ans is a s much a garden as Eden is a
wilderness without ; the borning child does wake fallen and th e dying m , an
goes prone to life An effect of multiplied pastoralism is produced in fi

.
“
ve
and country senses Th value f country is increased merely by ” “ ”
supplying the and in pla e of the expected com ma That value is

. e o
“
redoubled by the hint of five and twenty bl ackbirds

c .
ome are particular

.
Some of these are inversions ( quick f “
izing inte pretations ( si ns and

o s
some are simple shifts in meaning
“
( the nic k of
r
B t all have the effect f the d

“
bl d tw u o ou e- e n te n re: o
sets of words are heard and seen Th ough they are not exactly puns they
have their effect the two meanings clenched like interlocking g ar teeth
.
,
and producing as was said from opposed move ments a third

, e -
And this brings us to T homas s exploitation f the pun Puns declared

, , , .
’ “
Fowler are good bad and indifferent and only those wh o l ack the wit
o .
,
to mak e them are unaware of the fact Puns m ay be cla s sified according
, , ,
to their function as well as their quality Th ere are p un s in Thomas s

.
poems of no particular mom ent rather f only mom entary effect

.
products one might y of the fancy But th ere are also puns which
— o r, o
,
,
sa ,
.
,
sometimes b y their location in a crucial position sometimes through being

repeated with variations assist in the enunciation or devel opment of the
,
theme have that is a structural importance

—
, , .
Cursory reading will turn up a sufficiency of plays on words that have

a flickering temporary value and may be said to attest to the poet s high ’
spirits or his inability ( like Sh akespeare s ) to leave well enough alone

,
When he refers to my prowed dove the Welshing rich Sodom Th

.
,
“ ” “ ” “
, ,
e
bum city and the like the response will be at best a wry amusement
”
at worst a downright disgu st And since such plays m ay distract attention

, , ,
from the matter at hand and may destroy the continuity of tone the poet
.
.
loses more than he gains .
More importantly the problem is posed of differentiating between th se

,
“
e ,
which might be called Puns Picayune and those which in their ambivalence ,
attest to the world s ambivalence Is it for example word play that

’
.
, ,
-
confuses word work that clarifies the issue in the last stanza f B efore “
I Knocked ?
or -
o
”
You wh bow down at cross and altar

o
R emember me and pity Him

,
Who took my fl esh and bone for armour

And doublecrossed my mother s wo mb ’
.
Since double crossed may mean twice traversed twice ifi d

cheated ( in any of several ways ) or a c mbination of these it is impossible
- -c
-
, ruc e ,
,
o ,
26 °
to specify Thomas s understanding of th Incarnation For the reader
’
s eki g defi iti on th puTn is egregious But it is not for the reader
e .
less interested in fixing hom as s position than in a realization of the

e n n , e . so
’
meanings within meanings involved in a mystery He could scarcely hope .
to fi d elsewhere compressedly rich a statement

t content with multi directional words but
n so .
N w since Thomas is
writes po ms which m ake simultaneous statements f antithetical themes
o , no -
or compress two stories into a simultaneous narration it is clear that

e o
structural punning is basic to Thomas s meth od and is the element of his

,
’
work which offers the greatest challenge

S far as the m ulti directional words are con erned the reader has his
.
O -
c ,
choice f puzzling t all the possibilities without fixing on one and ending
o ou
with a question maki ng an arbitrary choice of a single meaning and

running the ris k f error or an impoverishment Thus when T homas in
,
or
o .
, ,
“
Grief T hief of T ime exhorts his fathers to ”
Bulls eye the outlaw through a eunuch crack

, ,
And free the twin boxed grief -

,
W Y Ti dall explain s as follows

. . n :
Peepi g at the i truder through a eunuch crack is an occupation

for Susanna s impotent elders Their bullseye is both dark lantern
n n
’
.
and eye f a bull By such lights their p eping somehow frees g ief
o . e r
from twin boxes which are twi beds twin coffi or testicles as,
n ,
ns , —
y please
ou .
B u t surely th is is b eing too tentative and too generous If it please me .
that it be beds I have poem coffins another

, testicles still
o ne , , , or ,
another And since t the ingenious mind twin boxed opens up still
.
, o ,
“
-
”
other possibilities we have other possible poems unless somehow

, , or
other this variety of twins is brought to a unity In short anarchy obtai s

,
, .
, n .
( William York T indall s R d Th m came to hand

’
G id Dy l
’
ea er s u e to an o as
too late for my save i this paragraph Though in f rmat general

izing introduction followed by close stu dies f the poems his boo k and
use n . o —
a
o —
mine agree they diverge so mark dly in other respects that each may be
, e
considered a ki nd of corrective of the other ) .
My w effort in such f the poems as I have explicated has been to

o n o
come t the best possible single meaning I have not tried to point out
every opening among the trees but to find the single trail that leads home
o .
I have no doubt missed some delightful scenery and it may be that I ,
have spent more than one evening in the wrong house However the .
,
sights I saw were delightf l enough ; I was made very comfortable in u
those homes away from home .
°
27
A note pon the organizati on f th is book the u s u al procedure in
approaching Thom as s po ms is t start at the begi ni g and drive t
U o :
’
the end But consideratio n f the C ll d P m as whole suggests th at

e o n n o
a more meaningful method might be t g oup po ms f a simil ar nature

. o o ec te oe s a
permitting the Specimens within each g oup to comm ent upon anoth er
o r e o ,
I have therefore analyzed the poem s into the foll owing categorie s poe ms
r o ne .
reveali g the poet as a human being ; as a student f h u m an relationsh ips ;

:
as a practicing poet ; as w p t; as a seeker f G d ; a s an amateur

n o
'
a ar oe o o
philosopher
_
These co m part m ents are f co u rse not water tight An d it wi l l

.
certainly turn out th at I have made some errors in my cl assification The se

-
,
o , .
are the ris k s to be expected in seeking a new angle f visio n S fli it t

.
y I a m convinced that the gain justi fies th risk

o . u ce o
I wish t express my gratitude to M arjorie Buhr Dr B arbara Ch arl e s

sa , e .
worth J oan Cronin and my wife Professor Adele E me y wh h ave bee n

o , .
during the writing f this book h ard t please but ministering ange l s
, , ,
r , o ,
o ,
-
o- .
28 °
Fern Hill
Nothi g of the Wordsworthian mighty prophet seer blest best ph il
pher appears in th is description of T homas as a child nor does the poem
n , , o so
suggest that like T raherne at age four ( sitting in a little Obscure room in “
my fa her s poor house ) T homas reasoned If there be a God certainly

’ ” “
he must be infinite in goodness Th poe m makes no e ffort to articulate

t : ,
”
. e
the fervors of Christian mysticism nor to probe behind hildhood s simple , C

’
creed of deli ght and liberty to ascertain the natur f the master light e o
“
-
of all our seeing .

”
Without either religious or ph il ph i underpinning and written with O SO c ,
no ostensible purpose save to evoke the delight and lib y f childho od ert
'
it may perhaps seem a less substantial work than Wordsworth s or

o ,
’
T h a local color piece rather than a landscape of the soul But

ra erne s,
’
.
it does succ ed i that evocation it is dramatic where T rahe ne is

e n . r
exclamato y ; it is real M m ch ld and the reader i nat re

whereas T rahe ne puts him in his id of mat i re a k ind f jewel b ; it
r ,
i — —
n u
- _
objective the older Thomas and his problems re moved from the poem
r ea t , o -
ox
IS ,
as Wordsworth is not ; and it has a delicate rightness f touch that the

heavy handed Wordsworth ( Behold the ch ild among his newborn blisses
o
“
-
,
q ) cannot match
All three poets are concerned with a loss the forfeiture of something
e t se . .
peculiar to childhood What m ay m ak e the loss see m inconse quential in

,
Th omas is that it is not a loss within an ideational context which under

.
stood i its relation to that context is recognized as other than loss

n ,
.
T raherne can praise G d for the burning ardent desire that destroyed
his childish innocence And Wordsworth having relin quished only one
o ,
delight gained more and profounder joys In each case the deprivation
.
,
is philosophically justified like th e f li lp of Christian ideology

, .
,
, e x cu a .
In Fern Hill hildhood w and h ildh d d ended because time

“ ”
passed God does not figure ; there are no intimations f immortality

,
c as c oo e —
. o or
parallelings of Platonic epistemology ; it is not custom or society which

eclipses the first light which s h ined h i m in h is infan y T h poem has on c . e
only to do with a natural course of events There is not even implicitly .

,
or explicitly a hinting f the necessary complementary elationships of

, o r
innocence and experience as i Blake ,

n .
Yet for all that the poem does not mildly impinge upon or glance ff
the reader s consciousness It has the stri king force of drama not of
, ,
O
’
ly ricism And analysis shows that every stanz a in tiny hints f things to
-
.
,
come unrecognized by the sacrificial victim points to the i evitable reversal

.
,
o
of fortune T ime throughout is the o mnipotent antagonist ; the hero adopts

, n
the Prince ; th e Sheph erd ; th e Runner ; and Ad am

.
a variety f p o erso nae: .

Th e poem opens with a subtle unemphasized opposition Th boy is
playing about the house and under th e apple trees as h appy as the grass
,
. e
“
w reen that is as happy”

as the day was long And the rest f the
stanza describes a daytime scene But the line i mm ediately succeeding
o
g
as — .
,
happy as th grass w green s k ips ahead to the time f an end f playing

.
“
e as o o
Th night above th dingle starry Th line is quite out of pla e this

“
is not a noctu nal stanza But the amusing accent of di gl and the
—
e e . e c :
r . n e
fli m ti con otation f y so take the darkness t of igh that

scarcely realizes that an incongruity has been pe petra ted It is
a r a ve n o s tarr ou n t
f rther concealed by its being narrowly h e mm ed in by g

o ne r .
and g ld
Yet the d ar kness f that night under that grass so green re m ains
u reen o en .
o - —
.
Th antagonist is introduced as a permissive avuncular sort letting

the young dauphin have and go his ways But only within li m its In revising
e ,
ld for mula to T homas has state d e x actly the

. .
th b l w im
relative po s itions of life and time B u t T hom as s pleas nt ingenuity h ere
e o o nc e e o a t e,
’
an d the phrase s reminder f happy as the grass was green distract

a
’ ”
attention from th e seriou s l iteral mean ing and keep u s in a w rld f

o
,
o o
timeless make believe

Th o m as employs equal finesse and with th e s ame res u lt i n th e last line
-
.
Down the rivers f the wi dfall light Th b a sic m etaphor rivers f

:
light is strong in its suggestion ofw and unceasing fl w Th contradicto y

o n . e , o
,
o . e r
significan e of the dd epithet i f ll l t escapes attention Th

temptation is to relate it to easy under the apple bou ghs Ligh t thu s
c O n a a rno s . e
“ ”
.
is that which comes easily naturally and as a kind f largesse Th

concept of a decay and end of light h little no initial impact
, ,
o . e
In the second stanza T homas is overt enough in the p hrase the

as or .
that is young once only But in And the sabbath rang slowly he is
, sun
at h i trick s again O n the hand there is the idea that every day is a
.
,
holiday and a holy day as long as one f those Victoria n Sunday afternoons
s . o ne
which never seemed to end T hese days were not h owever Su days but
, o
sun s days and they died with the light of the dying sun
’
.
, ,
n
T his idea is made explicit in the third stanza in Al l the sun l ong it
, .
was running And in this phrase is the next contradiction between

.
—
l g and i g It is not only T homas who is running but also the

horses of the d y O nly barely h inted at b hind all the lovely activity f
on runn n .
a .
, e o
the running there is the quiet looking up from the grave Runners do not
loo k upward ; but T hom as sees high h yfi ld and smoke from the chim
, .
neys And there is a oneness an assi m ilation of hi mself into the four
a e s
elements
,
it was air
And playing lovely and watery ,
And fire g een as grass r .
32 °
One cannot avoid hi k g athletes and brook leap r
t in of Ho usman s
’
In the second h alf of the stanz a the ch ld is actu ally l ying d own a nd
n -
es .
i
looking His movement does not ceas sleep B ut it is a
,
he ri des
less dramatic movement than that farm about him which ies into to
up . e— .
o f th e fl
space and horses w ich transform into of th e h eq ues noc ti
,
! his dimi ish m ent in the darkness foretokens the change to come from
.
, ,
T
c hild s view farm to m a n s eye view a ch ange wh ich a mounts
n - -
’
of th e
’
to a revers al a m h
-
eye -
,
J ofvisited ho as in ey
telesc ope When B rinnin T 1 95 3 , t
went Fern Hill It seemed muc h s m aller and emptier than h e
to
“
all
remem b red Dyl an said

.
p Sh iveled and colorless w re words (

he found apt describe what had once been Adam and maiden
e , . r e
“
to
the child the farm so fabulously wafted away fab ulously return s
.
F or
like the Prodigal or Adam restored to the Garden his exclusion a bad
,
(
, ,
dre am or Peter waking to find himself But merely to name

,
) u nfo rswo m
th e P odigal and Adam and Peter is to bespeak the inevitable loss Of
.
,
simplici y innocence Of fai h Even his fou h stanza so wondrously

r
t of
, ,
t t rt
wh te with th e dew has it s hints of mortality h ey are emph atically

.
, , ,
”
i T
expre ssed to b e noted and led away by th e intell ect they are only h ints
, . no t
fi
in the a t osphere c au sing chills at th e spine like tho s e pre monitions
, ;
m of
winter ine abl y eviden t even the hottest In dian S ummer day
,
ff
What homas has achieved is to create a chil d s world from the view
on .
’
T
oint the chil d who never lo s t it Wordsworth and rahe ne s peak
oi h as T
from a remove a s adults th e sense l oss an d recognitio n Of com e ns a
r
p .
of (
tory gain strong upon the m th ei s is a r creation a cre ation they
, , p
) no t
are n ot in the child s world bu t look ng b ack an d e xpou nding upon it

; r e , ;
i
’
homas does not until final stanza exp ess his tra ic poi t at but
.
T his all ,
su ch is his ski hat it was felt if not underst o d before the completion
, , r g n
ll t ,
o ,
of
his Op ning sentence

e .
Twenty Fo u r Yea rs
When Milton wrote the sonnet celebrating hi twenty fou th birthday
he did t lament h is mo tality (th ough T ime is a Suttle th ief ) but the
s -
r ,
“ ”
no r
lesser greater fact that his late spring showed no bud blossom Th
poem opens and closes a melancholy note thou gh in the tu n of the
, or , or . e
sestet the melancholy is mitigated by his faith in his great task Master s
on , r
“ ’ ”
pu rposes Th mitigation h owever is s ligh t Mil ton s acceptance f the ’
possibility f a lot however mean more clearly bespeaks re s ignation

. e , , : o
“ ”
than joyful acceptance

O
Th omas s po m m ore h eavi l y fr igh te d a t it s be gin ning wi th a m orbid

.
’
e , e
°
33
sorrow turns more Sharply and with greater unexpectedness than Milton s ,
’
and rings t in it last line with a faith in which trace f resignation

,
ou s no o
i to be found A Shapiro say s it h

s the Wh itman sound
. s ,
as .
Th poem Opens with tears and a typical conceit whi ch branches in

three directions th at T ime has stolen his three and twentieth year brings
—
e ,
tears t his eyes ; his tears are reminded that the function f eyes is t
:
weep ; this d y f recollection cal s to mind th e tears shed in the past

o o o
t idle tears ; h e knows very well what they me a n f

a o .
These are
thing better f man never to have been born B u t they mean a second
no : o r o ne
thing t sin e t stop with thi s would be to dwell t despairingly

,
or .
the 1 6th and 19 th verses f G i 3 in sorrow thou shalt bring

, oo , c o oo on
o enes s ,
forth children ; In the sweat f thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou
” “
return unto the grou d Even u nder this dictum Ada m and Eve buried
o ,
”
the dead past and at le ast to this degree di mm d d fared forward

n .
,
T ho m as now becomes a u tobiograp h ical and takes us back t

, un sco o e , .
hi o s
Paradise and hi expulsion But where for Adam and Eve God had made
coat of sk in and clothed them Thomas th e poet has t t ailor his w
s .
“ ”
hi journey quoting tags of S hakespeare

s , , o o n .
T his he does and sets Let “

t
her t walk i the sun g d kissing carrion Will y walk out f ou on s —
’ ” “ ” “
and the like

no , o , ou o
the Fear no more the heat the “ ’ ”
Now t m anhood i d so n ear

0 sun, .
“
o the fated dandy advances ( and arr v
’
,
”
nothi g not even death obtrudes a let or halt ) t the place f first
principles where the long alimentary journey through the earth to the
n , , o o
, ,
begins
In this concluding section of the poem Thomas h as chosen his words
sun .
with exceeding care In the first tw lines o
Dressed to die the sensual stru t begun

.
,
, ,
With m red veins full of money y
the learned word l stands out fro m it company f popular words

Not much because the reader i still savoring th e aptness of Dressed t
sens ua s o .
die but enough to prepare f the L tinate severity ( heightened by th e

, s o
, or a
contrasting town ) of “ ”
In the final direction of the elementary town

I advance
,
which in turn gives w y to the simple certitude of f as long as forever a or
i
s . More complicated it i even more effective than Cummings st uctural
”
, s
’
r
f the Latin derivative to bring into context Imperial R ome and

,
Dodge City i n Buffalo Bill s d f

u se o
Notable t is the contrast between

“ ’
e unc t .
”
oo
d which connotes hastening a process and f which posits ”
an unchanging condition ( even though f process ) beco ming transmuted

a v anc e , o re ver,
t being and brough t t the final i

o ,
o o s .
34 °
Poem in O c to ber
O nly
in O ctober
po ms ( in C ll d P m ) but six years separate P e m
two
from Twenty four Years And there are other points f
”
e o ec te oe s
”
o
T h earlier poe m w brief ( 9 lines ) conceited sho t sen

-
. o
separation
d ; the later al m ost eight times as long is rhetorical rather than
. e as , , r -
witty and has several sentences longer in the mselves th an the entire
t ence , ,
earlier poem .
As f over all effect the contrast is impressive There with tears he

loo ked back to the death touched beginning f himself his w in a
or -
,
.
, ,
-
o on o n
l w ceilinged confi ning place Here morni g sounds from a b fi

nature call him outside into an expansive dawning day There the imagery
o -
,
t .
,
n - ene cen
is f social things lothes and money B t the town mentioned is the

o —
c . u
lonely grave Here the poem i populated with shells birds horses trees
. s , , , ,
fruits ; and the town though asleep is full f living people There he
,
, , o .
encounters a ca nivorous ; here a springful of larks in a summery “ ”
October r
sun on the hill he has climbed to escape an autumnal shower

In each poem the past is evoked ; but only in the later does the glo y
su n
and the freshness of youth appear In the former th m other is reduced

r
.
, e
to a groin ; in the latter she ( is this her only appearance in the poems as a
,
person? ) walks with him through the parables f sunlight There h i tears o .
, s
are the real and despairingly reflective tears of adultho d ; here they are
the recollected quick to come quick to g tears f childhood T here an
o ,
- -
,
- -
o o .
incipient adult w too close to his youth and perhaps sensitively

obsessed with the fair guerdon whi ch he hoped t find t turn the facts
as too
o o
o f youth into solacing myth ; here he is at the right distance in time to ,
assimilate the tears and joy th t w witness the child in the young man
in the old m an time of the year In m there he had advanced twenty
s so a e
-
. su ,
four years toward the elementary town as if i a straight line ; here he —

n ,
spirals toward that town picking up as the li i t t the heaven , , nes n ersec ,
f hi chil dh od for his journey s relief

.
Stuart Holroyd has commented with respect to this poe m

o s o .
never
th oughout hi life did Dylan Thomas lose the freshness and the imm di
I think that the
r s e
acy of the child s vision f nature ( C b k ’ ”
above contrasting f the two birthday poems would indicate that he h ad

o . ase oo ,
indeed lost it but had found it again A faith finds expression in I “
advance f as long as forever is a certitude one m y y greater than

.
or a sa
Arnold s in Dover Beach But essentially it is faith in an abstra tion a

, , ,
’ “ ”
process He i not ( as Holroyd says he i ) divining what Hopk ins called

. c ,
. s s
‘
the freshness deep down T here is no freshness ( save that f
the T eddy boy ) in Twenty four Years But i Poem in O ctober the e
o
” “ ”
is an acknowledgement th at the world h seemed so various so beautiful

- -
. n r
as , ,
°
35
new th at r al reason e xi ts f belie ing tha t j y love light certitude
andIt pis aac thueve not that yet b en wholly ali enat d from human e xistence
so , e s or v o , , , ,
he fee ls t ar ived at by co ding only th

e e a e e .
“ ”
j y
u y horaiurs yThdayspoem starts i n rainy au tumn and Th om as carrie
r o ,
no o ne r re r e
“
with him He ri se ab ove th e m but h looks down

s nn . e , s
hi w
ul fep nanda mcolor
is ty brown autumnal scene and is compelled t imagine th e
n n
s o : s , e
f s prin g and summ er Th en th we ath er c h anges and he

o , , o
i
l onger needs t im agin h c an see h w b autiful th e summer h a s
o . e
b en n is a bounty in which he as a ch il d ha d p a ti cip ted findi g hi

no o e— e o e
w plenit de in natu re s l e a ning fro m th e singing b ir ds th m ystery f

e . r a , n s
’
song with th result that his is a flying nam e

o n u ,
r e o
Th weath er turn s again ; th e wind blows a nd the e a rth i s blooded with

e .
leaves Nevertheles s it is with a ce tain equani mity that h e c an witne ss

e ,
th e evidence f m ortality
.
, r
Dere k Stanford ha s found a syntactical difli lty i th e firs t stanza

o .
f thi s oth erwise quite l u cid poe m

cu n
o
It was my thirtieth year t heaven o
Woke to my hea ing from harbour and neighbour wo d

.
r o
And the mu ssel pooled and the h ron e
Priest d shore e
Th m o ing becko n e rn
Th co tru ction i s pecu li ar but it diagr m s a n d it ca n be sim plified a s

follows My th irtieth year s tarted with my he ring the morning ( t )
e ns , a ,
b ckon myself t set foot Th od di ty i s that T ho m as h a b eckon

: a o
ing ; but since the word h a s the gener al se nse f e ntice or lure h e
e o e e ars
“ “ ”
cannot be charged with really indecorous verb al gym astics

o ,
Th l a st word recall s Geo ffrey G igson s H w Much M e N w Yo u r

n .
’ “
Acrobatics Amaz e in his bo k f criticism Th H p f A l O f D h

e r o o
”
in which this was an early poem he writes h at it shows

, o o e ar o eo us . ea t s
“
d E
t a th e m e ob ession with birth
an ntranc es, , t ,
t meditation but simply obsession

death and love and Obsession mainly in a mu ddle f im ages with nly
no ,
no ,
s ,
the frailest ineptitude f s tructu re Mr Grigs on w a ve y an gry m an

, , o o
”
d th e h eads f a number f T ho m as s po m s ro lled in th e d u st He di d

o . . as r ,
’
not bring this poem f better f wors under his p r iew This i s
an o o e .
unfortunate It would tak I thin k a very great artist i n ang r to m aint ain
, or or or e, u v .
his passion against this altogeth er delightful p em It would be interesting

. e, , e
see Mr Grig on at th e t p f his bent

o .
to . s o o .
36 °
B ut he is t passively self c nter d i his stoicis m he prays li ke a
Cseeing
h isti an t a God though fabulou s yet dea A reasoned unfaith
no e e n
-
:
“ ” “ ”
clearly gives way to a felt faith s eing whole Seeing m

r , o r .
i ght
,
say th at a mu stard seed sun mo s mountains f c a su ist y and that a

, , e .
, o ne
living il usion improves upon a dead r ality T

, ve o r ,
m ore triumphant faith th an ennyson s Cle a er

e .
T homas s is a
’ “ ” ’
sighted than the latt r ( in whose time th e shocking doctrines f Darwin

. r
and Z l a h ad not been placed in perspective ) perh aps assisted by the

e o
mennyson
eliorism f Hardy he can s ail t to die with an unvitiated energy
a
o
s h e pu ts t to sea see ms tire d to death N does

o ,
“
ou
”
,
T
Th o m as carry th e chip th e shoulder f Brow ing wh as a flyweight
,
ou , . or
danci g about and jabbin g at a Dempsey death ( Fear Dempsey? ) m akes

on o n ,
o
h imse lf idiculous Wh at T ho m as reco gnizes is that the dying m though

-
n
con s ciou s is helplessly down for the count thou gh he p rmits him if he
r . an,
wi shes it ( as in D not go th e privilege f beating the canva s

, , e ,
“ ‘
in impotent rage accepting the decis ion hating the weakness th t cau sed
O o
it B u t this i the privilege f a dying m an not a necessary coroll a ry f th e

, , a
process of dying Men m ay also endu e their going hence even as th eir
. s o , o
“
coming h ither and however tomorrow weeps sing like birds i the cage
. r ,
” “ ’ ”
Ralph Mills is not so convin ced as I am that Th m as h as triumphed over

.
, ,
despair In hi s view Th om as s knowl edge transposes every action into

o
’
terms f a st uggle th at dissolve s in fu tility ( A And h e

.
,
”
finds Thomas in sorry a st ate th at onl y m ixed m etaphors can reali ze it

o r . c c ent,
so
T ho m as himself s tru ng th e rack f tim e that p ull s him apa t

between past and f tu re clutch es at th e sh ards f memory ; and from
t ,
ou on o r
these and from h is anguish he culls image f h ope wh ich his

u , o
language m akes actu al Belief is t in question h ere ; the c a se i

, , an o
f
a esponse by feeli g and imaginati n to the unrelieved potency f fact
r n
. no
o
s o ne o
o .
I can ot ag ee t any p art f th is It is true that Thomas observes

that snake s e a t frogs h ogs eat snakes and so th at h e ha s experienced
n r o o .
wrecked loves and that h e h as an guis h t look forward t B u t in th e

, ,
o n,
same voic th at he prays for th e privil ege f m ou ni ng his voyage to

, o o .
ru in h e prays for th e privilege of counti g his ble s sings among which

e o r
”
is th is that th e farther he advances th e m re t iumph antly th worl d

, n ,
Sdissolves
“
pins its morning f praise This doe s t seem to me a st uggle th at
,
in futility nor a hope verbalized t of angu ish but the

o
”
.
”
no
o r
“
r
e
joyous statement f an b li k d faith W S Merwin ( C b k 64 )

, ou ,
expres ses it almos t too strongly

o un n ere . . . ase oo ,
th e e xult ation f such m arvel us poems as Poem in O ctober ‘ ’
Fe n Hill Po m his Birthday and Author s Prologue i s t

o o ,
‘ ’ ‘ ’ ‘ ’ ’
an exultation proper t the liberal hum anist it is the exub rance f

r , e on , no
o : e o
38 °
a man drunk with the holiness and wond er f creation with the
reality and terror and ubiquity f death but with love as G d
o ,
as m ore p werf l th an death

o , o ,
o u .
Accordi g to Bill Read ( C b kn wh visited Thom as while ase oo , o
the poem w in prog ess the poet planned the second half f the
p m a s foll ows
as r ,
o
oe
N w exactly hal f f this th r e score and ten years h ave gone He l ooks
back at h is times h is loves his hates ll h e h as seen and sees the
o o e .
logical process of d eath in every thing h e h been and don His

: , ,
a ,
death lurks f h im and f all in the next lunatic war And still
as e .
singi g still praisi g the radiant earth sti ll loving th ough remotely
or .
, or ,
.
,
th e an im al creation also gladly pursuing their inevitab l e and grievous

n , n , , ,
ends he goes towards h i Why should h e praise G d and the beauty

f the world as h e move s to horrible dea th ? He does not like the
, s
. o
deep zero dark and the nearer he gets to it the louder he sings the
o ,
higher the salmon leap the shriller the birds carol ,
,
,
.
,
Wh y should h e praise G d? I think that o ne answer is in the p h rase

the logical process f death and its pictorial equival nt the higher th
o
” “
salmon leap Th angu ish th at Mill s finds in the poem and I d t is

o e e
th at f wh so hates the inevitability of the syllogism that h e can take

. e ,
o no ,
pleasure in its perfection ; if th is can be conceived f the salmon

o one o
refusing t ru n th e river t the spawning grounds rem ains at

no o r, , o
wh
a nervou s w eck T see the process of death as logical deprives it f
o, o o , se a
its terror i vests it with an underlying rationale which can be praised

r . o o
W h ere in st nz a 5 T ho m as spea k s f sku ll and

,
,
n
a wreck ed l oves
falli ng stars and bli nd cage and i the eighth he is l /Wi h a ll the
,
n
o sear,
“
a one t
.
, , ,
living in th concluding verse he speaks f bouncing hills and singing

”
dew larks and his sh ining men are m ore alone T give h is
, e o
“ ” “
, no . o
expression even greater substance he has woven in ecollections of Dante

Shakespe re Donne and Bla ke in their m ost exultant loving m oods
, r ,
those f the P di of Hark hark the lark f No man is an island

a , , or ,
“ ”
o ara se , , , , o ,
d f 0 no no I see an innumerable company f the Heavenl y host

“
crying Holy Ho Holy is the Lord God Almighty

an o , , O
‘ ’
, , , .
Tim e Once B low e a

Th s ucc ssion f Ceremony after a Fi e R aid by O nce Below a
“ ”
e e o r
T ime in C ll d P m approximates Mardi Gras galli ng E aster s kibe

” ’ ’
T his is Thomas self concerned m ocking bringing q uips and cran k s

o ec te oe s, .
-
, ,
°
39
though t the e n d he yearn s for a peaceful herm itage It is th lotted
cloudy conceited Thomas of H w S h all My Animal wh has appa ntly
a . e c ,
”
decided to work up T wenty fou r Years i nto a full scale operation

,
o , o re
“ ”
T h difficultie s begin at once with O nce Below a T ime O lson s e x

- -
.
” ’
planation is that if something can e xist i time it c an also e xi t

e .
f
time ; if what exists in time e x ists once p a time what does t yet
n , s o ut o
exist in time can be said to be once b l w a time ( O lson p

u on , no
Th
inference t be drawn is that the poe m ( a t le a st the early part f it )
e o .
, . e
de als with Thomas unborn

o or o
Th omas did not so the phra se in Fern Hill and once below a
.
time I lordly h ad the trees and

use
and I do t think he does here

I h ave had po r s uccess getting m astiff collars birds sh ips and the like
no .
into the pre natal state They seem to work so mewhat better in a relation
o , , ,
adole scence And I take the poe m to be T hom as s P l d

-
.
an ’
account f th e early stages in his develop m en t as a poet It sho uld be

t
o . re u e
read with Th Fight ( in P i ) and R miniscence s f Childh ood

o .
“ ”
and H w t b a Poet ( Q i E ly ) a t h and

e o rtra t e o ,
“
o o e u te ar .
I
In my e rly adolescence before t me really mattered in a town on the i
coal min ing Wales when m y body was outgrowing my installm ent
a , ,
m of
ri
plan clothe al as soo n en u gh torn in love play near the pit

-
,
( ash -
behindoutgrowing
the impressive gas works and slau ghter
no t
and my spirit
s ,
o -
was
lHighness m y body in secret I warbled my wood notes like P op
i sped i n numbers a young nebriate bird an artist I
,
-
, e
i do g of ( m his
at Kew pretending be a m astiff like a wolf
, a
’
do g ) !
singing my ashpit legy When I a m s trew
to
L ook at his long “
all my a she s in a dumb provokin g show c heap ly

-e
: n
lo w / A nd / D ust
dressed and provincially reared rather corny bu t a tercel an adven ur
are
launchenhingI amazed
T
out i n a f igate
with my time upsetti g precocity my make s and molder
r .
, , ,
t er
by bursting upon chil d s play Swansea as a riton blowing his wrea h d

-
n r s
’
T t e
ho n then th ough still a Welsh provincial for Engli h a m ountai
-
( th e s
clothed in the skins a n mal s a n d al w ays singing as
r ; , ,
n
“
man of i fl am
as a Lawrentian primitive hot out Australia the weave
,
bo yant of Of
the wale being conceale d by feath ers and leaves I broke

—
Wels ) o ut o f h
clumsiness f ew up through the lubber s hole I lap my a m s and slowl
,
“
l
’
( f
leave the ground only a few inches at first then gaining air till I
, r y
fly
to astonish the Obelisked opi nion molders in London And Crippe oe
, , .
“
(
his publishers A contract is drawn up Mes s rs S tich and i me under
-
. g s
to T
taking publish his next book verse on condition th at they have the
. .
,
of
st option his next nine novels

to
fi r on .
40
II
I i m agined myself ( still with ou t experie n ce ) a high flyer ( a John
Donne ) a storied great soul ; I wore the vatic garments and th ought I
deceived th Master T ailor I fl w ov r fabled seas f though t breaste d
,
the wave said Sail sail ; but the T ailor saw through my disgu ises
e . e e o ,
knew m y ph ony expl oring f what it wa s recogniz d m e as a pretender

, o n, on ,
It was a relief to subside into my homespun self in an everyday world t

or ,
e .
paddle in the duc k pond longer the pretended roué bu t not ever
, o
forgetting th e n isy splash I had m ade ( O n th e other h and too m any

-
, no ,
artists f Wal es stay in Wales too long gi ants in the dark behind th e
o .
,
o ,
parish pump
N w p tty m uc h stripped f fantasies I wou l d like t liv unseen
.
unOknown
“
o
S teal from the world and t a t / T ll where I lie

re
f the poet who m erely writes b ause he wants to w ite wh do s

. .
o
,
,
no s one
o
e
e,
.
,
(
t deeply mind if h e i p u blis h ed d who can put u p with
ec r , o e
pove ty and total lack of recognition in h i lifetime nothing f any

no t s o r no ,
an
pertinen t value can be sai d

r s , o
hope f th e last sentence to lie down and live A q uiet as a bone

Hi s
“
was unfortu nately a vain one He w married a father a sig i ficant

o , s ,
writer and th e war had begun Whatever the status f h i cherry capped
. as , , n
dangler f h im th e requisite position w clear There is only one p

— . O s -
sitio f an artist anywh e and th at i u prigh t

, or as : o
u or re : s, .
L a m ent
Ac rding to Eli zabeth Hardwick ( C b k 15 4 ) Tho m as aroused
the most sacrificial longings in American wom en He had lost his
co ase oo ,
looks he w disorgan i ed to a degree beyond belief he h ad a wife d

.
children in genuine need and yet young l adies f l they had fallen in love
,
as z , an
with him C aitlin puts it m ore vigorously

, e t
”
they were candidly if
prepossessingly sp adeagled from the first t mt m d umor f a
. : ,
f m ous name They conducted th eir courting with th ferocity and tenacity
no t , re ; o o e r o
f cag d am azon s ; and nothing less th an the evaporation f their p y

a . e
wou ld m ake th em let go ( Ibid p

o e o re
. . .
,
It would appear that Th omas made strenuous gestures of rejection

And may wonder whether Lament w not written consciously an
no .
“ ”
enco e piec light heartedly broach ing possibilities in its candid self
o ne as as
deprecati on arousing sympathy d diminishi ng the though t f danger

-
r e, ,
well calc lated to produce an ambience f pe m is siveness It would be

an o ,
-
u o r .
41
pa tic ularly effectiv after Fern Hill with its appeal to the yea ning
protective m other instinct and the poem s which elevate sex t a sacra
r e , r ,
menta l
-
,
o
level
Planned gambit encore Th reiter ated tanz a
.
t it is an effectiv
patte n the increm entally varied refrain th e lilting an apests the alliteration
Or no , e . e s
and onom atopoeia the activity in the verbs and participles th e forw ard
r , , ,
ru s h f th e long sentences the titill ating t actual and clear visu al impres s
, ,
ions the opportunities f ha mming the rake s progress f booming blu e

o ,
’ “
thunder into th e teen a gers delighte d bras and briefs the de mand i t
,
or , or
’
makes for audience participation all combine to bring down a curtain

-
,
i the George M Co h a n mann er

- —
B u t it is t merely good th eatre Th poem is a s good on th e page

n . .
a s on the s tag Th subtleties f depictio n and f gradation l ost to th e

no . e
lsii stener reveal themselves to th e reader O nly the latter h as time t con
e . e o o
d er th e variant con otations f t h e words a nd im a ges F example the

. o
quite de lic ate allu sio n to th e boy s balancing between childh ood a nd
n o . or ,
’
adolescence hi s w and sniggering appreciation f the M arjorie Daws

th e little women ( and bigger ones t ) ; h is exciting but guilt provoking
: ne o ,
experiments with hi changed body

oo -
I tiptoed sh y i n the goo s eberry wood

Th ru de wl cried like a telltale tit
e o .
T h ough as th e n ext stanza says h e w i nexperienc d as a calf an d h ad

t m u ch wax f h is can dle he had a wicked i m agination No wonder h e
, , as e
though t himself the spitting im age f the town roarers and feared h is
no or ,
.
ejection from th e ch ape l s mou th h e with th at spit to plunge into th e

o
’
roast beef of Old England that fl owe ing d th at rammer f explosives

,
T m cat and th en bull h e prowls th e nigh t a nd serves the h erd Then

,
r ro , o .
the fl es h become we ak the spirit becom es exig nt and Thomas unhappily

o -
,
.
,
willing He shoves h is spi it as though it were th e d he had often

, e
rammed heave nward t find a soul m ate Which is t say simply that
. r ,
ro so
th e sinner repented ; his anchor dived th rough th e fl oors f a h

,
o -
. o , ,
“
He i s repentant but o ly th rough p hy sical n ece s sity and h still nregen

o c urc
-
t ly contrasts h is s l eeping in bed with his earl ier ramping in c l over

, n , e a
quil ts Nevertheless ha p playing vi tu es have their claws i him ; h e

era e
approaches death made dainty by the deodorant f s anctity

.
,
r —
r n
But it is impossible to stay with analysis f any length f time O ne

, o .
hTashomasg t t sta n d u p and roar the poe m

o t or indulge in memory
doi g it and think again wh at an alluring invitation to th e d ance
o f ou
or o .
it i S ee an old unh appy bull harmless mutton says the poet and
n ,
s .
, as
another daisy chained Europa is carried away

, ,
Is there a serious thing t be said f the poem? A qu estion f wh ich

-
.
there are m any answers as w iters abou t Th om as concerns h is a ttitude

o o or
as r
42
towa d d l ov F exampl e S tu art Holroy d w ite s Wh re s th
p antheist norm all y s es G d i all th in gs Thom as s aw in ll thin g
r sex an e . or ,
r : e a e
InwafsactDylan
sex Tt hgomthaers swithdthThe processe
, , o e
s s an alogou s t it in th e n atu al w rld

e
e xu al act betw n m an d wo man was

’
o n ,
o
se x a
r o
s .
th e in ves ted with g ave sign ifi cance ( C b k B ut Sh apiro

g o . e ee an
”
w i te s in a quite di ffe nt tone I n pl ace f l ve about which Th om as i

re a r . ase oo ,
alm
r
o st always profo undly bitter th ere i s th e i n trum ent and p hy sic al

pr ce f l ov Th activity f sex Th om a s h opes in h is p em s will
re :
, se x ,
o o
s
s
som eh w lea d us t l ove in life d in the cosmos A s he grows older

o ss o e . e o ,
o ,
love ec d es and sex becomes a nightmare a Black M ass ( C b k

o
r e
o an
,
.
.
”
as e oo
,
I m in cline d to think th at eith er f th se generalizations applie s to

the b
a
od y Of Th omas s work I know that neith er applies t Lam ent

no t
’
Is se x in th is poe m eall y a ightm a e r ally inve ted with a grav

.
o e
o
“
.
”
signific a ce ? Of cou rse t th e poe m i s as any sane teen ager intu itiv ly
r n r , or e s e
a nd any n ormal per o n f mi ddle age e xperie ntially kn ows tru e to life
n no ,
-
e
-
and n ith er g ave ightmarish It require s a concret ide l ist t

-
s o ,
find Oth rwise

e r no r n . e a o
But if th e gen raliz tio ns d t apply h ere are th ere oth er p ems t
e .
whi ch th ey fail t apply? If h w man y? A nd th e questi on s b c me

e a o no , o o
muncon
ore search ing D e s Hol oyd by m ag ifyin g the poet in to a Pantheist
o so , o e o
s ciously al ter th e po ms to fit th e p h il o oph er? Whe n Sh apiro say s

. o
that h finds in the poem s th e s at ni sm th e vomitous h orror the s elf

r
e
“
, n
s
,
elected crucifixion f th e artist does he really find it th ere d s

e a , ,
”
he Monks
project it ou t f a discontent f h is w ?
m q
o
contempora y critics often deal with l iterary pr du ct s

o
’
,
o o n
or oe
as th ough they were the Revealed Word and forgetting th at poets are
an ue s , r o
hProphe
uman beings possessing a lucki ess with l angu age conceptu ali e the m as
ts Case Histories I cannot forget the reaction f an acade m ic
n
,
,
z
friend ( for some time exposed to Th om as criticism ) to a picture f Thom as

or . o
with his wife and dau ghter i a rowboat F Ch ist s sake h w human
o
“ ’
he Al noksd he! was human He fits Lawren e s description of a mortal to a

o
”
n
’
: or r , o
. T c :
a thing f ki sses and strife o
a lit p sh aft f rain

-
u o
a calling column f blood o
a rose tree b y with thorns ro nze
a m ixtu re f yea and nay o
a rainbow Of love and h ate

a wind that blows back and forth
a creature of conflict like a cataract , .
-4
3
In s h o t he w as a man a formul a and a poet wh c uld w it
After th e Funera l and B alla d f th e Long legged B ait ; Lam nt d
r , ,
no t ,
o o r e
“ ” “ ”
Unlucki ly for a Death ; Th Hunchback in th e P a rk and I M ak thi

o -
e an
” “ ” “
in a W rring Absence ; I n Country Sleep and I n m y Cr aft Sull e

e e s
” “ ”
each f which is a poem d efin ing a n asp ct f l ov each f

a or n
Art ”
wh ich is quite different fr m the other s Generalization wil l not cove

O e o e, o
the m
o . r
Is there ( this was the origin al qu estion ) a serious thi ng t say ab ut

.
Lament ? Ye s it is a n enjoyable poe m

o o
”
Is there a serious thi ng to say about T ho mas criticis m ( in clud i g thi s ) ?

: .
Ye s it is like Life that bowl f ch errie s don t take it seriou it s t

-
n
’ ’
: , o : s, oo
mysterious .
Turrets Hea r
Ea rs in the
A significant pers onal proble m f Tho ma s w s imply th is th at
a provincial small town Welshman in the big city he did t k ow whom
or as : , as
to trust It was for hi m a particul arly pressing proble m since t he senti

,
-
, no n
mental s treak i h im was broad a nd deep that he could be eas ily take
.
advantage f and h rt a nd the teeth in him were sharp th at h e cou ld

n so n
return the wound with i nterest he would flood me with a contempt

o u , so
f words writes C aitli n there is no fu y like the weak against the

” “
weak ; and he knew how to use words insultingly as well a s

o ,
: r ,
So thou gh h e could and m ost Oft n did come to such a philosophi

,
outlook as is e xpressed in If I Were T ickled it w a n ffi i l phil

, , e , c
“ ”
osophy d his eal feelings were less certainl y engage d H e w a s neve

,
as o c a
without some fear f the injury that his peers coul d do to him Partly then
, an r . r
b ecause of his anim us against m iddle class conventionality partly because

o .
, ,
f his fear and partly beca u se of h is senti m entalis m ( whic h did often
-
,
become exalted into t e compassion ) his m ost out spoken affirm ations are
o , , ,
for the un derdogs an d o u tsiders

ru ,
But he h ad his doubts f giving himself too freely even he e since h e

.
was pe fectly aware f d ifficu lties into wh ich h is sentim entali sm cou ld
o r ,
lead him David Holbrook th inks h e g ave h imself t no one and speaks
r o
f his with drawal of sympathetic tenderness a lack f cap a city to enter

. o
“
into and u nderstand the lives f others cu l minati ng in th e e xpressions f

o , o
repulsive disdain f humanity A repul sive disdain for Th omas and

o , o
all his works move s Ho lbr k th at he makes no effo t toward any

o .
semblance f objectivity Yet Thomas him self reco gnized a d eficiency

so oo r
f th e sort Holbrook d escrib es i h is poe m O nce it w a s th Colo u r f

o .
,
“
Saying which needs to be read i connection with the present poem n

o , e o
”
, n .
44 °
0 M ake M e a Mask To Oth ers th an You
When Isaac Watts re ected upon the hazard lov ng cr tu es fl of i th e ea
”
he discovered the h az ard to be in th s

r ,
i :
S uls nb rn th at the tie friendship b nds ! ] of i

p a tn ers bl od
o u o
And o f our
S ize a l arge portion minds

r o ,
o f o ur
A nd l e ave th e less
e
for Go d .
This was ex actly homas s di culty with friends Yet in Ears the T
’
ffi in
urrets He r his treatment of the subject was generalized philo
not .
,
”
T and
sopwh hceta herHe edidng gemtenheret comdisengag

i l .
a ,
e a conclu sion he only aske d th e question

no t
ment would conduce the more to ;

of to
m o d e li g
a or e
satifac tory of v in
In Make Me a M ask and thers th an th e pr ble m

.
“
0 To O Y ou ,
has been brought d wn to the level Of pers nal experience and it ,
o
is
cl ear that h is e xperience with engage m ent has not prove d sa i s factory
o o ,
t
Mp otiv at by an enl i h tened se lf nterest his prayer in th e fi s t th ese
.
ed i of
e ms i s ab out equally s el sh an d un se l s h He as k s th e ab i l i t y
g
-
,
r
fi fi fo r to
con e al und er a childishly inn e nt de mea nor h is d esire to strike
o .
o ut
at thos e sidle ne r ogle and clutch their pince nez glitte ing
c
wh o
oc
( ) th e
pre ocious provinci al th e ab il ity to keep a s h arp ton u e fro m s allyi g
a , ,
-
r
o ut
e avi g th e or atory v a cant pierce un a rm e d a trumpet t ongue

c ; g n
(l ) to th e
from decl aring a t uce wh ere there is n on e th e ab ty pu t th e
n , or
ili to
i mpen t able and wooden face stupidity tu rn away fool sh questions
r
of to
;
i
on
andappthe aabr teary

lity toeyecoud nterfeithat gt iefw thandsh toa pconce aeyes
l th e dil ating m ean s u sed
e r ;
i
a t ouch d e adly
r
to i d ry ( of
ncatcighhtshthadeem inouttheirin theglancehypocrisy

he can pierce th e front th at oth ers p u t u p can
e -
, so r
)
th eir consol at on
,
of i
A p sible i mediate caus e for th e poem woul d be a knock d w
.
m
figh t with Caitlin pro du cin g a widower grief and a sensitivity to the
os -
o n
“ ”
curiosity of acquainta ces and th e com forting m an to m an sa nity

frie nds But n o im me d i ate caus e was necessary h om as knew h m s elf
n or - -
of T i
to be regarded as a particul arly s trange anim al in th e Boh em ian
. .
knew th at h e over reacte d to inqu isitive scru tiny kn ew ha t h e ha m e d

zo o ,
hprayer
imself in h is reaction In it s humor and appare nt goo d humor th is
t
-
, r
for a mask h a s a m ask of its wh ich conce als th e s eriousness

.
-
,
o wn
with which h e pr y s
hom as d es not write th is as an angry young th ough h is sen si
a .
T man
h ave been e xacerb ate d s i ce h e di s covers a s great a fault h im self
o ,
b ilities in
as in th ose abou t h im In th ers h an You a comb in ation d is
,
n
“ ”
To O T of
i llusion and shame h as m ove d unshe athe a bayonet ton ue

.
,
him to ”
g . O ne
46
h ope s th at he sent the poe m with it ironic title t th e friend who failed
him and subsequent meetings concealed hi knowledge and his wrath s o
behi d m a sk and wall

, on s
Th poem is composed f two s entences the first of one l in e the second

n .
of twenty Th opener a ch allenge to th due l shows T homas s technique

e o ,
f co m pressio n Friend by ene my I call yo u t has the double meaning

. e , e ,
“ ”
ene my in the gu ise f friend I h ave identified your natu re ; and

o : ou
“ ”
presumed friend as my en my I call you to accounts Th rest f th

o ,
po m developing th e metaph or of friend as stage magici an describe s

,
e . e o e
the relation between them and ends on a cynical generalization

-
e , ,
, .
You with friendly eyes as bright and spurious as a brass coin ;

y who concealing the ace,
of m a l ice wi th the queen of
persu ading me ( a child woo d by fake rock c andy ) by the sweet
ou sympathy ,
friendliness of your eye to divulge my secret ; you whom re fl ection

-
e
shows to have been a master of illu s ion with attention diverting s mile
and patter and h and quicker th an th e eye in a position to smash my
-
,
hea t like a watch take n from a gentleman in the audience and really
,
smashing it ; you once were a spiritual companion so frank and u nder

—
r
st nding th at I would never have b liev d ( while the balls f truth

you threw up came down lies ) that m y supposed friends whose
a e e o
faults I knew and accepted in the context f th eir virtues were false
,
as the dummies seen on the stage and m ade to move by illusionists

o ,
on concealed stilts ( This last I hav e seen in vaude v ille I have no w y

of knowing wh at music hall turn T homas had in mind )
. . a
It is an ingenious exercise in diatribe and an ingenious work ing

l m etaphor
, o ut
o f the p tidigi ti re s ta o na .
The Hunch bac k in the Pa rk

What could have been a poem as sloppily sentimental as Wordsworth s ’
Goody Blake tu ns out to be perhaps Thomas s tidiest best controlled

r
’
,
-
piece of work .
T h social misfit become so through no fault f his w tormented

by cruel b oys living on bread and water becau se hypocritical Christian
e , o o n,
neigh b rs shun h im housed in a kennel dreaming f the love he can

,
never h ave it is a subject made to order for Dickens or Victor Hugo

o , ,
o
Everything ite mized in th e previous paragraph is in the poem but noth ing
: .
offends Th reporter has a sha p teary eye for detail a matter f fact
delivery the good taste to keep h is distance fro m h is subject He neither
. e r ,
uh -
,
-
o -
, .
~
47
generalizes mor alizes ( A hunchback s a man f a that ; Not without
no r
’
,
or
’
hope we suffer mou n ; Alas for the rarity of Christian charity ) And yet
.
the poem rich in implication is a far cry from a vignette It is indee d a

or r .
meditation on freedom and its limitations

, ,
.
.
, ,
Th great virtue of a park f course consists in its being an oasis f

freedom an eden in the urban wilderness Th ose wh go there do as
e , o , o
released galley sl aves the sailors in th is poem al mo st literally O n th e

,
. o so
long voyage home they had lived propped b etween wood a n d wate and
so .
dreamed f women straight as elms On le ave th e p ub th m o ie s th

,
r,
dance hall the park each offers its form f expansiveness after co nfine
o .
, , e v , e
ment A breed outside the law they enjoy a leeway impossible to so me

-
,
o
times envied by the sellers and b uyers f th ings and services Until their
.
, ,
, o .
leave is ver
For the children ho me school and church are th e pris on s Wh en
o .
th e escape they express their e xul tation in aggre s sion ( l ike d unken
.
, , ,
ailors ) T hey dream f slaugh tering tigers bu t in fact annoy a c ipple

y , r
not out of cruelty but as a rel ease

s . o r
Incapable f doing so iety s work they are social m isfits parasites

, .
charity cases They are resented an d knowing it are in tu n re s entf l B u t

o c , , ,
their s h ore leave will soon be over an d t h e ro u tine f s h ip work will

.
, r u .
keep th e m in lin e
, o -
Th n u rses and swans even the trees and th e water are kept
.
things palace favorites and have the free do m suitable t such Th nurse s
e
f course also h ave a r sponsibility like th at f the par k keeper tidying

, , o . e ,
'
up the saplings in their pram s More useful l ess decorative th an swans

o , e o
there i s a degree of difference betwe n th em

.
, ,
And the hunchback epitomizes the m all In his way as not being a
e .
co mpetitive threat as being incap able f forcing demand s he is a p alace

.
,
favorite a being everyone can feel superior t He has h is freedom

, o ,
nobody chained him u p He is not coerced by r sponsibilities

o .
by the
proprieties He does not have to get ahead ince he has no p l ace t go
. e , no r
He i secure in the solitary anony m ity sought f b y Ro m antic

.
, s o .
or
But chained t his useless body ( a cup filled with gravel ) h e is

s so
he hasshorewhlateavethe but
others want ; h e wants wh at th oth ers h ave He is always
o
to speak th e CP O of h is m alformation is alway s

e
,
his bac k And he dream s bu t t f tigers

on ; ,
so ,
Whether Thomas intended a little parabl f the a tist as Od d man

on . so , no o .
t t h e poem obvious l y fits the bill

e o r
is open to question Intended

T h artist is f necessity a solitary mister he is ofte n poor h e is esented
o ut . o r no , .
by those who d the u se ful work f th e worl d h e is t respectabl e h e

e o , , r
d s seem t waste time propped b tween trees and water he does have
o o , no ,
a monkey on h i back And worst f all ( wh at boots it with u ncess a t

oe o e ,
s . o n
48 °
c re ? ) he h as no a s sur an ce that h i name will be holy writ i holy w ter
If the poem entertain s such an interpretation a pleasant irony is invoke d
a s n a .
For Thomas plays a double role he is now as the writer of the poem
, .
th e hunchbacked so ial misfit ; h e was when the actual event took place
: , ,
f the t u ant taunting boys

c ,
in C wmd k i Pa k on n r , o ne o r , .
The T o m bsto n
To ld w h en S he D i ed e
Th basic paradox f this Hardy like ( as T ho m s thought it ) ba l ad

li k e poem i that though Life did not Death did consum m ate th irgin s
-
e o a
” ’
mar i age th at which aborted fulfillment itself f lfilled If it d e s not y

s , , e V
that the last shall be first it does at le ast suggest th at som etimes l s ers
r : u . o sa
, o
are winners .
Many opposites are brought together past present virgini ty sexuality

death birth naked cloth ed rain red white wept s miled s tone fl h
: -
,
-
,
and th lik e ( Th girl herself is at once a virgin a m arried wom an and

-
,
-
, sun- ,
-
,
-
,
-
es ,
a corpse ) Th eir bei g harmoniz d m akes c edible the u nderlying id tifi

e . e , ,
cati on f Death and L ve ( Thomas chang d th e last line s g flood s

. n e r en
’ “
fl oo d s because he wanted th girl s

o o . e rea t
f his hair t i b l reaction

” “ “
d
’
to org s tic ( sic ) death to be suddenly altered into a kind f despairing

o o ear e terr e
Watk ins p
a o
love
Th poem is co m plicated by a shifting tim e sche m e which b ingi g
.
,
together Thom a s in th e womb the girl in the grave Th om as as m a t

e -
,
r n
the grave and th e girl her marriage day death be d lends such a sen se
, , an
f si m ultaneity th at again the op position of Deat h and L ve i s conceal e d

,
on - -
,
and di minish ed
O o
Th historical time schedule i as follows

e -
s
1 Th virgin m arries and dies

e
2 T h o m as in th womb learn s f de ath and thus by

. .
.
,
e , o ,
projection f the irgin s pre decease o V

’
-
3 T homas se s h er tombstone a n d imagi e s her spe aki n g

.
,
e n
4 Th o m as h ears gossip about h er de a th

. .
. .
But ti me d places are so coll apse d i n pa t by comple xitie s f

sente nce s tru ct re th at th ere is no sense of tim e s p og ssio n f a
s— an —
, r o
’
retr s pecti ve back glance but f convolu ti on

-
u , r re or o
Th poem opens on Th o m a s s enco nterin g th to mb s t o ne Th thr

-
o o .
end stopp d lines in dicate his pau se f cu rio sity h i s b i g brou ght t
e u e . e ee
stand still by the two names hi remaining before th stone as he figur s o en o a

-
e ,
-
, s e e
49
o utthe situation and makes some quick chronological c alc l ations u . The
exposition then begins .
Th e virgin now at rest was m arried in th is town wh ich I lu ckil y

happened upon one rainy day Her m ar iage occurred b fore I was
conceived that is b fore I could conceive that the rain it i th
. r e
every day on her so me oth er s grave before I could have any

—
,
e ra ne
’
precog ition of life disappea ing like a set sun from her face
or ,
n r , , .
Th is last image I think results from Th mas s looking into f

’
those shell and glass o name nts cemented i to tombstones seeing his
, ,
o o ne o
t Since the spe aker

- -
r n ,
w very lively face and imagining the life draining

in Before I K oc ked felt th e fall f rain when his fl h armour was
o n ou .
“ ” “ ’ ”
still in a molten form it must be infe r d that Th omas had not achieved
n o es s
“
this state when th e girl ma ried

, r e
Th tombstone with its names and date told no m ore th an this But
r .
T homas le ves the grave yard and elsew h e e add s to h i s fun d of inform a
e , s .
a -
r
tion This he retails in a sentence made complex by three adverbial con

.
ti each f which refers to a different time

ordered says a quite simple thing Af ter h aving seen
t
s ru c o ns, o .
T h sentence
the t mbstone I came to hear that this girl who was mar ied but wh
e ,
t e- ,
:
died before the m arriage was consummated imagi ned h er death pangs t
o , , r o
be her initiation into sexual experience In the terror and pain f her
,
-
o
illusory defl owering h wept and cried out her face contorted but h er
. o
eyes smiled All this happ ned as I say b fore she came to her husband s
,
s e , ,
’
. e , , e
bed and arms and of course before I standing by h f grave in the rain
tak en back by memory to an early point of my w existence
, , , , e ,
w as o n .
T homas shifts back now to his stand before the tombstone and closes
a circle He wh at the very beginning of life had come to recogn ize in his
. o
w womb experience that life meets death on a disputed barricade learns

from the girl in the grave that for her at least the death experience w
o n -
, , ,
-
as
identical with what h had thought the experience would be

should generalize on the basis f th is poem and how far
s e sex- .
Whether
i a question I d not myself thin k that T homas says anything new H e
o ne o
s . o .
has al ady remarked and more eff ctively incipient life s premonition ’
a phallus the m aiden

re ,
e ,
f death Hi image f death ripping the girl s life

’
head i vivid enough But does it lend itse lf t generalization? This is

o . s o as
after all a very special case Is the poe m not more moving as an imagina
s . o ,
tive reconstruction by a compassionate Obs rver of an extraordinary

,
instance f unfulfillment tu rned by delusion into fulfillment? Pathos relates

e
to individual experience T lose this t gain a Freudian banality is

o
. o o
sheerest erebralism c .
50 °
Aft r th Fun r l e e e a
Annie a l ttle brown s inned toothless hunchbacked woman with

i k
a crac ked sing song voice was like this
-
, , , ,
”
-
:
She hurried me to the seat in the ide of the cavernous fire place S
She m ade a mustard bath and strong
-
and took my shoes o ff
tea and told me to put a pair my cousin socks on of Gw ilym s

’
and an c at uncle s hat smelt rabbit and tobacco She

,
o ld of of
’
fussed and cluck ed and nodded and t ld me

o t .
cut bread and as sh e
butter her Gwil m

o
still studying to be a mi ister

,
, y w as n ( Th e
Peach es )
When Thom as sent his poem to Watkins to be typed h e wrote By , :
the way when y typ e it will you spell Anne as Ann I just remember
that s the right way h w an ancient p asant aunt ( Watk ins p
,
ou , :
’
Which impli es that h was close to him as a person not as a name ; and
: s e as e .
,
.
s e , ,
name not Anne Ann but as Annie

Beyond question significant personal loss is expressed in his lament
as ,
as or , .
far more than for ex mple in Milton s Ly id And yet li ke Milton

,
'
’
incorporated in this elegy some satirical comments only

,
a ,
c as .
, ,
Thomas h as
loosely related to the subject at hand Like Milt n s they have t do with . o
’
, o
religious observance .
T clearly that this is the case one need only delete the first nine
lines ( th poem was in fact thus published as C g Broad sheet N 5
o see ,
“
e ase o .
see R olph p Th remai ing 3 1 lines read as a poem complete in it

self but it is not the poem that Thomas had written It i a poem exalting
, . e n
a woman f her love humility devout ess sense f duty all these in
, . s
themselves so great that Th omas s efforts to magnify them rhetorical y

or , , n , o —
f il to diminish them Without the first nine lines the sentence

a .
,
I know her sc ubb d and sour humble hands

Lie with religion in their cramp
r e
m biguity it must b taken as purely positive

.
has
But given th os introductory lines th at powerful word cramp ca nnot
no a : e .
fail to apply as much t Ann s ligion as t her hands N t t Ann

e ,
’
a religi ou s p rs n but to th religion whi ch she embraced and which more

o re o . o o as
t th e point m braced her

e o , e ,
Th boy i Th o m as died ( slit his th oat ) wi th A ; the m an l ives

o , e .
bserve with anger the mule pr ise s t h r with c ntempt th e asini e

e n r nn on
o th doxies Of grief Th ere c an be questi on th at he would like t

t o o , ,
-
a ,
o ea , o , n
dissociate himself from them And yet he is t altogether su e f th

r o . no o
f hi s w position ; he is ware th e p m pro e ds th at the

. no r o e
igh t
smutch f hyp crisy i i his w monst ou im ge blindly/ Magnifi d
t ness o
o o
o n
s n o n
a ,
r
as
s a
oe
s—
“
c e ,
°
51
of pr ai e Involved in the poem the se th th e n ntional
unloving mourners ; the convention al b ut l ovi g Ann ; and th e
o ut s . are ree : co ve ,
l u nlovi g ( c mpared t A ie ) Thom as wishi ng to be

n unc onv en
ti
l and lovi ng b u t t s ure that a lov lik e A ni e s i s t dep nde n t
o na , n o o nn unco nv en
’
ti
upo n th e conventi onali ty After all Ann is f th e Victorian world in
o na , no e n no e
which stuffed foxes and stale fe ns represent g a cious l iving precise ly

.
, o
”
the world from which Tho m as has fl d It is no wonder that the m onu
r r ,
mforever
ental A rg ment f the hewn voi e gesture and p l storm h im
e .
“ ”
over her grave Her life is a c itical comment upon hi w

u o c , n
sa r
Nevertheless whatever h is failure with re spect to the res t of the world

. r s o n .
( and the first twenty lines suggest failu re ) he do s achieve th con diti on
,
of love towards Ann Stanford h as spoken f th e poem ( p 8 6 )

, e e
a “
triumph of po tic sympathy t th ough identification but through b j

. o . as
tive per eption And so th e last twenty lines are B u t in th e openi ng

e , no r o ec
sentence it is Th om as the rebel subjectively engaged nd e mb attled wh

c . .
speak s and who to emph asize th e distinction between Annie and the
, a , o
mourners needs to refer to her th ough h would r ject it in terms f

,
hyperbole O nce rid of his animus he writes the elegy required

, ,
s e e , o
. .
,
Th is is like Ly id an occasional poem When the occasion ccu red

Thomas looked throu gh his unpub lished manu s c ipts f usable m aterials
,
c as , . o r ,
He found there some line s ab u t death t serve as a point f departure

r or .
A comp rison Of them with the lines as th ey now appear shows Th omas s
o o o .
no m al tendency of starting from the loose explicit general and working

a
toward the tigh t packed p rticular in which the general ha s becom e

r ,
-
a
implicit .
After the f neral m ule praises brays

Shaking f mule h eads betoken
u , ,
Grief at the going to the earth f m an

o ,
OAnother
r woman at yet another long woe br ken
the me to play and su rprise
,
o
o ,
Fresh faults and till then hidden fl aws

on
Faded beyond ears and eye s

At he h loved else h ated we ll
,
S far from l ove in a deep hole

or s e , or ,
o .
Go G ntl D o N ot e e
John Malco m met h om as s parents in

l B rinnin T
’
not m ny
1 95 1 ,
mbetween
onths before David homas s death He describes
father and in thi s so n
T
way
’
. the relationship
a
52 °
for it an academic association ( T dl k 1 7
find T homas
remained at the bott m f his class in all subjects save English
to . e oc ,
o o .
Perhaps t f these scraps f information an attitude can be defined

ou o o .
Th father is an academic ; he put a price upon respectability He i thus

e s . s
triply an authoritarian as father schoolmaster and conformist Th boy

ought to lead his classes But he does not Th
: , ,
. e ,
as a choolmaster s ’
father never betrays his allegiance t Wales Thomas expatriated himself

s so n, . . e
( In his film script of Th Th W i d Si

-
h e characterizes the Welsh
as havi g lie in his teeth and a hymn hi lip ) Th father
“
e ree e r
o
s ters
.
”
.
m an n a on s s e ,
f or all his rectitude failed in poetry Th independent f all pro

,
. e so n, o
i ti succeeded
A certain reserve could o l y be expected to exist between the two so
p r e es, .
n ,
long each had some semblance of h i powers But Thomas was at all
as s .
times affected by helplessness His father s illness h i approaching death .

’
, s
leveled the wall between them Th love and respect in the tw po ms . e o e
are unquestionably deep and sincere And yet years of a kind of aloofness .
, ,
permitting the opportunity of standing quizzically ff and taking stock o ,
ensure that these intensely personal poems retain the measure f im

personality that lends the m elegi ac strength
o
It may b th at something f a reb l son s attitude toward a c nfo rming

.
father ( a n attitude pe force left unexpressed ) breaks t in W

e o e —
o
“
Gentle n ot however directed a ainst the father but by transfer a i t

r e ou
, ,
g a ns
Tl tl Audacity and p g ity are f the poem s essenc It is to begin

’ ’
with a triumph of audacity to pour such intense feeling so per onal

‘
ea i . u ac o e. ,
on s
aW ere Feelings f a certain po gnanc

,
gentle autumnal melancholy y are what Austi Dobson and h i

. o i e
expect T fi nd in a villanelle a dying man gi g

—
a , sa —
n s
fellows have led

being exh orted t it by a wild man is t a littl
u s to . o ra n ,
b i g
urn n i g , rav n or o no e
sh cking
o
I respective Of the form it is indecorou s enough that a son sh uld advis

.
h i father to eschew the swe t serenity f a h and folded demise for

r ,
o e
s e o -
a
bitter brawling end sure to embarrass bedside attendants

Theme and fo m have their thu mb no s i g propensities A d the fi st
.
,
r -
n . n r
line adds its contribution the W W W :
it disrespect for the Mosaic 1 nd th p unning good

“
_
night has a quota f bitte ness

s e
”
o r
Strangely however th e audacity the pugnacity are altog th er th e

.
surface What ill uminates the poem s inscape is a glowing w

, , , , e on
’
All the people in th po m are l osers wh i

. .
e e o
dyi g and with reason If rage is th eir privil ege it is even m o e f
n .
, r so or
David Th omas wh all his life h behaved with gentleness

,
B u t the t fimM privilege He

, o as .
M
did t rage He did not eve n cry Th us at the last as he had done for
es e .
no . .
,
a lifetime he disappointed his

Dylan Thom as was not a m an who could contain himself f any length
,
son .
f ti m e He co u ld t live within hi m se lf behind a wall He had to let h is

or
feelings fl ood t sometimes brawli gl y as Caitli n s mem oirs reveal

o . no .
And he ne ded response from those he loved Here hi father failed h im

ou — n , .
Bu nin g with pride within he projected warmth t envelop hi

e . s .
Coldly kind proud just brave ; these were not the attributes estimable
r ,
no o s so n .
as they m ay be to win r sponse from the likes of his

, , , ,
Th day of
hdayis deathButwasDylana cold dark day ( one i fers that it was th e year s shortest
,
t la m enting the day but th m

,
e
n
so n .
’
e
) . i y sunless days that

s no an
had preceded This darkest d y i an image of a lif } th father s blind ’
ness is an image f his failure to e the need in his

. a s e, s e
o for outgoing se so n
love Let him be fathe ed and found Th mas prays His prayer rises
.
“
r , o .
from his w need

But it is pity t self pity that th e poem discovers a pity tempered
o n .
by justice Thomas s u nderstanding Of his fath er s emotional disabilities

,
no -
, ,
’ ’
.
is judicious ; h i recognition f his w failu balanced and balancing

He does t accuse ; he do s not recriminate He is t t proud to cry
s o o n re .
nor too proud to tell the truth Fancy can the poem as the father s
no e . no oo
’
. see
counte part the confining narrowness of the tercets ; the cold calculatedness
r :
of the wit and artifice ; the bu ning of the emotion within the shell r
epitomized in the eyes hot with unshed tears ; the kindness f the sentiment ;
,
and on Father and meet in this poem as perhaps they never did
in life Arthu r Symons comment springs to mind Pathos which
so . so n
’ “
: c an
touch the intellect becomes t fig d that its tears Shine you can
.
so rans ure :
by their light ”
see
O .
nly the first seventeen lines are Th omas s w Th other twenty three
were taken from manusc ipt notes and put together by Vernon Watkins
’
o n . e -
to provide a completed poem O f the added lines he says sixteen are

r
“ ” “
.
,
exactly Dylan Th omas wrote them and the remainder are altered only
,
as ,
to the extent of an inversion of or two words Th ir order might well o ne e
have been different

.
Their sound too I thin k had T homas lived to work them over mi ght
.
hupon
ave been different In his boo k Thoma s Henry T reece comments
, ,
the poet s idiosyncrasies in sound and image and then writes a

’
.
,
on ,
,
chapter which he calls Straight Poet Th difference between the earlier

,
“ ”
. e
li es f Elegy and the later is the di fference between mannered and

n o
“ ” “ ”
“
straight .
It i in the first part that one finds the word plays

s :
Th e darkest w ay , and did no t turn away
He lie li ghtly at l ,
as t, o n the las t, crossed
T hrough his un ing eyes to the ro ts see o of the sea .
hTere too is the stru cturing sound as m the fourth stanz a which
taking off from third tanza s b reast runs throu gh rest dust
, ,
th e
of
’ “
,
” “ ”
,
“
,
”
darke s t justice unblessed and rest and th e epi h et

s , , ,
Th o masian
“ ” “ ” “ ” “
noun combi ations crossed hill crouching room b li d bed

, , , t
“ ” “ ” “ ”
What wo ld omas have done S mpl ed th e e l er section

n : , , n .
Th ? i ifi ar i ? m
plicated the l atter O r did he intend th e shift tone a s indicati g
u o r co
? in
from complic tion dying the si pl cit death
n a pro
i th e of m i of ?
doubt the poem i s what ho mas would h ave m ade it B u t
gress o n a to y
NO T
what Watkins h as m ade of it would s urely h ave pleased
no t .
him .
Gri f Th i f of Tim e e e
hom as wastes no time raising que s tions in this tantal ng poem

T y i zi Th e
rst four lines and being structural o fer opport t
.
cur in th e fi f th e uni
of constructing at least three poem s from the given words

oc , , y
.
Grief thief time crawls of o ff,
T hemnave
Th e k
oon drawn grave with th e se af ring ye ars
p ain s teals
-
of
, a ,
off
se a halve d faith h at blew ti me h is knee s

Th e -
t to
Th equestion s th e se are
1Does g ief crawl the moon drawn grave o ff

”
?
com mas after
. r -
If so , wh y the and grave o ff

” “ ”
?
2If grief crawls the grave is th e latter be equated wi h
.
“ ”
o ff
“
, to t
the sea?
3Is grave appositional with grief If wh at respect is ”

? in
g ef to be though t moon drawn
. so ,
“ ” “ ”
ri - ?
4Is rave an adjective mod fy ng moon drawn which is ap o

.
“
g
”
i i -
, p
g ef
si tio nal to
“
ri
”
?
5Does grief s al ti me O r is it Fa in time s empl oyee
”
te ? g
-
’
?
Do with th e seaf r ng ye a rs h ve sen s e as th e years
.
“ ” “
6 . es a i a th e of
by go
”
?
56 °
7 Owhich
. r are the seafaring years and
the thief absconds with
sea halved faith the swag th e -
?
8 Does the comma after crawls
. have the force a sem i colon “
o ff of -
so hat the lines read roughly ike this Grief crawls pain steals l f;
Of
away from the dedicated sailor both the se a and his se afa ing that
t :
has beached h im O r lik e th is Grief crawls pain th e

r —
i s, ? o ff;
years go by steals from the se the faith the se farers who earlier
: , as
of
paid no he d to time
, a a
e ?
Th e syntax and punctu ation are such h at any the se questions could of
be answered a m atively but no answer would be wh lly satisfacto y

t
ffir
Some arbitra ine ss is indicated But not m uch Suppose th at
; o r .
rite we w
with a positive and one with a negative fi st stanz a
r . too .
two poem
assumption the first will be that the se afaring years have ended
s— o ne ,
r .
Th e of
the seame n h ave kept faith with the and are not u happ ly ,
ol d sea no w n i
ending their days ashore .
Th g ief and pain which these now g ave but once ro m an tic o ldster s
experienced a float which stole their youth and so metimes made the m
e r -
r -
contemplate forswearing the ( but they never did ) ; that grief that
uselessness which they felt later when beached ( how mu ch time they
sea ,
wasted killed and buried wishing for what could not b berth
a ship going t the next tide ) these h ave left them Th eir
, , e— a
faith in themselves once strong enough t deny any an xiety about age
on ou on : .
is now strong nough to keep them content even though it i s sea halved
, o ,
that is though they still have only one leg land They remember
-
e
seafaring years but they forget the lean time s and the storms
—
,
on .
th e , ,
rememb r as living their castaway companions forget the ccupa

e ,
o
ti l disease the c ime and punishment And then having relived

t the full th ir vigorous youth th ey go agedly to bed eyes still full
o na ,
r .
,
o e , ,
of the salt sea to d eam f the fabulous ship whose name will never
, r o
die .
G iven this inte pretation the purport f the second stan a is Good
r , o z
keep it p let the bad memori s g redeem the p esent time ; g ief
,
poisons the mind suc k s the life s blo d and turni ng y introvert
u —
e o— r r
’
, o , , ou ,
destroys camaraderie Remember that nothing is lost in your any death ;

life tak es its meaningful form in relation to all pre v ious deaths
. or
T h negative reading assumes that the old men are in an old sail rs
’
e -
o
h aven li ving in pain and s rrow Th grief and pain of a ging have stolen
,
o . e
away the vigor and self reliance necessary for a seafaring life Th old
mpasten dbut temporari
-
. e
o l y forget their sorrow in selective recollections f the o
, eminded by thei aching bones of the discrepancy betwe n their

, r r e
°
57
present and heir resilient past they go bed in te s to dream of a ship
wrecked they are themselve s
t ,
to ar
Th second stanza then m u st b an adm onis hm ent the nursing f

as .
suuch memories must cease ; let grief th thief m ake his getaway with h is
e
e , , : o
seless booty ; let go your grief y mu st your desire f tallion years ;

e
resig ed to your unvirile maturity Show him ( bulls eye the outlaw ) f
as ou or s
“ ”
what he i and stop pursuing him through the days and weeks of your
n ,
-
or
maining li fe
s re
t di ffering m uc h from the o ther

.
Th er are two possibil ities the one

except in tone and both accounting reasonably well for most f the images
e , no ,
I have f course made t much f th bus iness of th e old sailors

, o .
hatroph
ome It i a convenient metaphor f the general hu m an condition the
, o , oo o e
y ing f the se x ual powers We are all J ack T a rs But in the s econ d
. s or ,
ssnea
tanza th metaphor is ll but discarded and attention i focused upon th e
‘
o . .
k thief who has like wa hDisney character a clocki face and deft
-
e
, ,
a
-
,
s
-
,
dagger pointed hands and has stolen the ( D y ) bag of

potent sperm which he takes to bury with those mettleso me years that
-
, o no n- sne an
grief attended T ime has already buried Th omas urges that the erstwhile
stallions and bulls f men not retain any grief for their loss that th ey
-
.
o ,
spotlight the plunderer of their testicular vitality (which no doubt caused

them some anxiety in th eir day) that they recognize and accept a fact
instead f vainly pursuing an impossibility Spotlighting the thief they
,
will have shot him dead center In this case to regain what has been
o .
,
stolen is worse th an to lose it He further urges that they not put under
-
.
,
microscopic analysis that mysterious force which lik e a covenant h as

.
, ,
bound human beings together but that they accept in faith that all halves ,
are bridged even that between life and death For what they mourn as a
lost past i not lost and will fit with time (that does not cease) and death
—
.
(that does not kill ) into the natural universal pattern Let the m with
s , ,
Whitman mark the outlet and mark the relief and escape and with him
.
,
“
recognize th at All goes onward and outwards noth ing collapses which
,
“ ”
y that All s h all remain

, ,
s i to sa .
It i possible to elevate the poem from the human level and give it a
myth ic rather than mo al significance Lita Hornick has done so basing
s
her argument these two passages

r .
,
on :
And salt eyed stumble bedward where she lies

-
Who tamed the high tide in a time of stories

And timelessly lies loving with the thief .
NO third y probe into a rainbow s sexe e

’
That bridged the human halves
58 °
Of the first writes sh e :
“
She appears to be the Great Mother and the th ief both time and
In their divine reunion is the promise
,
G d (
o In Countrysee
“
of perpetual reward .
And the sec nd

of o :
Th third eye is the eye of the adept who can see into the mysterious
e
secrets f the universe What Thomas appears t be saying in these

,
lines is let m a ke no attempt to probe into these secrets with occult

o . o
: us
mumbo jumbo Th rainbow appears to be G d ( Thomas all ows an

-
. e o
object associated with God to stand for G d ) ; and the rainbow s o

’
sex which bridged the human halves may allude t the K b lli i o a a st c
conception f a hermaphroditic God who created the world through

o ,
intercourse with his feminine em nation ( a conception available t a o
Th oma in both Blake and Joyce ) It is human halves which are

”
bridged by the divine he m aphrodite because G d is i di ti g i h

s .
able from m an
r , o n s n u s
It is impossible to determine without knowing how these fragments ,
fit into a total reading of the poem the validity f her argument Valid o .
not readers f a certain cast f mind will prefer the poem read this
,
way I myself find more satisfaction in a poe m in which a portentous

or , o o
symbolism d es not dimi ish or distract attention from a felt compassion

for those that h ave laboured and are heavy laden
o n
.
W hen A ll My Fi c e and Co untry Senses S ee

Since all f this poem is written in future tense that is of what will
o
occur given a particular action ( My heart has witnesses and Th

, ,
“ ”
, e
heart is sensual are in the permanent present tense ) it is necessary to

”
assume a present situation which is to be changed T his assumption can

,
- .
be made in terms of the poem s basic contrast that b tween the heart ’
single and noble and the senses many and vulgar Fro m this contrast can
, e ,
, , .
be inferred the controlling metaphor of the poem to be found in the

theory f courtly love that love s arrows striking the eye pierce to the
,
’
o ,
heart where a terrible beauty is bo n Thomas s heart a courtly lover

, ,
’
, r .
smitten by love ( d y ly he w there with loses contact

,
“
so e n ex -
with his loyal retainers the common senses So the poem opens the
situation i this the heart is awak e but mad ; the eyes dazzle ; the four
, .
, as ,
s :
re m aining senses are either asleep they as through a glass roseately
WhInat due
will happen is th is
, or see .
cou se the senses will awaken t what they conceive as reality

:
Th fingers forge tf l Of gree n genesis will obse ve that as th e moon nears

r o .
th e end of it zodiacal as harvest moon dwi ndles to h alf moon as

e , u ,
r
s run , ,
young stars grow ld as the Prodigal Son descends from Lucullan feasts
to husks love loses its p is cut (like a t long fi g nail) store d and
o ,
left unattended Th ears attuned to dissonances wi ll see love expelled

,
sa , oo- n er- , ,
from th e villag like a slut t be transported Th sh a p eyed tongue will

. e , ,
cry that the wounds infl icted by irrational love mend painfully and the
e o . e r -
memory leaves a bitter taste Th smoke of the smouldering bush of l ove . e
will get in the nostril s eyes ’
Thus it wi ll be when the heart regains its senses A certain disil lusion wil l
.
occur B t this is not a poem f the loss of love but Of it change C

dly the view is not sangu ine from where the senses it l ove is seen
. u o s . on
f
as a hus k or a nail paring as a repudiated illd as a knife slasher and
esse , s :
-
, o er, -
,
as a weed well burnt As they see so they report But each se s partially
-
. . e ,
is blind to the bread to be made of the wheat to the new life in Aus
,
to th e wounds ultim ate mend to th e unusual nature f the burning

,
’
t li
ra a, , o
bush
Th realis tic cl amor f the peasant senses will come to the attention
.
eventuall y f their m aster and he no longer doting will courteously

e o -
,
listen and piece their reports together Th responsibility is w his and

, o , , ,
the senses may sleep as they wish Th heart no longer well neigh wood
. e no ,
and with all available information at it disposal w knows its love f

. e , ,
wh at it is one wh ich will endure though the senses fail

s , no or
.
,
ckily for a D th U nlu ea
ForBlake the Fall coincided with the organization of systems worship of
the pronou ncement that the Gods h ad ordered such systems and the
,
sti ing of the t uth that All deities reside in the human breast In
fl
”
Incarnate Devil homas expresses much the same idea eason h av ng

r .
“ ”
, T : R ,
i
invented had to invent punishment and hell pardon and heaven and
sin , , ;
the immanent deity w made transcendent no longer a subjective guardian
as
but an objective warden

,
In Unluckily for a Death this warden deity is excluded altogether

.
and it is Thomas himself wh wal ks in the garden in the cool of the day
-
, ,
o .
Th garden he enjoys is his love s body for the poem a whole is an ’
argument against continence and for love as the full assemblage i fl ower
e ,
as
“
Of the living flesh T h langu age throughout is religious the girl s e :

n
’
60 °
In the former Thomas represents himself as a quite normal young man
qisuite denormally
as
,
extracting joy from love in a muddl d muddy world Love

lightful as ontinence is unnatural but it is without religious im
c
e , .
plications Th weaving in of Christian images has t ned a tract into an

. e ur
excathedral statement of the idea expressed by Lawrence in his poem

Th Body f G d
“ ”
e o o :
any lovely and generous w man o
at her best and her most beautiful being

god made m anifest
,
any clear and fearless man being

g d very g d o o .
In the poem as it now stands Thom as postulates three ways f working , o
towards his immortality Th one which he chooses is f course Love . e o ,

.
others might be called Hope and Faith hope for a phoenix like
,
Th
resurrection after death ; and faith in the monastic vi tue f continen e
e : -
r o c .
Both are death biding and expe ien e negating ; though each has had
“ ”
its proponents as a form f love neither Thomas think s can properly be

-
r c -
o , , ,
so called since in each renunciation supersedes procreation Th irony i

, , ,
. e s
that each renounces the fl esh to gain an immo tality whereas the only r ,
immortality ensues from the acti n f th flesh o o e .
T h poem is organized into four 1 4 line stanzas Since the opening

sentence runs ten lines into the second stanza and its subject and verbs
e -
.
are withheld to the fifteenth and sixteenth lines explication is simplified ,
by st rti g with the second stanza Th subject verb t p is My holy “
lucky bod y is caught and held and kissed Th choice f m difiers for
a n . e -
se -
u
”
. e o o
the subject is signifi ant the tw w rds isolatin g the body from any c ,
o o
purposive external force the bod y in itself and in the here and now and
in this of love is sacred ; fortune pro v idence grace the like h ave
:
“
ac t , or
no operational force upon its happiness T start then with the second
, ,
. o , ,
st nza
a :
T abus li k clouds envelop lovers misleading tabus ( will the ’
wisp ) whi h compass love li ke a dark Satani mill ( mill of the midst )
e —
0
Nevertheless my goodly body loving in this natu ral world over

c c .
coming the guilt with which indoctrination has stigmatized such loving
, , ,
is caught held kissed We ignore the dark for the light f Venus a
,
star in the east with the power to minister grace but a grace f
, ,
. o ,
“ ”
,
o
l origin and result ( in the order f the T h dark is

“
na tura o e
illuminated Your body and your eyes shine round about me saying
peace earth to men of good will attesting an incarnation Souls
,
.
on ,
.
join ; the light f suns i deeply interfused o s .
62 °
My belief in the sanctity of such love my belief that death is de ,
feated only by physical love denies tw widely held concepts f

immo t lity that which ext nds hope f a resurrection after death ;
-
, o o
that which mak es its joy contingent upon a willed restraint of se ual
ra : e or
desire ( Love in the former i diverted from th e particular and

x
crete t th general and abstract ; in the latter a fu tu re spiritual love

.
, , s co n
is preferred to a present physical love ) Th virtu e f continence

o e ,
“ ”
. e o
may b p rsonifi ed as a woman among ghosts a grave yard stat e her

natu ral voluptuousness sheathed in marble forever faithful to me
e e ,
-
u ,
( like Pati ence a monument ) though I have not made her my w

,
with a kiss the fevered forehead or the deathly m outh ; nor has the
on o n
chill nunnery of her lust inhabited b dy opened to love under mine

on
-
o ,
which prefers to her frigi d abstinence the summer heat f seduction o .
T his representation of continence as a devoted woman who would

be all the more constant if h were brawlingly loved has nothing of the s e
classic su ci ct ess and simplicity f the personification in for example

c n n o , ,
Collins If there is such a thing as a conceited personification this is it

.
, .
Its l ngth i complexity its psych logical perceptiveness its careful

though dr m atic statement indicate that Thomas felt the subject to be
e ,
ts ,
o ,
so important as to require the m ost precise definition

a
His first stanza and the first ten lines f the second h aving outlined
.
the general situ ation Thomas w makes a plain statement f his choice
o
no o
among the th ree alternatives and f his reason why

,
o .
I shall not cease reading the prayer book f your body to celebrate -
o
holy continence
”
shall I pay any heed to death possible
nor or
resurrection
,
fruitl ess Continence

.
All unnatural monsters are u happy

astraddle like the Rhodesian Col ssus one foot in h eaven and
n or .
,
on earth is f a k ind with the bird beast do nkey horse man bull
o ,
o ne
-
, o -
,
-
,
hermaphrodite and tiger lion h being desire abnegation So too is

,
the earth renouncing phoeni x ( each phoenix is an island unto him

,
-
,
s e -
.
self ) Love which renounces the fl esh Platonic love mystical love
.
,
ascetic love a love of an assumed virtue a love for triangles

,
produces if anything infertile grotes queries

, or
.
, ,
This is t to deny the intellectual and spiritual aspects of love

but to m aintain that only love in its t initarian physical intell ectual
no
s iritu al unity i true love This is what as luck would have it h as

-
r
p s .
,
been fated for me that I have learned without being taught that
,
neither hope nor faith ( phoenix nun ) has meaning if I do not fi d or n
my Earthly Paradise in my love for your body and my resurrection

therein Your eyes teach me this ; and the light emanating fr m a
. o
°
63
material body as t th issued from a man ch ild h ad taugh t me
Neither continence nor Platonism w avails Th power f creation
, ru -
, .
is you s ; the patterning f life i at you r command

no . e o
r o s .
O f all homas s poems this most explicitly states hi s ph losophy

T
’
love And most powerfully Both reece and Stanford h ave balked at T
i of
humorously s ruck by
. .
th e third stanza the being , y tigron in to o t

”
th e
tears and I think they have b en too nalytical too lite al minded a
so o n
m e -
.
, r .
It is quite t ue that the tigron does w ep nor ule bear th e sh e

minotaurs Nor for that matter is the dark androgynou s But the pas
r no t e
if
sage is not taken pa t by pa t but a s a su r ealistic whole depicting
.
, , .
Monstrosity and Monstrosity being g otesqu e is tragically comic all

r r r
( fo r
but the unsympathetic it has its strength All th at one needs to get from
, r ,
)
the passage is an e fect of the weep ng hotness and con estion of fru stra
.
f i
an itchy sweaty tropical e ect from which is elieved by
g
tion ff
the refreshing walk i n the c l your mortal garden It m ay a
, or -
, o ne r
of be
near thin g but h omas pulls it He does because however th e i age s
oo .
T o ff m
may titillate the risibilities the intellect the sound s the word com
, . so ,
of of
still th e lau h If tigron i n tears provokes a sm le th e l n d

-
,
“
b i nati o ns i i ke
sweetness of androgynous dark abo ts it and a seriou sness deve loped
g .
,
”
is
by powerful striped and noon maned tribe s ridin g holoc u st
r ,
“
the Th e
comic asserts itself ith th e mule bearing minotau rs though a sadness
t to a .
w she (
underlies and th e mere mention the duck billed platy us can raise
); of
an unthinking augh But this again is cu t short by the sound and con
p
-
l
notations reminders Milton and Hopk n s broody in a mi
.
“
( of of i ) of lk
of birds O nly sound and vague suggestion work the image is confu sed
.
”
but their work is quite enough Th e ffect f the whole is pathetic

-
. e o
rather than tragic and perhaps quite pathetic It i the effect f the
mixed comi c and tragic figures o n a medieval cathedral Gothic is the word
,
no t -
. s o
And since it is precis ly Thomas s purpose t free love fro m its Gothic
. .
tabus the stanza perates with the others by sta nding t agai st th em
e o
, c o- 0 ou n .
A Gr f Ago ie
his poem will probably never become a popular favorite It is to be

T .
classified among the works that are puzzles before they are poems and ,
perhaps it is to be further classified as puzzle that never becomes a

poem Only the explicator wh h come to terms with it will feel for it
a
any strong a ffection as ( according to folk lore ) a mother loves the child
. o as
wh s birth h suffered m ost

-
,
T his is a poem without much charm it does not sing ; it doe s

o e s e .
t read : no
64 °
aloud well ; it h as few if any lines that evoke emotional im aginative
response Metaphysical wit it has aplenty but th e m etaphors are
or
tangled th at feels a J ohns nian sternn e ss b eaki ng th rough one s

.
, so
’
cheerful es s However I have achieved an explication of so ts and feel

one o r
the consequent affectio Possibly a double affection since ( to app al t

n .
, r
folk lore aga in ) it not only was a hard birth bu t the res ult m ay t b
n .
, e o
-
, no e
legiti mate
I see it the she is Th oma s s girl probably C aitlin She i s a
.
A
’
mature woman eady for love capable f procreation Apparently th ou gh

s , , .
all history ought to teach her that sex i s th e only means f defeating death
, r , o .
,
she is playing y mist es s ( is Th om a s s g ief ) S Thom as writes hi s

o ,
’
very free paraphrase f Marvell s poem His metaphors are botanic al

co r r . o
’
Biblical Greek and possibly z ologi cal

o .
,
1 Th gi l I w h old the gi l wh i s w a full y b l o s so m ed fl ower

.
, ,
adistressful
nd ( N mb 18 17 ) a sweet savou i n m y nostril s w a sh ort bu t
. e r no
time g i h a maid nly rosebu d with tomboy igor wh

u ers ,
, r o
r
no
,
as ,
despite hell and high water pushing h er stem up from the bu sh clung
a o, e t er e v o,
to the tower and achieved full growth ; ( according to Eld r O lson )

, ,
likeossibilities
a venus s basin ( wild tea sel ) g ew in th e ; ( two lt m tive
,
’
or e
) like Venus i n her scallop a spiny venus shell ( cl am ) m oved

r sun or a e a
-
from sea to shore ;

p or
2 Thi gi l who now cause s m e a x iety becaus I vi olently a cce l erate d

.
the change from hrysalis to bu tterfly ( forc d the bud to sho t into
. s r , n e
a gangster s bullet ) hi gi l w th e b ud implicit in Aaron s

C e o
fl ower fast
’ ’
that i the stem th at th miraculously b udding rose

as ,
t s r as
d ( N mb 17
of Erin ( and th e great m ullein called Aaron s R d ) sent t t be water
-
ro u ers , s, e
’
landammed her ( and perhaps to be a plagu ey nuis ance to m e wi th h er spines

, ,
, o ou o
Note Aaron s rod m ay als recall the d that flowered when T an

’
hauser abandoned the delights of Venu sberg Th horn and ball f

: o ro n
“
water the frog elude me P sibly it is a str ngthening f the m eta

. e o
”
morphosis theme the horns f th e ltar the ram s horn th e water from
on . os e o
the rock the plague f frogs were all implicit in Aaron s rod the frog
: o a or -
and toad are implicit in the tadpole And f cour e explosi n is potential
, o ,
in th e powder h orn
.
, o s ,
o
-
3 Th i gi l who l ies ( in m y arms ) j u st evicted from th e innocence f

.
Eden ( th e ma riage ring a sign of the loss f nat ral as sacrame ntal love )
. s r , o
h l d with her as she grew th e history of h er forebears this is the

r -
o u - -
h
usinsualthhistory
as au e
f man well exemplified in E d

,
the innocence the

e sense f guilt the promise of pardon th renewed i the punish
o so
,
xo us
:
ment the h ope f the promised l an d th e winds f time and change

, o , , e s n,
blowing from all points f the compass ros and de ply imp essing the
, o
o e
o
e r
°
65
e
in
xptheien ilede nthesse depa
er
W
u re the twelve t ibes fro m Egypt wand g
the punis m ents
c of
eventual ac hiev ment

rt of
h the
r , the erin
4W
seolfmidentity
. h e n this irl
ho , t h old s me as I hold h er
r
and procreative urge like the S

,
,
is se a
ea severi g the Is ae lite s
g wh o
,
R ed
e .
? Th e of
th e Egyptians separates h er as though untim ely ipped from her

n
-
, r
fr ( )
sh api g places prepare her whelping orga s
, r
ent enslav ng past i The

angad nhert exi istnctio
nct the race s su rvival in order that she take a s tan d
n n
- -
rec .
i for
’
a i n
calloused death
s in order that she
n
t co er and k ock ( tough cofli n-

,
m n o ut
fisted , )
Since t at death is al ways near not as a life shap r water but a
.
5 h ( )
ecomp s r acid I emph asize a point bef re th e dawn b fore me s
.
,
-
e
( ) ( Ti
’
d
bur her b fore the Assy ian s overwhe lm Isr el a child b ing
o e , : o e
fire
Isr ael s o ly hope let h er as s mil ate h er ancestry
n ; e r a e
Isai ah 8 , 9, i
’
lfetutuhreer tbehus filled

om e
with th e procreative urge and thu s connect past
n
death s E yptian captivit th e prom ised l and

o ut o f
,
’
, and
,
thu s let of the stem Jesse come a rod l et her close

, c g y to ,
of ( Isai ah
.
hclosed
er fist h ld tigh t th is prom se fu e reward and with h er
,
and
out
stri e down the country h ande d grave

fist k
o to
,
-
i of tur
.
,
It is D ust To ng u B llthe Sinn er s ’

ed
’
e
Accord ng Elder Olson i opening s ta nz a It is the sinner s th e of

‘ ’
du st ongued be l is likely to m ean little nothing u less

to ,
l
’
reader th e
realiz s that the deta l add up to a Black Mass
-
t or n
celebrated with is b eihg

Sexecuti
atan o iciat ng as priest and th at ime is being compared Sata n
g th is
e
P
ff i
ofi c e
, T to
,
(
homas that He and th e Christian poets have
n . .
E Glyn Lewis says of T

still mo e in common in their willingness to en hroud the experience
.
of
tim e with the idea death and the most objectionable associations
r s
”
of
illustrate he quotes the fi th and last stanz a an d

.
( Tedloc k 1 7 6 To f ( )
her time is identified with th e se xu act wh ch h oly
, ,
explains that al i
in itself is translated by conscious ness time into an abhorrent ex
e ,
, of
perienc e
Hornick nds in the second third and fourth stanz as a drow ing
.
fi of
me the veget
ti
and
fol owed by the awaken ng life and the reb th of m an
a ble worl d P
l
”
t e-
, ,
i of ir
n
(
Putt ng the s together we have this ime is of ciating at a Black M ass
. .
i T fi
t m which
i is drown ed and li e is aw ak ened and tim e becomes
e
e
becaus e of the consciou sness time abhorrent

sexu al
,
f re-
:
;
of is
th e
;
Obviously the three interpretations di er althou h what deg ee

act , ,
ff ,
,
g to
.
r it
66 °
is d iffi cult to ascertain since none f th e explicators attempts the whole
poem Th queer thing here is that th ough apparently the three pli
o
have different ideas f the poem ea h is i p rt righ t There is an

. e , , ex
elemen t of th Black Mass ; th ere is a rege er ation ; and tim e is involve d

t
c a ors o , c n a .
if not in the sexual act in a ma riage in which is involved It m ay

e n ,
therefore be possible t bring the three together in a fou rth explicati n

, r , sex .
Th approach to th is poem h be m ade f om its final stan a in

o o .
which Thomas m akes a show f expl aini ng wh at he has be n talki g abou t

e t as o r z ,
o e n :
I mean by time the cast and curfew rasc al f ou r marriage

At igh tb k born in the fat side from anim al bed
o ,
In a holy ro m in a wave ;
n rea ,
an
And all love s sinners in sw et cl oth kn eel t a hyleg im ag

o
’
Nutmeg civet and parsley serve the plagued gro m and bride
e o e,
Wh have brought forth th e u rchin g i ef

, , sea- o
o r .
Mr L wis com menting on this stanza took the h igh pri ri road And
question about it Thom as is expl ring the deleteriou s effects f T im e
. e , ,
o .
But I thin k that a couple f facts tying the p m down to a situ ati n
no ,
o o .
involving people need t b considered b fore m oving in t ab s tractions

o oe o
Th facts are these th at this poe m was p u b li sh e d in Jan uary f 1 93 7

o e e o .
and that Th mas m arried Caitlin Macnamara in 19 3 6 Th i fe nc

e : o ,
from these facts is that since each wa s a maverick u nsuite d t pull i

o . e n re e
harness there was bound to be trouble fter mut al passion h ad b gun

, o n
to dimi ish
, a u e
I take th e poem then to be a comment upon Thomas s m arit al status

n .
manifestation f love h as
.
, ,
It appears to me to be a recogniti o that

run its c urse ; that there is reason for sorrow and pe nitence ; but that
n o ne o
there is also reason to hope for a translation f passionate love into

something mo e du rable Th controlling metaphor is th at f Holy Week ;
o
the poe m i a kind f Mi

r . e o
What has happened is this th e element f time has had a hardening

s o serere .
d mping effect upon a love that began at nightfall as a me lti ng sub

: o ,
fi
mthiserging
re-
pa sion that seemed as holy as profane Pagan lovers witnes s f

a
unt ward event do what th ey can t halt the tragedy they pray t
s .
,
,
an image f th Life Giver to h alt th e movement tow rd the

o , o : o
destroyer ( these are symbols in astrology ) and offer aphrodisiac gifts f

o e -
a avare ta
musk nut ( nutmeg ) musk d the herb l vage t th e couple who e

o
mar iage thus far has been blessed only with the spiny hedgehog f g ief
-
,
an o o s
In this ti me f Love s apparent extinction ( curfew d es rin g tonight )

r o r .
and w we shift t the first sta za Thom as i s h aled by mute a s death

o o
( dust ton gued ) bells t rep nta nc f hi e ro d t p a yer f

no o n - —
w
hope When doe s thi s occur? A s th p ni n g tanza s ys
-
o e e or s r rs an o r or ne
. e O e s a
67
IWhe
t s
is th e inn rs dust tongued bel clap s me ch rches ’
nb aswitt heh l cleftorchin ana dsahodalur l ass like a sulphur p iest

hi s
e -
l to u
, g , r ,
Hi s
i e m arks a black a sle ki dle fro m th e brand of ashes
e e t n ,
Tm i
Grief wi h dishevelled hands tear the al ta r gho s t
n ,
kill the ca dle

t o ut
And a firewi nd n .
N ow in th s stanza we h ave muted b l ash e s a

i al ta r gh ost el s, to m-out
anHolyd anWeeexkt ngand u shed canWedlenesday derivation
i i th ese from the events
seem s erta in bl
d
be run
. Th e of
,
No e ls may
of
,
( A sh )
from th e Mass Maundy hu d ay unt l th e sam e Holy
c .
g
G lo ri a of th e of T i
Satu rday the fai h ul are branded with a shes Ash We dnes ay
rs on
“ ”
t f d ; the
B lessed S acra ent is remov d f om the al ta and reserve d in a special
; on
“
m
place from Maundy ursday t l Easter represent Lord s b y in
e r r
’
Th il od
tomb and at sp cial Ma ins and Lau d s enebrae M aundy

to ou r
”
th e (T )
Th
and
u rsday Good Friday and H ly Sa rday fo r een c andle s are p u t
,
; e
hidden behind th e alta r th e ch rch sle s thus b ing darkene d

,
t
o tu u t
ai
on
o ut
is
So someth g l ke th s be m ade stanza
o ne u e
-
.
,
in i i can of th e :
Wh en in co rse of t me the gold ve mi ion

bleak comes to its a hes to ashes stage its b u tter y wi gs bu nt
u l
i ove turns blue,
-
r l o f our
fl
awhenisle l ght andwingjoy anwdhengraceg iefares pextulchresuishthede haolyt thspi s dark
it love
n
- -
, s ,
r
( fr . ai le ); r e ir of ;
its i hour ing
the necessi y is upon m e to repent and pray
;
t .
It is t much a Bl ack Ma s s O lson says as a black ti me f th

lworsh
over though it is tru e that T me with his torch m age d as th e S at n
no so
i pped b y th e witch cu lts I thi n k it is cle a fro m Th omas s b in g

, i
,
as ,
is i
’
or
a
e
clapped t churches that h e is not u ndergoing conversion to Christia nity

-
. r e
“ ”
or to cul tism but finding in church symbolis m objecti ve correl ative for
o
hi si tu ation
an
When du ing Tenebrae the ca dles are t a co mm otion i made in

s .
th e dark ness symbolizing the convulsion f nat re at the death f Christ

, r , n ou , s
Th en the lighted candle ( h idden be hind the l t r ) i replac d and th

, o u o .
Light of the World is evident agai Thi s is what u sing th e imagery f

a a s e , e
th e submerged cath edral Thomas dramati es in the next sta nz a and a h lf

n .
, o
, z a
Th asexu al drone f T ime drowns t the m menta y h arm oni zi g

f m al e and female Mortality expand ing li ke cora l
e o ou o r n
l ifi and grief
is i g li ke an o ean tide smothers love in its carn al asp ct ( L ve In
o . ca c es
carnate ) ; in the emotional tu rbulen e pe titions f re onciliation are

r n c e o
i effec al Th falli g f dea h upon th e spirit at the sixth ho r affe ts

c , or c
macrocosm ( moon ) d mi crocosm ( emperor butte fly ) the whole

n tu . e n o t u c
an r
68 °
whe n he cam e t recog i z e the useless ess the folly th e dow igh t im
mconve
r
o
o ality i giving way to anger? Is there that is t y a behavioral

sion here as there i s supposed t be a religi ou s conversion in
r
o
n n
o
,
,
,
o sa ,
nr
“
Vision and Prayer ? ”
Th ere ca n be I thi nk question th at the poems in M p f L

veal a Thomas in process f subduing his g t i i m of broadening
, , no , a o ove
his sympathi es Love s territorial possessions cover m ore of the m ap than

re o e o cen r c s ,
’
they would have done in the e r lier volumes F there he posed hi mself
.
nly the easy problem f l oving an abstract mankind Pins on the

a . or
wall map sufficed N w he h as a quite concrete C aitli n the t i

o o .
be governed the sp t in person Love h as its test when the

-
. o : err torv
h
n ativest
are re s tless
on
as o o .
I do t know th at the poem h the significance I h ave suggested

.
Th e x ternal evide n ce is missing So w h at follows is altogether assumption

no as .
from th e imagery Th notable images all have to do with bending

e .
bmreak i ng m fli i g
, or a falling ff or subduing Anticlimax breaks a
u
’
.
ood ; the fl w stem is broken ; the be ast s neck is bent ; the hungry
n
e
o ,
’
.
,
belly is concave ; th e emigrant breaks his home ties ; the sky sags ; the
o er s
suVario
n falls ; the immersed b ll is muffl ed ; the angry grim ace is hidden
u s unsuccesses are suggeste d f N arci s sus f Ph a ton f Atalanta
e .
f squ ari g the circl e f the Charites with th e apple f discord etc But
: o , o e , o ,
given all this there is a sense of coming t terms f subjugating th e self

o n , o o , .
to Itthei exnevertheless
igencies of livi g in tande m
,
o nly a sen e and without inform ation can be no

n .
o , o
more Th following is rather m ore my w po m than an explication

s, , s , ,
. e o n e
f T homas s
’
o .
Sshehe shall t b e left t st ve forage ( like a character in F mi )

shall t be exiled like an Irish emigrant of th e white h ands
no o ar or a ne ,
( h ands li k e t ndrils needi g a strong s u pport ) beca u se f m y anger

no
which after her narcissistic ref sal ( wh ich is suicidal ) and her
e n o ,
lone w lfi h ( which i starvation bound ) and despite the O vidi n

, u
change i n my m anly tissue is quite anticlimactic

-
o s ness s -
a
I bear in m ind th at the ligh t which w shows us desultorily but

.
,
b it ly smiling in respo n se to desultory smile will fail as the

no
sets
Not fro m this anger th ugh her refusal took the clapper t f my
un ter sun .
bell shall her smile ( irritati g me th ough it does ) cause to appear

, o ou o
mthyat mburns
outh refl ect in my eye th at snarling ( uncircular ) grim ace
,
my brain or
.
n on
Here I have a ssum ed that the allu sion to sky and sun in the central
sreectio n ( 1 1 8 1 0 ) indicat s an un derstanding th at fa ilures can b
medied that tim doe s t stop here that this is t the end all Th
.
-
e no
e
no -
e
e
, .
,
70 °
sun se ts but will ise ; the sky now s aggin g will s sert it ligh t Seen i
thi s larger perspective the personal fail r becomes bj tifi d
r , ,
a s . n
p em that I h ave written has a psych logi cal s oundness ; th

,
u e o ec e .
Th
explication th at I h ave contrived m akes ki d f sens f the introductory
e o o e
mruetaphors Th questio i s have I m i s sed the tone and therefore the

e purport f the poe m? It is t impossible to read the Opening d
. e n ,
a n o e o
concluding l ines like th is She shall t receive fr m me in my anger i

t o no an
disappointment f m y roused expectancy much as a bellyf l f

: no o , n
th
we ds My an ger will t perm it th at h er attempted smile f reconcilia
e o , so u o
tion have for me m ore substance th an th e m irror image f h er mouth

e . no o
whi ch I see in such h t w ath

-
o
Th re st f th e poe m could be m ade t fit th is patte n Nor would it

o r .
ne d t be done with mi rrors I prefer th first because it shows Thoma s

e o o r .
as m ai taini ng th e m aturity of compassionate outlook which he h a s

e o . e
enunciated i th preceding poe m O nce it w th e Colour f S aying

n
“ ”
OBunet thewoupldssibi
think th at the poet w ul d prefer to be s en in print at his best
n e
lity thatb he has objection to being seen human as opp s d

o
, as
e
o .
to hum ane c annot ignored

o no o e
A thi d alt rnative which h as its amusing aspects is t assume

e .
ma ariddli
t ity f wit rather than of compassion ; th at is that Th mas has writt en
ur
r
o
e ,
g po m capable of either interpretati n with the diabolical i t

,
,
o
o a
tion f unsettli g the y mistress who h as unsettled h im

n e o n en
o n co .
O ut of the Sig hs
No verse precedi ng th is in th e C ll d P m and scarcely o ne o e c te oe s o ne
that foll ws exp sses an emotional intensity comes as close to tragi c

statement a s does this taut l m t y ly ic Here if ever Th m a s
o re ,
achieved the felt thought the thought emotion Here as so r ly th

, , unexc a a or r .
, ,
o
clever inventor f rhetoric l devices stands aside to perm it the reader t

, .
,
are , e
in person a m an of sensibility g appli g with an experien

o a o
It is impossible that the poem is a dram atic monol ogue ather th an

see r n ce .
personal refl ecti on Th words especially th ose f the first d last st nzas
no t r
are not inappropriate to an agonized Christ It is a measure f the wo th

. e , o an a
t it is intended to it meets the challe n ge

. o r
o f th poem that whether or

e , no
of that situation
,
As in the poems commonl y called metaphysical there is no feeling

.
f a f i
,
mp li but ra ther a sense f p ess f the po m s worki ng ’
itself t; the eader is not pe m itted t view the jewel but is h aled int
o a t ac c o , , o roc , o e
the tu n el t sweat with the artist as he mi es it So th difficulty f thi s

ou r r o o
poem is not that of so m any of the other the play with word pl y
n o n . e o
s— -
a ,
°
7l
the distinguishing f letter from symbol and the establishm ent of h
symbol s literal mea ing th finding f th one way through the maze f
o ,
t e
’
double entry syntax and th like bu t the following f a tortu red mi d

n , e o e o
it tortuously works towards self reconciliation Th skills required f

-
, e o n
th is poem are the s kills requ i d f Th E x t asie

- e or
as .
“ ”
Th subject however recalls Emily Dickinso n r a th er than Do nn e th e

re or e .
Emily Dick inson of After Great Pain a Formal Feeling Comes Suc
e , , ,
“ ” “
cess is Counted Sweet st and Pain has an Element of Blank In th e

,
” “ ”
first f these particul arly the psychological progression

e ,
.
from g ief
to formal feeling to a spiritu al questio ing wh ich laps s into a f rgetful
o ,
r
stupor which seem a qua rtz contentment very closely parallels

n e o
“ ”
T ho ma s s first stanz a
s
’
Th full prog essio n i n Th o m as is ( as I see it ) happiness i th e sun ;

.
f gh t a nd bitter words ; s epar a tion ; a g ny and g ief ( th e l atter k ocked

e r : n
down ) ; growth f the spirit ; its forgetf l es s ; its cries ( and sighs ) ; its
i o r n
mis inifound
mal cusmfort in the sigh s ; regrets ; con ti u ation f pain after reg et
o
less ; th e cure of p ain ( perh ap s ) by loving genero ity

o
un
n o r
T hi s i s certainl y a poe m t whi ch prose e x plic a tion will d a n i nj u stice

e s .
for here what Thom as s heart feel s is mo important th an what hi mind

o o ,
th inks Prose m ay illuminate the latter ; the former is the province f

re s
poem is ultimately its w best comm entary Neve theless

. o
etry Th
like Mt Everest th e poe m i s th ere
p o . e o n . r ,
1 After th e tragic event o ne sigh s an d finds s me reli f bu t

.
.
,
t f
grief because th at h as disappeared in the form al feeling that follows great
.
,
o e , no o
pain Th relief is fro m the dea dness of th at fo m al fee li n g Th o u gh th ere

th sp irit re a sse ts i ts elf a nd tu rn s atten
. e r .
seems no reason for going “ ”
ti n t the m atter of living ; but me mory wi ll not be downed the s pirit

o n, e r
undergoes anguish there are tears which subside into sigh s and eason
o o ,
begins to prevail Rea s on find s s ome comfort cold bu t comfort in

, , , r
a solid logic al conclusion if ca not l ove well one cannot l ve well

.
,
knows where stands a nd can eve n shrug a shoulder

: o ne n ,
o .
At least
aizing
nd review the situ ation with some semblance f calm d by general
objectify it
, o ne o ne
o , an ,
2 ( Th generalizatio n ) F the weakest the outl ok i t for death

.
,
but for prolonge d suffering Th ou gh the wound heals and th e pain is

. e : or o s no
assuaged the ache will continue longer th an it should even af er h i

.
regrets for leavi g th e woman whose bitter words have cu t h im have

, , t s
va ished Th ache will continu b

n
in feeling no regrets he ecognizes

a self centeredness in h imself
n . e e ec a use r
-
.
3 Were feeling regret for a wasted happiness enough and were a

re sum ption f relations bu t without a definition of this new basis enough
.
,
with l ies to lend assurance that the basis was firm I could verbalize
o ,
away my suffering .
,
72 °
4B u t this i s as much as t say that man is as simple as m erely
physical as a d g Th resumed relation lack ing spiritu al unanim ity
. o ,
would indeed be merely physical ( bone bl d d But u ch

o . e , ,
“
a lation m ore solves th e root of the problem th an supplyi g fo d u e s

,
oo ,
an s
a dog s distem p r gropi g under th dog s plat man

re no n o c r
’
s ’ ’
Th eref re as being all I have to gi ve I offer m y h o m e m y tabl e and

e o r, n e e, a .
a governi g h and
o , , , ,
Th crux of the poe m i in the last tw lines the s u pposed resolu tion
n .
ll there is to gi v e I off r m igh t m ean

e s o , .
”
F or a e
I offer ll there is f anyone t give

In retu n for all there i to give I offer
a or o
In place f ll there is to give I offer

r s ,
o a ,
A d C ru mbs barn a n d hal ter m ight be co s trued a s poverty vag a

bondage and a noose at the end ( This w uld be the ch oice if the speaker
n , ,
n ,
were as sumed to be Christ ) At all events th e barn he offers is well

,
. o
situated on Cold Comfort Farm

.
,
I M ake Th is in a Wa rring A bs nc e e
This 68 li ne poem is what Thom as r ferred t as f his l ong

e xhau ster He spent nearly a year in its const uction a s ingle li ne
- e o o ne o
occupyi g him f sever l days N small part f

s . r , ,
Watki s says ( p
this labor was devoted exclus ively t h is rhyme words as in I I n My
n . n or a . o o
“
h e experimented with line endin gs in I here h e h

-
o : ,
Intricate Image
”
In the first tw stanzas each line ends with the nas al ;

,
-
, as
worked with ’
; the fo rth permits deviant th end word

ns . o ,
the third va ies t

f ll w ; the fifth i r gular ; the sixth opens with dentals but closes with
r o enc e u o ne e -
d ; the seven th p rs u es this ombination ; the eighth continues with

o o s s e
’ ’
but adds m ; and th ni nth ffers surprise ending f s ibil a ts

n s u c ns
d d
’ ’
and liquids
an s, s e o a o n
But the h ra s ed reader cannot avoid thinking th at Thomas spent his

.
year en su ing th at his poe m would require an equivalent time f stu dy

a s
Syntax im age m etaphor and symbol m ani pulat d as to produ e

r o .
obscu poem as Thomas ever wrote Th ere are keys f som f

, , , are so e c
htoward
as
is diffic l t poem s the g neral u nderstanding f h is thesis m ay s si st

re a
peni ng up his particular i m ages ; the con e ti g f th poem

u : e
.
o
or
a
e o
to an objectiv e sit ation helps ; a recognition f wh at he h a s recently

o n c n o e
been re ding will give a clue ; analogy with anoth er l s s obscure po m

u o
with Thomas s prose is usefu l ; c m ment by Thom as him self someti me

a , e e or
’
o s
°
73
clarifies Here though such keys p esent them selves th y o ly unlo k
doorshereleadingfort edxarker
.
m room s or rooms with fu th er doors

,
ple hints th at he has th book f J mi h i mind

o
r
r
, e
.
n c
T
as he w ites Th m t obvio s allusion is in the couplet
r
are ,
. e
a
os
,
u
e o ere a n
Comes love s anatomi t with gloved hand

’
Wh pic k s the li ve heart

s sun-
o a diamond on
which i based upon 1 7 1s ,

°
Th sin f Juda h is written with a pe n f iro n

d with th point f a diam nd it i s graven
e o o ,
upon th e table f their heart and upon the h orns

an e o o :
f y u r l tar s
o ,
o o a
And it is not impossible th at stanza 1 recalls so me words fr m other

.
verses in the same chapter Verse 2 3 refers t the sti ff k d f the

Jews and Th omas t a stone necked minute verse 13 reference t
. o nec e ness o
-
“ ’
the founta in f living waters and verses 7 and 8

,
o -
s o
“ ”
o
Blessed is the man that tru steth in th e Lord and ,
whose hope the Lord is

he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and
.
F
th t spreadeth t her roots by th e river
or ,
a ou
may have served toward the m aking f Th om a s s o

’
When praise is b lessed her p ide in m ast and fount ai n

, , r
In that proud sailing t ee with branches driven r
T hrough th l st vault and vegetable g oynee a r
mi h upon i and separation ech oes the p m s

.
Th emphasis in J
’
concern with pride and absence b ut it does t assist toward determini g

e ere a s n oe
or what is absent from what or wh o m although 1 6 9 makes an

no n
wh
obli que comment I will cause to cease th e voice of mirth d th e
o —
, ,
“
voice f gladness th e voice of the b idegroom d the voice of the bride

: , an
”
Th omas s w c mment upon the poem is tantali z ing in its inco m plete
o , r ,
an .
ness It explains particularly the first half f the last stanz a an d by

o n o
extension and in general terms the three pre eding sta nza s
. o -
Obefore
nce upon a tim e before my death d resu rrection
the terrible world h d shown itself to m e
‘ ’
,
a
an ,
( however lyi gly as lines 6 7 of the l t verse

might indicate ) as t terrible after ll a wind h ad
n , as
blown that had frightened everything created th e first

no so a ,
i the fi st frost by frightening the falling now so

much that the blood f each fl ake froze ( Watkins p
ce r
o .
s
, .
74 °
B ut nothi g here nor i the poem expl ins the cause the mea ing f
n n a or n o
this f ighte i ng wind

r n its relation if there i with Thomas s
no r ,
s o ne ,
’
death and resurrecti on .
Do s th poem have an objective situati n as its immediate cause?

According t Lita Ho ni c k the poem appears to revolve around
e e o
concrete dramatic situati on th e birth of a child resulti ng in a father s

o r , a
’
T his seems im probable unless the

,
jealousy and reconciliation ( P

poet w looking som e distance into th e futu since the poem was written
. .
,
in 1 93 7 and Llewell yn w not born until 19 3 9 However the poem s

as r
e ,
’
iginal titl e was Po m to Caitli and one may assume some other cause
as .
,
“
f a divisiveness occurri g between the tw lovers S w could arrive fr m

or e n,
a description f th general format f th poem

o n o . O e , o
th h ints given at this

separated ( physically and / or spirit
e , as o e o e :
Thomas and Caitli n quarrel and

lly ) ; he que ll s his p ide and ill will and is reborn to love and forgiveness
ar e
ua r .
But it is a very supe ficial description and is open to th objection that

th poem see m s t have greater depth and m m than one
r e
e o the subject o on
f a connubial spat
Th question b comes this how far does the poem depart fro m the
o .
e e :
personal h w far from home do s it go in its exploration f the map f

ltove , o
? This question cannot be satisfactoril y answered because

hsetingsforth finantheambiguous pronominal reference Th poem s i d is
f all
e
’
o
,
’
o
O
Opening sentence which comprises the first two stanz as

, o . e ra so n etre
I make thi s in a warring absence when

,
Each ancient stone necked minute of love s season ’
Harbours my anchored tongue s lips the q y t

-
,
Wh en praise is bles ed h er pride in m ast and fo unt ain

,
ua s o ne ,
, s
Sailed and t dazzling by the h d h p d ocean

,
In th at proud saili ng tree with branches d iven

se an s a e ,
T hrough th e l ast vault and vegetable g oyne

r
And this weak house to marrow columned heaven

r ,
-
,
Is comer cast breath s rag scrawled weed a vain ’
And opium head crow stalk puffed cut and blown

-
, , ,
OOrr like
rent ancestrally the roped hymen
-
,
the tide looped breast knot reefed again

, , , ,
A d pride is l ast is li ke a chil d alone

sea- ,
By magnet winds t her bli d moth er drawn

n , ,
Bread and m ilk m a i n i a t othl ess town

o n ,
ns o n o
Everyth i g tur on th referen f h i her pride It c uld b

Caitlin the po m had her name i the ti tle as a p ssible antec dent
n ns e ce o er n . o e
But it no long r has Did he drop th e title to forestall t narrow an

e n o e .
i n wh ich case the poem becomes th

e . oo
interpretation? It could be l “ ”
natomy f an abstraction It could be in the first st nz a love s seas n

ov e, e
“ ’
a o .
, a , o
°
75
t hshat psis spring
, youth
bei g femini e but
spa n viril e years
or
later stan as
anch o d ton gu
support the
or the
th e
Of —
do
or re
”
e
( i )
c andidates
n n ,
z no t se
stanz as may refer to tongue and the

.
O r, the first he r of the two

the next three stanzas to C ait n is l ast I th nk makes the
,
she ”
of li Th i
ost i ter s t g poem and discovers in metaphors the re at s t ich
.
, ,
m in th e
ness It is at least worth t yi g as a wor i g hypothesis
n e g e r
. r n k n .
Du ing a sepa ation f lowing a qu arrel I m ake this poe m It is ol

a t e in which every stubb rnness produ cing m oment
r r .
im of rec ol
lection prevents my etic utterance My ton ue like a ship neith er

o -
is
un oading cargo at the dock sail ng the o e n b u t ied to a buoy
po : g
l i
in harbor It is a time when since th e l fe is a h oly
no r c a t
th e ( afli r mation o f i
thin g that tongue s pride in a craft an d moved an d illumi ated
.
)
by the great po t shap d poetry shapi g tr adition the p t s j in
art n
’
oneness with organic life the great rooted

e -
e -
n ,
oe oy
and custom
,
b lo sso mer
” ”
)
“
( th e spreading laurel his pride th at in creative aliveness h is
he transcends his mortal body is di m n hed to a tossed aside rag i is of
breath the spreading laurel of it i ni sh ed to a weed

-
,
,
and puf ed d mi — c ut f
away l e a andel on a poppy a ranunculus it is a time when this
ik d i
ton ue as ship is abandoned mast and crow s nest dow sail s
, , ;
(
’
( )
tat ered and wi dless either its bre as t l ne fouled th e buoy by
g n,
) i
the sh p s unchecked circling its skin rock punctured the l e
t n ,
-
on
i
’
( in
hasaving parted and the first in pride sh all be last a derelict helple s
or -
) ( )
womb
a chi d is draw by the wi nd s the breast
the
l
of
,
,
u imately the
n to ( and
,
lt
s
) sea .
In br ef Cait n s absence has sunk him both as man and as poet

i li
’
said the initial question the th rd stanz a is identical with

.
,
As w as of i
th at the first two C h omas s muse tongue Caitlin
,
of aitl n is sh e
”
i T
’
( )?
seems the bet er choice If the first two stanzas concentrate wh at has
: or
hrevea
app ned to o mas poet and from his poin t Of view th e next
t
Th
l what she h as d n to him as man and g ve the reason why
e th e
o
.
e
,
i
,
on
.
two
Her absence produ es in me conflicting emotions Sure of my i nno

cence I have a nettle s sting when tou ched fea ul my gu l t my
c .
of i
’
rf
gif tongues is that a cloth pigeon I see phon ness v rgins that
, ; ,
t of of . i : i
are not irgina seed earls great price ]; sea g rls of ; Prufro ck
’
i ( per
haps I sh l not see them anymore She always pervers e the
V -
p s -
al ) is
relucta nt sacrificial m aide n and th e of ma n fic nt s exu al
. :
fo reto ke ner g i
is as s ubbo n before m e as a rock before the suc k ng s e a
e
union sh e i
I s ee worlds g a n s and which she disinteg ates
; t r ;
in th e r i s of to r .
I need s ay th at I h ave iven my im agination full re n in his stan a

to g i t z ,
76 °
th e magical brew f life bubbling i its cauldron has turned liquid
solid pushed embryoni c root into fl ourishing tree and to this
O n
mortality added im mortali ty the bi d that flies from its nest in the
—
,
tree to i t column of renewal th e hand th at can clench and a ssassinate

,
r
can caress and create So stretching hands of f i th ( h wever l ame )

s :
and trusti g th e larger hope ( however faintly ) Th omas sees Nature

.
,
a o
red i tooth and claw exit hears th war drum throb no longer sees
n ,
Men my broth ers men th wo kers ever reaping s ometh ing new
n , e ,
“ ”
in short se s the terrible world as not terrible after all

, , e r ,
“
,
e so .
I have probably made more f Th o mas s littl e hint of T ennyson than ’
he did Nevertheless some of wh at Th omas appears to b saying was

o
.
, e
said quite clearly in the evolutionary sections f I M m i m

Now in the final stanza the pardoned peni tent makes his restitution
o n e or a .
Yet this I make in a forgiving presence And once more there is a .
problem f identity o .
Delivered sea my love f om h er proud place

Walks with no wound lightning in her fac s
,
nor
r
e .
Beari g in mind Thom as s rath er portent us description f hi birth and ’
death can my l ove be merely Caitlin? Si ce fu ther severances are

n o o s
“ ”
, n r
foretokened
And though m y love pulls the pale nippled air
P ides Of tom o row suckling i her eye
, ,
r r n s
a nd a forgivenes s Of her is in progress it could ve y well b But such a

narrowin g after th preceding three stanz as has th e quality f nticlim ax
,
r e .
Th al ternative i s to read my l ve as th at hu m a izi n g affi mation of life

, e , o a .
“ ”
in Th om as the poet prophet which had been de stroyed four s t anz as before
e o n r
and had needed to be resu r ected

-
And I see no Obj ctio n ( since th words of the stanza will be a

r .
eith er inte pretation ) t h rm onizin g th two co ntrapuntally thus gi i g

e e r
thsimultaneo
e po m its biog aphi cal interest and it phil ophical signific ance
u
e
r o
sly M n s nervou s yst m is so co nstit ted after all th at

r
’
a e
s os
”
,
v n
domestic hitches can color philosophical p mises

. a s e
re .
u , ,
Th un derhead has be n displaced by cu m ul u s ; m y love w alks wi th u t

peril ( hate gone from her eyes ) a sea delive ed from boi terousness ;
e o
Zephyrus follows Boreas And thou gh my l ve will suck pride in from

, r s
the very air abou t her I from a cl ud f pride forgivin g d f rgiv n

.
,
o
make th is poem
, ,
o o , an o e ,
78 °
Very little critical co mm ent has been devoted t this poem O ne ason
mitsayaubehorthatw itit isFindtinganiteasyimpossible
p em to read with the same spirit that
no
to survey the whole the honest

o
o . re
critic will forg picking t the slight faults s ince in their context th ey
t r .
,
mthatay lapped
no t b faults at all Th obtrusive line Hi s mother had a tongue
o
up m ud taken alone m ay se m merely vulgar and melo

e
ou
. e
“
, ,
dramatic ; at work with its fe llows it might be true and trench ant Such
, e
astrike
critic m ay hesitate t t speak favorably f lines phrases that
his fancy t wishing to have i ferred from his approval an u nder
, oo , o
,
o or
.
standing th at he lacks
, no n
I d not know that I hav read the poe m that Th omas wrote but
.
I have read a whole p em a poem intense dramatic ingenious p y h l gi

o e ,
cally searchi g carefully organi ed poem inte l i gently dealing with

o , , , , s c o o
n ,
z , a
a significant subject and containing lines as good as his best The

are clevernesses that do not ring true limp t e d and uneating silence
. re
”
Destruction brays th rough the jawbone and the li ke ; repetitions Of

-
r e ,
“
himself in th e pyramid passage ; overly complicated metaphors in

.
,
“ ”
the first two stanz as ; and melodramatic utterance as in the seventh

-
,
as , as
Yet the po m succeeds as an organized whole and th e survey Of the whole

, .
e ,
renders less conspicuous the faults and more satisfying the virtues .
Into
D wn H d her Lying o ea
Ohomas
f the first version of these three prosodically intricate line stanzas
wrote to Watk ins I ve never worked harder on anything maybe “
23- ,
T
’
hard I made such a ifficult shape He st ll h ad

: ,
Watkins d ( i
ork do m ainly with the conclud ng ten lines which underwent total
too : ,
too .
,
w i
revision before he
to , ,
satisfied was
He asks Watkins a title himself suggests Modern Love saying
.
,
fo r , , ( ,
It is a poem about modern and then gives a brief descript on Of i

th e poem s theme ’
:
All over th world love is b ing betrayed as always and a mill ion
years h ave t calmed the uncalcul ated ferocity f e ach betray l
e e ,
th e terrible loneliness afterwards Man is denying h is partner m an

no o a
wom an and whores wi th th whole night begetting a monstrous

or .
or
brood ;
hbedng onWatkinsd ay th e brood wil l t die when the day comes but will
t th e bre a st and th e part s and sq u ee ze his partner
o ne
e
no
,
a o t f ou o
.
( p , .
Stanford s comments ’
(pp . 1 1 9- 2 0) th at it celebrates wh at the song

79
writers n icely refer to as nigh t f l ove and th at it re s embles
Lawrence s poe m about th e m ating f wh ales d t apply
’
o ne o
f the poe m ri s es upon T h o m a s an d C aitl i n in b e d

o o no .
Th curtai h
sleeping dreaming sometimes moaning cry ing t h e thinking b ut
e n o , s e
hsubject
er himself lovers in gener al and f a poe m to be written the
ou
, ,
or , a o
No man s woman s love he think s i focused e xclusively upon

—
, , o on
’ ’
th e pa tner ; present conscious pro miscuous desire and me mory f e arlier

. or , , s
loves m ake such focu s impos s ible If these are h idden in th e s ub on s cious
r o
th ey will appear drea ms M an th e h eaven he aded who dis covered

. c ,
love is still simultaneou sly the i mpelled sea botto m animal wh must
as .
-
, ,
b etray it O f such thought s h e ma d e thi s poe m

sex - -
, , , o
. :
Into her head th rou gh closed eye and pillowed e ar came his enemie s
her dream lovers ; to th beast full ark f her mind a fired p dov
,
brought t peace bu t a man Fro m the dark

-
e -
o -
u e
f her subconscious
Of huma origin ) u nbridled fl ood d her m ind ;
no . sea o
( a ripple f th
her daytim e decoru m br a ched l iterary and his to ric a l figu re s
o e sea n , sex e
strangers noti ced in passing the city slicker taking h er like a country
o , ,
girl be h ind the barn all possessed h er during the night ; she wa s
,
to speak a tra mp abroad on th e Isle f Man m ade pig blind by

, ,
Cheri ceannuptial
ch a m s ; l i ke Eve knowing her nak edness she is parted from
-
so ,
o ,
bower to wa nder down/ Into a l ower world to th is

r r ,
“ ” “
,
Obscure/ And wild f Ed lik potential ”
II un- en
O e .
Her husba nd m a de aware by her m oans Of her dre ams lies beside her
poisoned by jealou sy perh ap s pros ly expressing it h is faith sh at
, ,
( i )
while a b u l like lover se mb ling her e rliest a d le s cent se x
,
te red , l
partner whether re im ag n ary th e above all thers e xcite
-
re a o
( al o r i
a husband s jealou sy lies with h er Sh e cries loo in g like an
o ne O to
( k
’
)
angelic D sd emo n a l ud e nou gh to be heard by th e h ich m a d
. out
) (w
her an animal attest g th e love s in wh ich her husb and h ad
e o sea e
) in
part he lies alone when s he p ticipates in her n igh mare black mass
, to no
henco
u m iated becau s e he h as no part in her uncalcu ate d bu t fe o i us
u
;
il
nters with the masked prie s t i n th e commu nion th e
, ar
l
t
of
r c o
two
,
backed beast
I II
Human rational individual im agin ative they in
.
l e
( ) lie b ed ik two
the sh or part the beach but indepe ndent ntit
, , ,
sandgrains o n of ies
but the ide n ight de humaniz es them every aspiring bu t s ea held
e— , e
t of
suhell utters this tru th there is no lov nly s ex in th e s ea Of

— - -
;
th e
nconscious she bird ye arns the h awk her m ate ye a ns : e, o ,
. Th e - for ; r for
80 °
tom orrow s flight Of betrayal Each g b l d i the meadow is s imi
’
l ly moved is similarly separated from fellow b l ades s im ilarly think s

. rass a e n
th e grass th other side of th fence greener ; each stone is imil arly

-
ar , ,
earthed away fro m the lark song f l ve Th hu sband l one an d

on e e s
agonizing l am ents in the only t ue night th at of the soul 0 my

-
o o . e ,
a
“
r —
:
love lies open to the dream visitor t th ni ght air ; t seeking

,
him and with none to defend her in ocent th ou gh faithless ( bec au se

as -
as o e -
no
in the sea s chains ) h is caught between Eros Claudius and A g pé

,
n
’
Hamlet sin e though Love i impossible wi thou t sex it i betrayed

, s e -
a
by it And the brood of her whoredom will t di when the day

, c s , s
comes but will hang on to the breast and the p arts and squeeze ( her )
. no e
partner t Of b d ou e .
”
Unquestionably th ere are fl aws in th is interpret tio n I am particul arly

dissatisfied with the last ten lines O migh t h ave thought th at appl icatio n
a .
to the earlier version would assist but as co mparison f the tw reve als
. ne
th ey have littl e i co mmon

, o o ,
n :
Fro m th m adhouses and menageries

OfThjealouslovenightf wouncage
e
m th e grain and bird

en and men
Scrapes and sings denied in them
e o
Th filth and secret f death is sweeter with th

e th an these
o e sun
i constancies
A loveless m an mourns in the sole night
n ,
Betrayed will his love betrayed find an eye a h air t hate?

.
Will his lovely hands let run the daughters and sons f the blood?
or o
Will he rest his pulse in the built breast Of impossible gre at God?
,
o
Over th world uncoupling the moon rises up t no good

e o .
OInnocentliesbetween
alone and still
sh e
two wars
,
With incestuous secret brother in the seconds perpetuate

th e
th e stars
to
A m an torn up m ourns in sole night

,
th e
And the second comers th e severers the enemie s from the deep
.
Forgotten
sleep
dark rest their pulse and bury their dead in her fai hl e s s
.
,
, ,
In the former homas suggests th at her death is preferable to her

T
ndvocturnal fai hlessness And in contemplati g his
ances hateratandher apparently
t
mu
,
response he
rder as alterna ives religion I
. n own ,
( ) do
sense th is attitude in th e revis poe m Perh ap s a
a t to .
no t find (o r, , ) ed .
°
81
case could be m ade f the i cestuous secret brother s being death but ’ ”
I m ake no sense Of th is
or n ,
On the other hand the poem does recall lines from O h ll For .
example O thello s
,
t e o .
’
,
O curse of marriage
T hat w can call th ese delicate creatures ours
,
e ,
And not their appetites !

And Iago s If the balance f lives had t one scale of reason to
’
o o ur no
oise another f sensuality the blood and baseness of our natures would
conduct us to most preposterous conclusions but we have reason to cool
p o ,
unbitted lusts whereof I ta ke

:
raging motions carnal stings

this that you call love t be a sect scion T ho m as s roomful of snak es
o ur , o ur , o ur ,
” ’
is a reminder of O thello s cry

o or .
’
:
Swell bosom with thy fraught

, ,
F tis f aspics tongues !

or
’
o
’
And Thomas s made her limbs blind by luminous charms is not unlike
’
Shakespeare s ’
practi ed her with foul harms

c on c ,
Abused her delicate youth with drugs minerals

T hat wea ken m otion
or
Certainly the theme of lust inc nstancy jealousy and betrayal invites ,
o , ,
consideration of O h ll and H ml But I do not find that such considera

tion explains the lines in q uestion
t e o a et .
Without T homas s hints the most a ute reader could go far wrong on
’
this pa ked poem the seminal idea (at least its con lusion) is not an
,
c
—
c c
ordinary one He could wish that to permit going more nearly right
.
, ,
the hint had been expanded .
A Saint A bo ut t F ll o a
O n its first publication entitled Poem in the Ninth Month this piece
anticipates the J anuary birth Llewellyn in homas wrote to of 19 3 9 T
,
Watk ins about it

.
As to the big poe m nly provisionally alled In September — o c ,
called that at all nly because it was a te rible war month Im

’
at the moment very pleased with it more than with anything I ve done
o r —
shoc k I think you ll

,
this year Does Glory cracked like a

. fl ea
”
yo u?
’
82 °
it must ome there or some e q ually grotesq ue ontrast T h last
line of the 2 d verse might appear just a long jumble of my ld
see c ,
c . e
n o
'
anatomical cliches but if in the past I ve used burning brains , , ,

’ “
hair etc too loosely this time I used them as the only words i
”
.
,
— —
h
dead earnest Remember this i a poem written to a child about to be

born y know I m going to be a father in J anuary telling it
. s
’
—
ou
what a world it will see what horrors hells Th last four lines f ,
. e o
the poem especially the last but two may seem ragged but I ve
, , ,
’
altered the rhythm purposely ; y gentle must be very soft and “ ”
gentle the last line must r ar It s an optimistic taking everything

o u so
’
poem Th w most important words are C y J y T ell me about

,
o .
,
-
,
”
. e t o r o .
this please very soon I m surer of the words f this poem than f the
, ,
.
’
o o
words in y recent one I want mostly to know what the general

an .
effect f the poem is upon you (though f course you can criticize
as you like any detail)
o o ,
.
,
O f the three line stanzas the most ingeniously complicated is the

.
17-
first It is a variation Wordsworth s theme trailing clouds glory on
’ “
of
,
do w come / From God wh is home Since an Odyssey is involved

e o o ur .
”
,
Thomas has woven in echoes of the Homeric poem for example the : ,
shawl recalls Ino s scarf ; the unwinding of the woven wall Penelope s
’ ’
ruse ; song by rock the Sirens ; the sh ivelling fl ock Polyphemus

,
Unlike Th ] th saintly soul of this poem is not averse to mak ing the
,
r , .
e , e
jou ney ; yet he is unaware of what a fall is there to be expe ienced For
this homewa d loo king angel it is not so mu h farewell fare forward
r no t r .
r -
c as .
Th m a hievement in the first stanza is to have made a single solution

’
of the w chemi al constituents forward faring and backward look ing

o as s c
work ing in simultaneity rather than succession Contraries are not dis
t o c — - -
asso iated but assimilated Th process begins in the first sentence though
c . e —
here with flesh and spirit .
A saint about to fall ,
T h stained fl ats f heaven hit and razed

T the k issed k ite hems of his shawl
e o
We a fl esh and bl od pe son of dignified mien in the usual saintly

see o r
gown a prayer shawl ab ut his sh ulders standing upon a sea of glass “
like unto crystal B immediately the flesh vap izes the personality
, o o ,
”
. ut or ,
disappears the sea of glass be omes a dome of many col red clouds into
whi h the soul about to be born div es Un e ogni able as a human figure
, c -
o
(li k e O dysseus supp rted b y the s a f seen in the waves from a distance )
c . r c z
, o c r
it swims through spa e as though floating on a cloud or gliding

, ,
kite wings or angel wings (very like a trailing prayer shawl) This diminish
c on
- -
.
°
83
i g figure swi ms is arried f th e h rbor (h e a ven h ven) p st th e
rocks f th e bre kwa er Its voice i h e d expre s ing it gratit de th at it
n or c o ut o a - a a
is ee ing the l st of harbor d ho se d s hip y r d h earing th las t f

o a t . s ar s s u
-
s a an u an a , e O
On n lindist s greets ngwaveby prai

th e
r ck
aed t s
Th e w
Of the fawoven u n , o o ,
wl al
Of hi s her s hou e in sns ’

th e d
v s ng of music a sh work and th e chuck d b l
t s a ,
Th e ani hi th e l i p- e e s .
But homas so organi d a usions and fig res h at at th e sam e

T h as his ll t
i e hat have a pr a e a l o ki g back ard h ze u ,
t m t we ave a lo k ng is an d o n -
w , we o i
forward and a sense of danger S ren onnote pe l what Penelope i ri is
weav g and unweav ng is a w nd ng sheet for Laertes chucked bel s
. s c ;
”
in i i i -
; l
may del cately tapp d but l o iscarded And the s ene des ribed
be i d
is much the
e — as . c c
as termi n us ad q uemhat is omas s th e termi nus ab q ua— Th

’
houSimi the crotch of the squ awk ng s hores

as t ,
se in “
th e mud/ Of i
”
r double duty done by the ne xt i age

.
la sa nt pra ses is m . Th e i i
Th ewound down cou h of the bl od cou t g clo k n in
Behind a fa e h nd
—
-
g o c
c of a s
If th e cl ck run down here no cough no coun ng su m no i e

is is ti in tm
ere o y etern ty w th a wa sain ly fa es h ands rais d in a
o -
, t ,
—
, .
Th is nl i i ll Of an d
o rse th e cl c k
t c e
gest re p haps of farewe But for the saint ll of c is

as he w n s down th e steep path fro m h aven to e r h
u , er , .
,
u , o
wound i d
Arr v ed in the circle of mete rs as far for ngels below heaven as Etna s
up — a t
e
-
.
’
i (
top abov e e rth for men he sings a f rewe hymn to now nearly
o a
is ) ll his
nv sible bre h en washed in blo of La mb ready to enter one eyed
a , a
i i t r th e od th e ,
-
Polyph emu s s cav the eyes are already murdered

’
( b come not
“ ”
) and
Nom n but A n At the last juncture hungry for th e bread and wine
e e
ma of
th e heaven he has left he ac epts th e chaff and the vinegar and becomes
a .
,
th at p u zl g omb nat on of sh and sp rit a human e ng

, c ,
in i i fle i b i
omas s wor y about Glory cra ked i e a
z c ,
.
Th
’
wel found d “
lk fl ea
”
w as l-
l
r c e .
Th s ile do s not sust i nalysis Glory not in any respec

im ike is t fl ea-
s m l i g ess bl od suck g par sitic noted for th eir powers
e e an a .
( a l, W l in of
since th e c ack g a su ch a minor

n , o -
, a ,
leaping itch pr ducing ) And in of flea i s

atter ompare cathart c drama of slappi g a blood m
,
-
o . r
m ( th e osquito i fill ed )
th e i ge d es not square with what follows
c n -
,
ma o :
Th e sun le v d holy andl ewoods

-
a e c
Drivelled down to singei g tr e o ne n e
With a s b f black buds tu o
84 °
employing all the forces of nature translates you from solit ry peace
t vital action defying m ortality among the living
,
a
o , ,
.
My Head Hart a Ha i r s Foo t

’
If
N one seems to have li k ed this companion piece to A Saint About
O
-
Fall very much but probably no one so little as Robert Graves In

”
the course of a lecture he Offered a pound note to anyone wh could

t
o .
,
make sense Of the first stanza ,

o
If my head hurt a hair s foot

‘ ’
Pac k bac k the downed bone If the unp i cked ball of my breath . r
Bump on a spout let the bubbles jump t

Sooner drop with the worm of the ropes round my throat
ou .
T h an bully il l love in the clouted scene .
Mr Graves ch allenge w accepted but he h ad almost as little respect

’
for the interpretation as for the stanza and refused to pay Mr M J C

. as ,
H dg t of Pembr k e a member f the Camb idge English Faculty

“
. . . .
o ar o ,
o r :
He suggests that the child about to be bo n is here addressing h i r s
mother Th child c ies out that if he is to cause her y pain by his

. e r an
birth let him not be born at all If I were to hurt so much as a hair ‘
Of your head in process of birth push my downy but bony head bac k
, .
, ,
into the womb Birth is represented here as a violent movement

’
lik e a bouncing ball ; and the child s breath before birth is compared ’
to an unp icked bubble Therefore If even this soft bubble Of breath ‘
sh ould hurt y by bouncing on y ur spouting blood prick it and

r . :
ou o ,
let my life run out in bubbles And I would sooner be born hanged .
’
:
‘
with my navel string coiled around my throat than b ully y when

-
ou
I appear on a scene made wretched by baby louts or clouts on the

headT c
-
,
’
.
here are fl aws in this argum nt Th hair s foot misleadingly e . e

’
,
identical in sound to hare s foot is not a hair s root Also the physical ’
,
’
.
situation is blurred by the apparent contact of the baby s downy head

,
with the mother s hairy one d b y the description of the navel string
’
,
an -
as the worm f the ropes why ropes in the plural? And by the
‘ ’ ‘ ’
minetaphor
o —
f an unpunctured ball bouncing on the top of a spout

o as —
pleasure fountains ; how the bubble f breath could bounce the o on
fl w of lochial blood is not easy to see (blood is t mentioned in the

poem) And why should the unpricked bubble become bubbles ? And
o no
‘ ’
.
86 °
isth e infant experienced or ignorant? If ignorant h w can it anticipate , o
baby clouts and balls bouncing fountains ? If experienced how

can it ma ke so absurd a suggestion as that the mother should push
-
, on ,
it head bac k again to relieve her labour pai s ? And if it i so

s n s
considerate and saintly as Mr H dg t suggests why should it ever . o ar ,
turn bully ?
Th e general sense of the passage is perfectly obvious Th compassionate
fetus anticipating for his mother a difli lt labor says if my birth is
e
;
going t injure you in the slightest degree refuse the b irth ; if I a m

, cu , ,
asphyxiated before b irth don t give it a second thought ; I would rather

o ,
die th an with hard blows injure a sic k and loving person (or a love
,
brought by its nature to this unpretty pass) in th is place of rags and

bandages and physical pain
About th is there can be no question Th questions revolve about
.
T ho m as s m edical knowledge and his verbal gy mnastics Respect ing the

. e
’
former h w can the moth er keep th child in her womb ? What is meant
.
, o e
by the unpricked ball f breath passage ? And why does Thomas speak
“
o
”
f
“
when the umbilical is a single co d
”
?
answers all three questions

o rO
p es r
Wi lli m O b a i s s te tr cs
In very exceptional instances uterine contractions come on at

near term and after continuing for a variable time disappear without
or
, ,
leading to the bir h of the child Th latter then dies and may be
t . e ,
retained in utero for months undergoing m mmifi i or p f

T his is k nown
, u c at o n utre ac a
tion according as the membranes have ruptured

, o r no t .
as missed labor Flatau has recorded an extraordinary case in

which the condition persisted for fifteen years when the fetal bones
were removed fr m the uterus at autopsy
,
o .
Exceptionally as the result of compression of the prolapsed cord

, ,
premature separation of the plac nta much less commonly f t e , or o etan
i contraction of the uterus whether occurring spontaneousl y or fol

c
lowing the administration of pituitrin the supply f properly aerated

,
,
o
blood through the umbilical vessels may be entirely or partially cut ff

while the hild is still within the uterus O ccasionally a similar condi
O
c .
ti n m y be brought about by compression against the symphysis f a

cord which i wrapped around the ne k of the child while now and
o a o
s c ,
again asphyxia and even death may result when the head is on the
perineum owing to excessive retraction f the active segment of the
,
o
uterus with a consequent diminution i the area f placental attach

ment .
, n o
°
87
A s a res lt f the action f f th ese f actors th c hil d m ay t ke
its first breath while still i th e uterus i th lower portion f the
u o o any o e a
birth canal In the former case it m ay draw a certain qu ntity f

n or n e o
m niotic fluid into its lungs and when respiration begins wh il e the
. a o
haspirated
a
ead i in th vagina a certain amount f mucu s is liable t be

,
I eith er event the needed oxygen is t Obtained and th e

s e ,
o o
res lti g air hunger leads t increased respiratory efforts whi ch

. n no ,
naturally f av ai l Gradually the accumul ation Of carbon d iox ide

u n o , are
ansucdh otahpronounced
er excrementitious materi als i th fetal org nism leads t
o no .
decrease in th e i ritability f th medull that

n e a o
eventually the atte mpts at respiration cease the inte v l s between the
r o e a
pulsations Of the heart beco me longer and longer and th child d ie s

,
r a
fro m asphyxi a
, e
Th e um funis extends fro m th e n vel f th chi ld

bi ical cord l
th placent a Its e x terior presents a d ul l w h ite
, or ,
a o e
t th fetal surface Of
marteries
o
oist appearance and through it shimmer the u mbilical ves sels tw

e
and vein
,
e .
—
o
,
A cord frequently presents a tw isted appe ara ce th e coili g

a
usually being from left to right A the vessels are u sually longer th an
n , n
the cord they are frequently folded upon themselves thus giving ri s e
. s
t nodulations upon th su face which are desi gnated as f alse knots

, ,
o e r .
Now for th e verbal gymnastics One f Tho mas s most characte istic ’
tricks i to modify reverse a cliché sometimes merely t f deligh t i n

. o r
word play but Often t achieve a shock and il lumin ation co mparable t
s or , ou o
th at f successful metaphor Th cliché here is I wouldn t hurt a hair

-
o o
“ ’
f yo u r head which means f course I wouldn t h rt any p art Of

o . e ,
” “ ’
your body even inconsiderable a part as a h air Reversed the phrase

o , , o , u
”
becomes I wouldn t hurt a foot of your h air wh ich extends the original
, so .
,
“ ’
figu re from hair of your h ead to a foot of a h a ir Of your head We c an

, ,
“ ”
play furth er with the phrase In the next line is the exp essi n b all f
.
msuggests
y breath B ll recalls f in the first line b h vi sually and aurally
.
”
a
breadth Since f is a measurement as well a part f the

“ ”
oot
.
, rea t
r o o
bOfodya hairth sfibreadth

, erst line can read li ke th is If my head injure y to th e extent
’
.
Beyond this there is the implicit rabbit s foot

oot
:
“
as
ou
“ ’
o
in h air s foot which signifying good luck is antithetical t ill love

,
“ ’ “
in th e last l ine leads to th snared woods f the succeeding stanza and

, , , o
“ ”
hthere Offers the reading If my birth prove unlucky In brief though

,
“
e o ,
fetus m ay be a gentlem an he is at lea s t th e kind f good sport th at

, ,
e no t , o
88 °
thing quite different It must the efore be that he proposes to adopt the
. r
secretive methods of the poa hers but removing snares instead f setting
them In the next line this anti snare setter becomes a fighting ock with
c , o
little taste for the fight I training a c k has each m rning

.
- -
c
. n half ,
oc , o ,
an hou s dan ing scratching and shadow sparring alone in the little p
’
in front of his hutch and once a wee k a fi minute b ut with another

r c , , , en
cock with gloves of hamois leather on the spurs And unbloodied spa
, , v e- o
”
ring is as much as this coc k (w h m y also be visualized as a boxer a

C . r
o a or
wrestler) has a taste for .
At this point T homas drops his sporting terminology but not before ,
it has give him his money s worth He has alluded b xing (ring fight
,
glove lamp as eye du k rush crouch ropes clouted strik e) ; football

n . to o , ,
( foot ball pa k bac k d wned ) ; t ac k ( sp int jump hammer ) ; rowing

, ,
c , , , , ,
(bump ) ; tennis (lo v e ) ; bowling ( st i ke ) ; and so on T here are also puns Of

, ,
c , ,
o r r , ,
a diffe ent o der su h as prick c c k ball T hese latter bridge the gap
r .
r r c ,
o ,
.
between the sporting vocabulary and the physiological facts which m co
p ise the matter of the stanzas T hese stanzas it is clear would have served
r .
, ,
Addis n well in his essay upon False Wit

o .
T h third stanza repeats the adju ati n of the first adding onl y the
e r o ,
further suggestion (in the last line) of an induced miscarriage T h tone

be omes more serious as the word play slac k s ff Th only notable pun
. e
c -
o . e
is in the observation Th bed is a ross plac which prepares f the

, e c e,
”
or
larger on epts that are to be used in the mother s reply (as in ’ “
direction lik e an arc anticipates Noah s fl ood in the next

c c are ,
“
Bend ,
” ’
stanza ) In her reply the mother accepts G i 3 1 6

. enes s ,
:
I w uld not ex hange my sorrow agony for a labor such as Mary s

o c or
’
or a magical begetti g i which pain w prevented by talismanic bits

n n as
of the Host ; I would not be the mother of a pearl T here is no more .
escaping the thrust of birth than there w escape from the fl ood in as
the days when all flesh had corrupted his w y upon the earth
“
a .
”
(T hought f the amni n however absurd in the face f T homas s

’
o o ,
o
rheto i al fl urish is ines apable here )

You have made your gesture of independence and compassion ; like
r c o , c .
a g ain of orn you have enjoyed your protection lik e Christ in his
r c ,
three d y sleep you have been translated ; now y must face the
world and take up the destined cross There is a m ansion f life and
-
a ou
. o
a mansion of death both houses appointed f all living ; you must

kover
eep your app intments Y must fall into the air and live give
placenta for breast You are neith er to die nor to stay enwombed
o . ou
or
T h stone bars your entry t the sepulchre and your life mak ing
. .
-
e o ,
life begins .
90 °
Watk ins comment to T homas that the mother gets all the good lines
’
i q uite true T h mother exercises ingenuity in the same degree as the

s . e
child but he s is intellectual rather than verbal Her forte is paradoxical

rew rking Of Scripture where his is sports page pun ing T his may have
,
r .
o -
n .
been intended a means f differentiating character If s me little

as o . so , o
Of the curse may be thought to have been taken ff the Opening stanzas o .
But not enough t salvage them o .
It does not seem possible that the initial conception of a dialogue between
fetus and mother could under any circumstan es have b en made to c e
succeed unless the child were Christ and the poet a medieval believer
It is something like hav ing D nald Du k ma ke love to Ca men Miranda
.
o c r .
T have gilded so festered a lil y with ingenuities w to ensure merely

failure but absurdity Only the last stanza can be excepted from the charge
o as no t
of C l l di m R emoved from its ntext and ta ken alone it might

.
have a usefulness as an epitaph of superior q uality

ev e an s . co ,
In Co un try Sleep
For D ylan Thomas says Stuart Holroyd the greatest imaginable
felicity lay in never emerging from the pristine state of unconscious and
, ,
instinctive par icipation in the life of nature He sai d much in

t . so o ne
of his last poems I C y S l p where the phrase count y sleep

n o un tr ee
‘
r
’
represents the condition f man b f re the dawn of consciousness

, ,
o e o .
( C as e b o o k ,
his i not quite the fact Th ountry sleep f which Th omas writes
T s . e c o
i that f a little girl a dear babe that sleepest radled by his side
“ ”
N m ore than Coleridge does T homas suggest that his child is or

s o , c .
o m rec o
mend that she bec me an a imal What he hopes f her is two emergen
o n . or
c es :first from superstitious fears in solitude a consciousness f

, to o
“
Religious meanings in the forms f Nature an awareness that I o
”
'
Nature there is nothing melancholy in order that with the night ! h ]

,
s e
may associate Joy ; and second an emergence from this relatively

,
”
elementary awareness to the more sophisticated recognition that Death is

,
not an external enemy but a coope ative pa t of nature s constituted order ’
He therefore undertakes two jobs f exor ism O ne i comparatively

r r .
easy Fear f the mysteri us c untry dark a fear heightened b y the

O c . s
. o o o
evocation in g im fairy tales f primitive man s precarious days and

,
’
argue to be foundationless Moonli ght is mo nlight is

,
r ,
o
nights he
moonlight ; there are ravening s kulkers in the dell She need not now
,
c an . o
no
fear nature and its creatures ( imaged by the wolf ) nor later the
.
°
91
f ightening natural m anifestation f sex th tusked prince
r o e
Th is last he only mentions as i fitting given the girl s age i ’
passing But the matter of nat re s innocence is less easy t es tablish ;

—
s ,
-
n
’
after all the girl h no d ubt encountered evidence s f what seem s

. u o
be the murderous rapacity f the anim al world Animal behavior

,
as o o
t
o o .
will have to be justified

f justification is his usual one Adopting as h is
.
T homas s method
’
thesis the co mprehensive generalization th at Th cou ntry is holy h e

o .
“ ”
Christiani ze s its i habitants Th facts of country l ife are given such a n

.
e ,
aura of divinity that their real ( apparent ) gru esomeness disappears

n . e
Th blood Of the rabbit or chicken which smears the earth become s a

or .
liquid f su h quality that both fox and tree revere nce it Thom as s
e
’
dau ghter is learning the lesson of Th ] O r even ( if we consider righ tly

o c .
the nightbird the rain and th spilt blood ) th e les s on f I J h 5 7 8

e .
, , e o o n ,
-
For there are three that bear record in heaven the ,
Father the W rd and the Holy Ghost and these

,
o , :
three are o ne .
And there are three that bear witness in earth the ,
spirit and the water and the blood and these three
, , :
agree in o ne .
O ne gets the impression as a matter f fact th at when h e wrote th is

po m T homas had b en reading the late books f the New Testament
,
O ,
and that his mind was full Of the Last Thi gs F example the poem
e ,
e o
opens with Tho m as s advice not to believe fear fai y tales In 11 P

n . or ,
’
or r . e ter,
1 1 6 I Ti m hy 1 4 and I Tim h y 4 7 similar advice i given T

quote the last But refuse profane and old wives fables and exercise
, ,
ot , , , ot , , s . O
“ ’
thyself rather unto godliness Since the country is h oly the child is
, ,
”
.
,
told to bide in that country kind Th verb abide occu s a do en

“
.
”
e
“ ”
r z
o r so times in the second and third chapters of I J h and with great o n
point far as the meaning f the poem is concerned in ve se 28 Of

so o r
Chapter II :
And w little children abide in him ; th at when h e

no , ,
shall appear w may have confidence ,

e
It is the Lord who is to appear and as a thief in th night as is , e ,
attested by M h w 2 8 4 3 ; I Th l i 5 2 ; 11 P 3 1 0 ; and
3 3 and 1 6 15 O f these the verse in P
a tt e , , ess a o n ans , , e ter, ,
R l i
eve at o ns , , , is most explicit , .
,
e ter :
B t the day f the Lord will come

u a Thief in the night ;
o as
in which th h avens shall pass away with a great noise

e e ,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth ,
also and the works that are therein shall be burned up .
92 °
own faith as much as the girl s Contemplation f th last things does ’
. o e
not ne essaril y bring joy As Stanford says

c though the p em . : o
appea s to assure us that Death shall have no dominion there is ‘ ’
much sadness in the wo k as f

r ,
dwelling on an imminent farewell r ,

o o ne .
”
Whether he has forebodings of the world s end ( as a B ible reader under ’

-
going the London bombings must unavoidably have had ) or f the o
girl s death or merely of the appr aching end of the girl s childhood
’
is not materi al I any of these cases howe v e admonish m nts in favor

,
o
. n ,
r, e
of f i th hope and love as opp sed fear desp ir and lust would be
in order and acceptance of life or death in i nocence and trust r quired
a , , ,
o to , a , ,
n e
He does f course relate his T hief to sn w rain ha il mist d w

.
falli g star apple seed fl oating cloud and earth s m vement ( No

, o ,
o , , , ,
e ,
’ “
n , ,
o
death more but still the image that p rsists is of a house

,
breaker mas ked d armed an aberration f m the natu al course f

e
,
an ,
ro r o
events
For the educati n of his daughter he might hav e h sen a mo e
.
inn cuous im age For the adult reader of hi poem it suffices Thomas
o c o r
has gi ven Death ( or T ime ) the paradoxical nature f Ch ist w h put

o . s ,
.
his yoke upon the heavy laden to give them rest and wh the p ince f
o r ,
o
-
o, r o
p a e came with a sword Death comes to steal and will continue to

e c , .
come ni ght without end until that time when the plunder i rightfully ”
s
his ( Until that time h and her faith will be literally

. But s e
hi s Th ief s coming is a carrying out rather than a violation of the l w ;

’
death is a losing not a breaki g of h cir le

t -
a
c , n t e c .
Th primary emphasis throu ghout the p em is upon unity in variety

saga of pray r ties p st with f ture ; the saga fr m me men to
e o .
“ ”
Th e e a u o r
seraphim links the highest with the lowest ; the saga of prayer
” “
the vei of birds the Pastoral beat of blo d thr ugh the laced
,
“ “
leaves the Music of elem nts image the union of spirit al animal
n ,
o o
”
veg table and mineral ; the four elements u ite in a music as the se v en
, e u , ,
e , n
spect al colors unite in whiteness ; the g ll and the foal are in harmony
with thei environments An d finally the wound in the gi l s side her
r u
’
sensiti ve mo tal life f the sea sal ty go s round the sun wh ile the
r .
, ,
r —
r — o e
, , ,
ea th t ns in h heart and the Thief waits for its cessati n w h teaches

r ur er —
o ,
o
( G eat universal T eacher ! ) Himself in ll and all things in himself

“ ”
Ov er Sir J ohn s Hill and I the White

r a .
Th is poem al ng with
,
’ ” “
, o n
G iant s Th igh intended form a part of a long poem to be called

’
w as to
In this poem the earth is dead and its former
,
I nC y Ho un tr eav en .
i habitants w heavenly h dg wm call out t one another to tell

,
“
n ,
no e ero en, o
what the y remember what they sense in the submerged wil derness
and on the exp sed hai sbreadth of the mind what they feel trembling
,
on the nerves f a nerve what they know in their Ede ic hearts f

o r ,
O ,
n , o
94 °
that self called place They remember pla es fea s loves exultation
misery animal joy i gnorance and mysteries all w k n w and do
-
. c ,
r , , ,
not know ( P 1 7 9 Q i E ly O M i g )
, , , e o
. .
,
u te ar ne o rn n .
It w to hav e been a p m f happiness an affi mation of the beautiful

and te ible worth of the Earth B the poem w nev er c mpleted and
as oe o ,
r
”
these three parts are b st taken as sepa ate poems As Th mas said
rr . ut as o ,
e r . o :
I do not expect that a first hearing of the th ee separate po ms I

gi ve y idea of h w and whe e they will
r e
am going read
e ventually ta ke their pla es in that l fty pretenti us d wn earth
to c an an o r ,
and into the s crets optimisti ludicrous kn ck me down mo ny

,
c ,
o ,
o ,
o -
to -
scheme I do not y know m yself their relev ance to the wh le

- - —
e , c, ,
o - —
o
h ypothetical st ucture But I do know they belong to it

. et o ,
r . .
~
95
I S ee the Boys of Summ er
his poem h been inte preted by W S Merwin ( T dl k 2 3 7 ) as

T as r . . e oc ,
a negative view f life one which presents d m in the very moments “
of man s euphoria and by Elder O lson as a poem of affirmation in

o , oo
’ ”
which the boys of summer achieve a universal view of space and time
,
Derek Stanford seconds Merwin In all three sections the note of

.
steril ity f self destruction and perversity is st uck Lita Hornick has
:
”
, o -
, ,
r .
not summed up the whole poem but her readi g of the line Man in ,
n
“
his maggot s barren as meaning sterile man is envisioned as already

’ “
dead and digested by the worm suggests an ag ment with Stanford ”

ree .
E Glynn Lewis somewhat betwixt and b tween finds the fi st section

.
, e ,
r
to be concerned with creation and the second with decay and the ,
third section to be a synthesis of these dialectically opposed aspects “

.
”
( T dl k p
e oc .
W Y T indall giving the theme of the poem as the life cycle from
,
. .
,
conception to maturity and finding that the boys are ruined because ,
conception is the beginning of d eath sees the boys successively as cells , ,
embryos and adults R N Maude places them in the substratum f

,
. . .
“
o
matter and energy conducting the natural processes in Objects very close
to those mysterious forces within the molecule that produce mutation
,
( is not their father the uncertainty principle ? ) and govern the metabolism
f the uni v erse In short the boys symbolize the pot ntiality for change
o
i
n a ll processes of nature
.
( E y i C i i i m IV
literal level that is as b ys they are he says gainsayers cosmic
—
O n their
,
o —
ssa s n r t c s ,
e
, , ,
upids being of summer they go against summer as Cupid had

,
‘ ’
c : , ,
no mercy on his mother .

”
A reading f Thomas s short story A Prospect of the Sea assists ’
toward characterizing the boys of summer on a somewhat more human

o
lev l In it a boy lies on his bac k in the corn on a summer day giving
e .
,
his imagination rein Later he encounters and somewhat frightened

,
.
, ,
has sexual relations with a girl After the experience the b y has a
summer vision i n which he comes out f love through a wind full f
.
, o
“
turning knives and a cave full of fl h white birds on to new summit

o o
standing li ke a stone that faces the stars blowing and stands no ceremony
es -
a ,
from the wind a hard b y ang y on a mound

se a In his vision he o r .
sees from ice field to i field from sea rims to sea centres and deep
,
into the history of man He stood on a slope wider than the living
ce , ,
ro m of the wo ld d h w p l ki d b h i d hi h ld
. no
before the story ends the boy is forced to leave Once upon
o r ,
an t e t o o es sse e n s s ou ers .
“
B ut ,
a time the lure of love and imagination for Do not adventure y

more the demand f morality and reason Th story starts in inno
,
”
,
o
,
. e
an
9
cence progresses t experience d ends with a n imag f the Flood
and th e Ark into which fl y a gre n leaf bearing dove and raven
,
o , an e o
Th b ys Of summer may b tho u ght f as hard a n gry deep and far

e - -
a .
,
seeing aware ( perhaps only intuitively ) f the need to synthesize

e o e o , ,
- -
dialectical opposites Here Blake and Law nce both favorites of Thom as
,
o
apply B la ke s Without contraries is

. re , ,
’ “
Progression could serve ”
the epigraph f this poe m And L wrence s insistenc upon pola ity
. no ,
’
parallels Th m as s thought For exam ple

as or . a e r
’
o . :
T here i a great polarity in life itself Life itself i dual And the d u ality
s . s .
is life and death And death is t just shadow mystery It i the

. no or . s
negative reality of life It is just what we call Matter and F rce . o ,
among other things .
(F i f h U i p antas a o t e nc o nsc o us, .
Hconjunction
e bel eved in sex marriage But beyond this he wanted a further
i
where m an had being and woman had be ng pure
.
,
i two
beings each constituting the freedom of the other balanc ng each
, ,
i
other like two poles of one force lik e angels or two demons
, ,
two
He wanted to be with Ursula as free as with him self single and clear
, ,
and cool yet balanced pola ize with her

,
m erging th e clutching
the mingling of love was b come madly abhorrent to him
, r d . Th e
,
, ,
e .
( Wo men i n Lo v e , Chap .
Lawrence is always insisten t upon the individual s discovering an d ’
mchildaintaining
m his w identity And t only in the love situation Th
ust break with his parents so that he m ay Absolutely act according
o n . no
“
. e
to ! his] w true spontaneous feeling Th parents imposition f ’
any idea] upon the child especially what Lawre nce calls the love
o n . e o
“
and benevolence ideal the official ideal f the bourgeoisie emphasizes

,
”
, o ,
the spiri tual mode of life pole t the exp nse of i polar
complement the physical S the great lumbar ganglion which is the
— o ne —
a e ts
“
sensual passionate pride and independence this ganglion

, . O ,
clue to
is atrophied by suppression ( Qu otes from F i pp 5 9
o ur ,
In ”
such circumstances the child t save himself mu st make his break from
. antas a, .
parents teachers social codes and Official philosophers He must grow

, o
uapdestructive
on h i w ach generation m ust grow up its w A d this is
,
s o n—
,
as well as a constru ctive process involving the overthrow

e
,
on o
.
n . n
f B la k e s U i Schoolm aster f souls great Opposer f chang

,
’
dread form f Certainty

o r zen, o ,
o e
”
It is such an understanding that the boys Of Thomas s poe m seem to

o .
me t be expou ding In the first fou r stanz as an Edwardian Victoria

o n .
, or n
100
conventional pattern lapses into a time clock p unching deadness in which - -
moon and midnight lose their life in abstraction That is if received

ideas ( the poor we have always with ; there have alw ays b e n wa s )
.
,
are not challenged they move agedly into a wintry fixity ( the mind as
us e r
closed and narrow a bell tower ) and with a monotonous non c eative
sameness we g through the same ld motions ( Cf Lawrence W m
as -
, ,
-
r
T h white races leaving the arctic n orth behind them th vast

, o o . .
,
o en
i L
abstraction of ice and snow fulfill a mystery of ice destructive knowledge
n o v e: e , , e
-
, ,
snow abstract annihilation And Blake ( N Natural

-
Th .
” “
O
“
e
bounded is loathed b y its possessor Th same dull round even f a . e o
u niverse would soon become a mil] with complicated wheels

, .
T hese boys of light are dark d niers in three senses in their opinion
they deny the wintry dar kness described above ; in Mortimer Street s
e : ,
’
they are destitute f moral light ; in Th mas s they are deniers still in the
,
’
o o ,
dark but by virtue f their denials showing promise f achieving the light
o o .
What they propose is to direct attention to the interaction of opp sites

f polar accord T hey will reve al the death i mplicit
o ,
t establish the fact

in the healthy woman the new life in the death spasm of sexual l ove
o o .
“ ”
-
, .
They o ffer as example the debt paying drowned who fill and invigorate -
the throu gh the efforts f the worm wh undoes the fibres of the animal
sea o o
bones so that other forms of life may sprout p the worm gnawing at
once alive itals as Welsh miners ( boys of light ) dig in the earth s bowels
u —
dead vegetable m atter t give warmth and light to human being

-
V
for o s .
( Cf A d i h S ki T d p 1 1 7 which I am paralleling ) They

will call from the womb s good earth a scarecrow man or a hanged
. v entures n t e n ra e , .
, .
’
-
g d to b
o e
- -
Themselves bound by th e seasons bu t s u m m ery whatever the season

.
lan d creatures vigorous in their origins ( their lives sustained by

,
deaths ) they turn all things topsy turvy mak e the sea rise drop its birds
-
sea- sea
shift water int deserts seek artificial wreaths in growing gardens For
,
-
: , ,
Blake says ( A ll R ligi A O ) As none by traveling over known

o ,
.
,
lan
as
ds can find out the unknown So from al eady acquired knowledge

Man could t acquire more no
e o ns re
,
ne
,
,
r ,
But man does acquire more because an universal Poetic Genius exists .
And Blake continues Th R eligi ns Of all Nations are derived from each
“
Nati n s different reception of the Poetic Genius Experimentally see king

: e o
’ ”
ou t the unknown the boys cross pollinate Christian beliefs celebrate

o .
Merry Crucifixion and B l dy Xm ; w venereally they m ak e love

-
, ,
without the Xtian kiss ; now platonically kiss without the Dionysian love
oo ~
as no , ,
making
, ,
Th poles f sympathy and Of voliti n foreto k en a possible crossing

.
e o o .
Th Mortimer Street c itic however is not m ved He still sees the

e r , ,
o .
10 2
boys of summer in their ruin A superficial Observer he is aware only Of
what Bla ke called the Natural Man subject to destruction and misses the
.
,
Pe manent in the ! boys ] imagination T this the boys reply that if

,
“ ’
r . o
they remained as he has done in the magg t or larval state their lives
, ,
o ,
would indeed b barren B t they are prepared to alienate themselves from

that Win gless pouch dark past ( Cf Lawrence F i p 1 64 Child
e . u
“
,
-
. .
,
an tas a, . :
hood i a chrysalis from which each must extricate himself And the
s .
struggli ng youth maid cannot emerge unless by the energy of all his
or
powers ; he can never emerge if the whole mass of the world and the
tradition of love hold him T heir antag nist emphasizing heredi o ,
tary continuity minimizes the possibility f a radi al departure fr m the

, o c o
past But the boys have the last word they are not scions of the voiceless
non i fl mm b l Victorian bush but so to spea k Lions of fl aming fire
. : ,
“
—
n a a e , , , ,
raging around and melting the metals into living fluids ( Marriage f ” “
o
Heaven and their symbols not pacific honey and w but a re ax
revolutionary fl int and pitch .
Their achievement of self identity is signalized by the fruitful sacri -

,
fi i l meeting of the contraries T his is to the satisfaction f Th omas

whose rebellion like Blake s ta kes the shape of calling in questi n what
c a . o ,
’
, ,
o
the religious or conservative call Good ( the passive that obeys R eason ) “ ”
and Evil ( the active springing from

“
Not that he believes that
the boys have a hieved th new G od T hey are lik e Ursula in Th
c e o . e
R ainb o w :
In everything h w h grasped and grabbed to find the creation

s e sa s e
of the living God instead f the old hard barren form of bygone o ,
living Sometimes great terror possessed her Sometimes h lost

,
. . s e
touch she lost her feeling she could only k ow the old horror f the
husk which bound in her and all mankind They were all in prison
, ,
n o
.
,
they were all going mad .
But Ursula w the rainbow w that it was arched in their blood and
would quiver to life in their spirit that they would cast ff their h ny
sa , sa
covering f disintegration that new clean na ked bodies would issue to

, o or
a new germination And Thomas sees the poles f promi se kissing

o , , ,
they cross Th war may not be won but it is at least in progress

o
as . e ,
.
When On ce Tw ilig h t L oc ks N o L o ng er
the
As with the previous poem the initial problem i to determine the
d m i p
ra O lson s conje ture i simple man s spirit speak s
erso nae .
O
’
explaining how the idea f death originates Derek Stanford finds three
at s
,
c s
.
:
s
’
1 03
peak rs child mother and father which he sums up a Tiresias
like hum n t inity For Lita Horni c k th spea k er and his cre atu re are
S e , ,
as
“ ”
God and man and father and son are identical F rther the creature
a r .
, e
“ ‘ ’
ainppears
one : . u ,
t be at once the speaker s phallus and his (P S that

’ ”
the second stanza Th speaker is s aying th at he sent hi s ph allus

o so n . . O ,
hatis the sa(this

so n
m is a timeless act Of sex in which father and are involved

,
e time) scouting upon the body f the eternal Eve th at very

‘
e
’
so n
or
womb ( that globe itself ) in which the p aker (G d th e f ather) was

o ,
‘ ’
atoot findstimphae lattluseached

o ne
s when in the foetal sta te ( L i ) S ta ford

in the poem my ambassad r i stanz a i and th e “
s e
.
o
oc
or
. c t. n ,
poppied pic ktha k poppied suggesting both its colour and it s

, : o n s x,
‘ ’ ‘ ’
sleepy sated condition ( P 46 S t ford )

n
Since I have some diffi culty visu alizing these ambulatory phalluses I
. an .
have striven f a simpler more literal reading And I have added some ,
thing to Olson s brief st ate m nt

or , .
As I see it th e spe aker is a cre ator ; and hi s identity depends upon th e

e .
definition of the words globe and gal actic If these are taken as p
,
“ ” “ ”
sscale
enting the e arth and the Mil ky Way then it i s a cre ator the co smic
. re re
T h i s creative spirit t yet creative re s t s i n a kin d Of p a rti al

, on
anesthesia It ( he) may be compared to a vessel whose wo m geared no

.
, ,
crews are kept i operative till th e locks pen t l et in the se a and raise
-
. or r
the water level making progre ss (useful work) po ss ible

s n O o
It is ( t discard the m etaph or ) the God who s id Let there be ligh t

-
.
,
“ ”
( in ste a d f twiligh t ) ; wh c lled th e light Day and th e darkne ss h e

o a ,
“
called Nigh t thu s creating Tim e ; who m ad a fi m m t ( which wa s

o o a ,
Heaven ) t divid e the waters from th e waters and said Let the waters
e r a en
” “
uSnderheaven
the heaven b gathered unto place and let the d y l n d appear
o
earth and the seas were created and day and ni ght with sun
e o ne ,
, ,
r a .
”
“
mforoonmedandmanstarsf; the
O
and G d said let us make m an in our image and

, ,
dust f the grou nd and breath ed into his nostrils

o ,
“
,
,
,
( O ne re m embers the long worm f a finger in Mic h ael

o o ,
th breath of life
angelo s representat ion that spark s Adam to life ) Thus earth furnishes
e . O ,
’
the st ff of which m an i formed and both are enlivened b G d the

.
,
to bring forth grass the other t become a living ] m acrocosm

u s ,
y o ,
o ne
“ “
m and microcosm ine x tricably united the heart f God beating

, o sou ,
in the ribbed earth f man

eoc o s
g , ,
o
And this Creator sent his living creature forth to reconnoiter the new
.
made earth
S much for the fi st tw stanz as N w if God is the speaker the
.
following stanzas can be read as an histo ical su rvey Man in due season
o r o . o , ,
arrived at the civilized acceptance f light and life which h as come to be

r .
called Apollonian But he tu ned from Apollo from th grain rich sun
o
-
. r , e
1 04
fo ls Of v ision in the back that is delude render indecisive parasitic
o , ,
and volitionless those wh might otherwise act

, ,
Th omas s fifth sta za is a general comment u p n the horrendous dre m

o .
f the fourth Sleep he says is li k e a ship

n o a
o . the active sea f time Th

, , on o . e
work of the ship s propellers ( the tidal movement of the sea of time )
’
or
loosens and brings to light the dead bodies caught in the motionless
f the tomb Th ship logs the fact f death But it does n ot take note f
sea
o . e o . o
( or at least is s ilent about ) the equally si gnificant fact f the ascension f o o
the spirits of the dead in a new form of life

What the sleeper sees is what Peter s ghost ( in Th Visitor A d
.
’
e , v en tures
i
n t e h Sk i T d pp 1 1 6 standing on a green globe f soil sees
n ra e, . o
”
in the valley rats and weasels setting their teeth in the cattle s throats
,
’
th en flies coming up lik e a f g to nibble at their dead sides ; then the worm
: ,
and death beetle at the fibres f the bone But Peter s ghost sees what
-
o .
’
the sleeper f the poem is blind to

O h blood that had fl owed fl owed : t e
over the ground strengthening the blades of the grass fulfilling the wind
, ,
planted seeds in its course into the mouth of the spring , .

”
T homas s allusion to the spirits Wh p riscope through fl owers to

’ “
the ky sounds very much lik e Lawrence wh believes ( F i p 2 22 )

o e
”
s , , o a n tas a, .
that the breathes in the fll sun of all that fades and dies ; that It e uenc e
” “
is the peculiar dynamic p larity of the living soul in every weed bug o or
or beast each one separately and individually polarized with the great
returning pole of the sun that maintains the sun alive
,
”
.
,
Stanza i resumes the first four stanzas Here Thomas ascribes to

s x .
trick or chance and not to the action of the stars man s falling asleep
” ’
And where in the third stanza the evil working stars assume shap in
.
the sixth man through black m agic materializes a carcass shape Th

, ,
-
e,
“ ”
, , , . e
shap d stars put man to sleep ; the carcass shape steals from man s heart ’
the creative spirit s juices I do not think a distin tion is being made It
e
’
man with his superstitious outloo k wh attributed to the stars their

. c .
w
deathly destiny shaping influence ; it w man wh wrought the deadening
as o
cleavage of body from spirit In each instance physi al form ( a reification )

-
as o
. c
assumes a supremacy over spiritual activity In the latter particularly man .

,
had so engrossed himself in c ntemplation of the dying body as to o
minimize the i i f revivifying blo d the blood which as Donne says

labours to b g t/ Spi it as lik e souls as it can ( In Th Visitor
v rtz o o , , ,
“ ” “ ”
e e r s, . e ,
Peter s ghost was wound invisible about the ghost of the blo d
’ “
o
Th spea k er then exhorts sleeping man to awa k en to disengage himself

e ,
from the spirit doping fantasy m nger and his falsehoods and to join the
- -
o
in the job of revitalization T h course is clear of obstacles ( cf Th

,
“
sun . e . e
Visitor N w under the roots and now on the tops f the wild trees
“
he and his stranger were racing against the cock O ver and under the
o o
10 6
falling fen es f th light they limbed and sh outed moony sucker
c o e c . s
and fools of vision have left the chase ; the rewards are there f the taking or
Th last stanz a carries o v e tones of the C mm i M if Au gustus

.
JParohnsy hbut saidfinding

e
as ( T dl k p 2 7 ) that T homas once joined th Com muni st

e oc
that as a Communist he would be expected to

“
,
.
r o un s t an es to
e
.
his gift for propaganda purposes he wisely detached himself and turned
t , ,
u se
re
to h i favorite bar a free citizen on e again Finding total engagement

,
s ,
c .
to a dedicated g oup repugnant he nevertheless maintained socialist pre

r ,
dilections Recognizing this the reader can easily imagine that creative
.
,
spirit which made the world and is immanent in man en ouragi g his c n
creature to throw off his addiction to the opium of the Mass and set about
fashioning his City of the Sun O r in Lawrence s terms the creature is .
’
encouraged to force the powerful dynamic centers of the lower body to

act in subservien e so that he becomes One fl ood of dy amic fl w “
wide eyed sp irit see k ing to

c n o
upw rds polarized in ! his] tallness and

bring ll the universe into the range of ! his] onscious individuality and
-
a ,
eager al ways to ma k e new worlds out of this old world to bud new g een
a c ,
, ,
r
tips on the tree f life ( F i p o .

”
antas a , .
Th is seems a quite satisfacto y reading f the p em No line has been

tortured to make its contribution ; the grotes querie of peripatetic genitals
r O o .
has been avoided It may be th ught a fl ight of fancy to have imported

. o
A p ll i i m medievalism and socialism But one does not need to be

o o n an s , ,
.
so spe ific These w rds be discarded ; a still satisfactory though mo

c . o c an -
r
e
generalized meaning still remains

it does turn the identification of the speak er as a creative deity
.
B
Th phrase m other mil k in the sixth stanza and the line T hat globe
ut on .
“ ”
e
itself of hair and bone the word galactic reduced to lactic suggests ” “ “ ”
that Thomas may not be worki ng ( or not work ing exclusively ) the
,
on
cosmological level Given the structure B eginning Promising Develop

.
—
ment T empora y Setback Promise of Fu ther Suc ess other forms f

,
, r , r c o
evoluti nary hange can be seen as deriving from the gi ven imagery
Assume the spea ker to be the v ital sp irit beginning to work freely in the
o c .
embryo the first tw stanzas then appear to describe the rupture f the
: o o
amnion the draining of the amnioti fl uid the prog ession through the
,
c r
f etal stage the birth and the weaning f the child In its persona as Noah
,
o , o .
the spirit sends th infant t t get the l y f the land Th world

,
is of course physical like the child s moth r each a bone and a hank
e ou o a o . e
’ “
of hair but each like the child is invested with spirit Earth mother
, , , e
”
and child are doubly related all share the same physi al c nsti uents ; all
, , .
, ,
: c o t
sha e the same vita] spirit And in the child ( as in the m ther ) it is the
r . o
physi al the heart attached to the rib case which serves as the seat f
c -
o
the vital spirit

, ,
07
O r one may choose to th ink th e relation b twe n sp rit and worl d
(
in these terms the external physical world is stitched to the vital spirit
of e e i
esident the physical heart the child

:
r of the of —
by appreh e nso ry ap
sewing mach ne
’
i )
adolescent in love w th l fe pays his devoirs to th e sun as in
paratu s s .
Th e i i
Fern Hil B ut then perhaps through an i posed superstitious te ror
, , ,
l .
”
( m r
as unsoundly based as astrology erhaps by i erence from sleep and bad nf
dreams but certai y as a concomitant puberty guilt m , p

,
nl orbidity of ) and
destroy the magic of ife l

that is strangely par allel
.
he is a passage in Blake s
T r
e
’
T iri e] . T iri el
’
s
paradise has become a dreary s ndy plain the fol ow ng reason

“
a
”
fo r l i :
chi d springs fro m the womb th e fa her ready stands to fo m

Th e l
infant head while the mother idle plays with her
Th e
cou h
: h er
: t
do g on
r
oung bosom is cold lac k mother s nouris hm ent milk

c ,
fo r of
’
Th e y ;
Is cut f om the weeping mouth with
o ff r pain d ifli culty .
l ttle lids are l ted the little nostrils

Th e i if
’
d;
father scourges all youth l fancies from new born man
O pe n
Th e o ff fu th e -
.
Since Har the father represents the k nd of energy inhibit ng

of T irie l i i
l e den ing moral code wh ch induces gu ilt and fear of death
-
, ,
judg
,
if -
y i and
ment this passage and homas s p m have both schematic prog ession T
’
oe r
and substan ial meani g in com on

,
m
It should be understood that I am not concerned with a possible literary
t n .
debt to Blak e nor despite the e rlier citations to L wrence pu po e Th e

of the quotations is only to suggest that omas is li ke Blak e and Lawrenc
, ,
a ,
a . r s
Th
and W itman his denial sig ificant as ects of the status qu o his
e
( h ) in of n p ,
e hortation to his readers to blaze new trails He is of the company of
the rebel poets a far eater de ree than he has been understood be
x .
to gr g to .
Ou r E un uch Dr ea ms
burden f this poem is this that given the love that casts t fear
Th e
and the faith that moves mountains there is hope for a fit future Th
o : ou
necessary action is to come t of the darkness i to s unlight observing

, . e
th at the sun is qu ite other than a round dis k not u l ike a gu inea A
ou n ,
modified Hegelian triad gives the poem its struct re ; for it is t of a

n .
past reality posing as a present reality and t f a present u nreality

u ou
passing for a p esent reality th at the future reality will emerge

, ou o
however by sy thesis bu t by recognition and denial

r t ,
—
no ,
,
n .
10 8
Modern people feel themselves at a disadvantage
Th ey k now they have no bodies that could play among the elements
.
Th ey have only their personalities that are best seen fl t the film , a , on ,
fl t personalities in tw dimensions imponderable and touchless

a o , .
We live then in a double unreality both as individuals and as a

, ,
society As i dividuals at night w fold in our arms the shades of girls

,
t girls ; in the day instead of sunlit car n al bodies we exercise fl ic k ering

. n ,
e ,
no , ,
arc lamped personalities As a society we are held by the past s dead hand
,
deluded by synthetic represe n tations of the real We not through our

-
.
,
. see ,
w eye but the camera s ; from preoccupation with the past w lose ’
faith i the fut re

o n , , e
n u .
But if th is tired ( red eyed ) earth were to e ffect a radical ( red eyed ) - -
change which simulacrum of real ity would it destroy Th film s de

,
? e
’
pi i f present day life with on the left hand its underworld of bad
other guys and
ct on o -
, ,
the right its happy pro perous shrewd patriotic

capitalistic good guy s like ? O r the Victorian Gothic moral codes that
, ,
on , ,
s , ,
anachroni stically p vail?

us
It would destroy both blow the ld dead bac k into their graves
re
expunge the films from the plates till as B lake said li ke a dream
: o ,
“
, , , ,
Eternity is obliterated and erased and the pr sent moment for the loving ”
individual becomes eal and rich We will no longer ( in Lawrence s words )

e
’
r .
“
tend through deliberate idealism or deliberate material purpose to
, ,
destroy the soul in its first nature of spontaneous integral b i ng and to ,

e ,
substitute the second nature the automatic nature f the mechanical , o
u iverse ( F i p
n .
”
an tas a , .
A ll A ll an d A ll th Dry e Wo rlds L ever

Against the denial f the fl esh and f the primacy f matter expressed o o o
in Eliot s A h W d d y Th omas has presented here what amounts to a

’
case for dialectical materialism Th universe ( unlik e that f Lucretius )

s e nes a
. e no t o
and all it contains act according to law as a machine developed to ,
Operate in a given way does so All is under compulsion the fl ower is

governed the lo v r is driven almost all seems machine made m a hine
—
.
driv en the blo d is brassy screws turn the voice mechanical fl esh acts
-
,
e : ,
c
o , ,
upon me hanical flesh But the machine s very compulsiveness defeats

c .
’
its lf Th m rtal mecha ical flesh compelled by the mortal mechanical

world to couple m l ly defeats m rtality and the mechanical in a
e . e o . n , ,
spring fl owering A fli i q uantitati v e change has produced a qualita

,
1rac u o u s o
. su c ent
tive change to produ e a higher synthesis c .
1 10 °
Dere k Stanford analyzing the opening sentence to read ll l v w ld
, a -
e er - or s,
interprets the poem in these terms Sex or a pro ess analogous to it a “

: , c
process of dynamic attraction is the lever of the world without which

,
‘ ’
,
things would be dry and separated In line with this emphasis up n

‘ ’ ”
he finds that Ev erything then issues forth from the il the pound
. o
“ ‘
sex , , , o
f lava ( an image of th m l seed and the womb s ova ) ; that the

,
’ ‘
’
o e a e so
world can be said to be all of the fl esh in just the same w y as the ‘ ’
poet s na ked fellow ( the male member ) is one with the Dug f the sea
,
a
’ ‘ ’ ‘ ’
o
and the Worm in the ‘
(P
I prefer another syntactical analysis w ld l v ll I belie e the
.
first stanza t b geological and the second biological with the na k ed fl esh
: or s- e er-a ; v
o e
referring to the whole body ( I have some diff culty with that male member
,
turni g up as a worm in the scalp )

i
n .
Th poem will then read something like this

e :
Interaction among the physical bodies of the m transmitting u v e rse ,
and modifying force and motion makes th ings what they have been and ,
what they are now as for example the succession of geol gic ages the o ,
icing ( or draining ) of oceans the combustion and melting of rock

( There s a m agma fi
.
,
’
instead of M g ifi here ) Th earth itself
turning on its axis ( and bound to the sun s tu ning wheel of fi ) le vers
-
c at a n c at . e ,
’
r re ,
spring out of winter and the fl ower ( turning the sun ) out f the , to o
turning earth ( It does not matter whether or not they wish to turn ;
.
they turn ) .
H w is it then with the human body in the past ( in rudimenta y form )

o , r
thrown up out of the sea and still glandula ly connected and with a
glandular stake in the futu e ; and how is it with that body with its death
r ,
implicit in it ( thus by nature grubsta ked ) a field of force so pea k

r
, , to s ,
biding its rop time Th physi al universe ex rts its force on man too ?
from fl esh to bone ( the co pse s l v er ) to marrow

c -
e c e ,
’
r o .
But no need to fea the force exerting world despite its Lucretian r -
,
aspect suppose that the blo d is chemically constituted and in Donne s

: o ,
’
sense spi itless ; that the heart is a metal encased pump ; that the f
lo v e ( tread t opulate ) be reduced to te ms of leverage ( trigger
,
r -
ac t o
o c c an r
and scythe ) and machine y ( the tractor the seeder the mill ) that is r —
,
the hard sha p me hanical and lethal

, ,
r c
T k now and a cept is to on quer the fear the b dy compels the

, , , .
o to c c : o
man the earth ( in life or death ) c nfines the body ; the atmosphere cages
, o
the sharp eyed ca rion c ow ( or the fl esh cramping its life within it also
-
r r
holds to its death ) Ac ept the fact that the bone levers and is levered
, , ,
. c ,
that physical forces produce the poetry and govern the w y of a man and a
a maid .
111
physical world in its compelling couples all things ; spirited
F or th e
egg with spi ited ovum ; seed sowing m an f the present with hi future
, ,
And generatio n however m echanically accomplished t rn s physics t

r -
o s .
metaphysics
, , u o
May the n ( kn wledge having dissipated fear ) the p oples coalesce ;

o , e
may they in the double light of the and their inner light of love and
,
hope develop singleness f purpose A d man fl esh compelled by sea

sun
and igneous rock driven b y the tough and impu dent blood fr m
o . n , ,
to
,
land from wo mb to tomb th ugh governed may flower in the city f

,
-
o sea
,
o , o
spring .
Th us the all all and all which had been the object Of the wor l ds
’
actions has become the subject capable of producing action f it w

,
, o s o n .
T hose familiar with Don e s prose m ay be reminded by Thomas s poe m

’ ’
n
f the tenth Dev tion

“ ”
o o
T his is Natures nest f Boxes Th Heavens t i the Earth the

Earth Cities Cities Men And all th ese are Concentriqu e ; the com
o : e c o n a ne ,
.
, , ,
mon center to them ll i decay ruine ; only that is E t iq a , s , ccen r ue ,
which was never made ; only that place garment rather which
w can i m agi ne but not demonstrate T h at light which i the very
, or ,
e , , , s
emanatio Of the light of God in which the Saints shall dwell with
which the Saints shall be pp ld onl y that bends t to this Center
n , ,
to Ru ine
a are , no ,
If I Were Tickled
In In the Beginning Thom as will m ake a point f the mystery f
the Th ree i O ne O ne smile f light he will discover emanating from
o o
”
the three pointed star an d one signature evolvi ng from three syllables
-
n
-
. o
“
In If I were T ickl ed he discusses the mystery f O L ve i Three

-
.
the love that i neither that f the ape f the m onk but Of man
, o n e- o -
n- :
s o or o
Elder O lson finds this a gl my poem one in which Thomas a Hamlet

.
finding surcease from unease in n either life

oo , ,
death seeks something that

will o ffer diversion fro m his fears if onl y m o m enta ily It doe s not see m
no r ,
,
r .
so gloomy as all that to me

In the first stanza Thomas sets up a birth situation as little hum anized
.
and sentimentalized as he can First the child to b is t normally

propagated in an access of love He is stolen by a crow Second h e i s t
.
,
- -
e no
. .
, no
repelled by th sex that compels him And he finds the langu age product
e .
,
f an i magination foul as Vulcan s stithy to be dreadfully revelatory f

“ ’ ”
all thi s Th ere can be no denying a total absence of sugar and spice B u t
o , o
may questi n whether Th om as has been forced by a subconscious

- -
. .
o ne o
aversion to the fl sh to depict it in its ugliest aspects and that he denies

it while essaying to fli m it Th lik elihood is equally strong that Thomas
e .
,
a r . e
h carefully consciously chosen his ugly images precisely because an

affi rmation of man must comprehend h im in his most ape like mani festa
as ,
tion Th dispassionate realist cannot allow himself to be blind t the

fact that as Swift said Celia Celia Celia h t Th temple is h oly
. e o
“ ”
, , , , s - s . e
in it altar precincts d its p ivy

s -
an r
I do t mean by quoting from him t ally Thomas with Swift In a

.
provocative essay A l dous Hu ley makes an important distinction

no o .
,
x :
Swift s prodigious powers were marshall ed the side of death not

’
life H w instructive in this context is the comparison with R abelais !

on ,
Both men were scatological writers M ass f m ass there is probably

. o , ,
more dung and offal piled up in Rabelais s work than in Swift s But
. or ,
’ ’
.
how pleasant i the dung through which Gargantua wad es how almost
delectable the offal ! Th muc k is t fig d by love ; for Rabelais
s ,
e rans u re
loved the bowels which Swift so malignantly hated His was the true .
amor fati ! he accepted reality in its entirety accepted with gratitude

and delight this amazingly improbable world where fl owers sp ing
,
fro m manure
, r
It cann t be justly said that Thomas s muck is t fig d b y l ve ’
His is not R abelais s perfect love O n the other hand he does t hate
o rans ure o .
’ ”
.
,
no
it Indeed his repugnance touches those wh admittedly do and accord

ingly l egislate and those w h not admitting it reveal their h ate by
.
, o
l i i g the carn al T homas would

, o, ,
t be a party to demolishing
and fig l fi g th e erected ph allus of a He mes and labeling the desecrated
su e rn a z n
p . no
statu e Spirit of Comm unication

-
ea n r
”
T homas s e ffort i to steer a line between S wift and Shelley ( Huxl ey

.
rem arks Considered then merely comments on reality G lli and

s .
are seen for all the ir astonishin g differences to have a com

: , , as , u v er
P m h
origin the refusal th e part of their authors to accept the physical
ro et e us , ,
m
ality of the world If he is not altogether successful it must be
on on
memb ered that this earliest volume is a record f an effort not f an

re .
,
re
uOltilsonmategivesachievement
h And h e achieves more in this poem I think th an
.
im credit for no ader of R abelais and of Swift can fail

o
,
, o
to discern Th omas s much closer kinship with th e former than with the
: re
’
latter .
1 14
Wh en L ike a , R unn in g Gr a ve
In Unluckily for a Death Thomas made this most emphatic state ment ,
o f h i concept f love
s o :
Al l love but f the full assemblage in fl ower or
Of the living fl esh is monstrous immortal or ,
And the grave its daughters .
But Thomas had come to the idea much earli er Th present poem p . e re re
sents a declaration f independence against either the monstrous the

immortal It is literally such a declaration for the controlling m etaphor
o or
r presents a revolution shortly to tak e place Th actors are these King

.
,
Head and Queen Heart dictatorial rulers ; Cadaver the enslaved general
e . e :
p pulati n f the country ; I a Spartac u s who when the tim e is ripe and the
, ,
forces ( blood ) are ready wi ll lead cadaver to the overth row f the
o o o , ,
, o
dictators
In the single sentence of the first fi stanz as the reb l Thom as ou tlines
.
much as Hitler did in M i K mpf In the first li e Of the sixth

ve ,
e
h i plan
stanza the dictators answer ( Some Of their propaganda has be n described
s —
e n a . n
in the preceding stanza ) Their argument is quashed in stanz as seven

, . e
through nine And in the tenth Thomas broadcasts his general manifest
.
.
,
o:
Lovers f the world u ite ( physically ) ; tomorrow Death but today the
o ,
n ,
world
,
If this inte pretation surprises anyone it will do so because it assumes

.
T homas s side up to the last w stanz as a n d the pening

r ,
T ime to be
’
on t o ,
o
lin When like a running grave time tracks y down to be spoken

e —
“
, ou
”
—
in a spirit of hopeful expectancy Since Thomas is generally thou ght to be

fearful f ti me at ll times I do not think that my interpretation will h ave
.
O a ,
b en the common But it is worth considering if for no other reason

than this that it mak es sense without deviating from Thomas s syntax
e o ne .
and without departing from T homas s page to Fr ud s Jung s However

,
’ ’ ’
it ought to be compared with Olson s ( pp 92 H mi k ( pp 1 60

e or .
,
’ ’
. o c s .
d T i dall s ( A m i XVII
’
S h l
My initial assumption is that Thomas speaks as a young m an ready f
an n er c an c o ar, ,
love in the fullest t as an elderly gentleman wh e powers are the

or
, no os on
wane and not a Freudian theorist for whom sex and death are philo
, as
S ophically united He is just a vigorous young man rebelling against so iety s

’
negation of vigorous youth that negative masquerading as a positive ( senti

. c
mental idealism virtuous continence what have you ) Given this or
assumption the poem reads as follows

, , .
, :
King Platonic Head Queen Sentimental Hea t when the time is ripe
your abdication ; when I whom you ve kept acquies ent turn
, r —
f
’
or , c , ,
1 15
Delilah like my h omely weapons ag ai st y ( wh n th co fi d
pha llus becomes e rant ) ; when the desire f a new order fill m e
-
,
n ou e e n ne
p hysical lov its accoutr ments

r or s
t p ( the desire is f
warlike ; but it becomes pregn ant as slowly as a tu rtle drawn by a
t
oe t o o or e— e are
he rse in slow g ar ) ; when age comes to cut my coat t the new

pattern and to snip ff you r h ads ; then li b rate m e who ( a craven
a e o
among cravens ) am less possessed of love than a dead body is Of a

o e e ,
tongue ( a trapped body politic f a spokes man ) of th e m an

measuring peni s ( the body politic Of its potential ) Wh en the vulgar
or o or
blood kn ows its s trength and the tim e has inexorably a rived t m ak
.
fruitful use of th a t strength ( th e rebelli us h ea t f the oppressed

r o e
waxes strong in its hunger ) liberate me from m ai den heart d

o r o
ideali zing head f outwardly polite and neatly dressed but wi th

, an
brass k ucks under my gl ve thus f chaste b u t henceforth a chaser

, o r, ,
a man with night mu s t fall eye ( an end f Sunday man ) I to ensure

n o , ar ,
that neither age n or frigidity sh all straightjacket me in th e grave a s

- - -
o -
, ,
an unf lfill ed null ity ( the bu tton f time preempting th e buttonhole f

virginity ) I m arch throu gh the land collecti g volunteers ( make th e
u o o
mcommand
ost of m y ma tu ity ) whil e y my rulers having th e brain in you r
,
transmit propaganda messages against m e an d my forces

r ou , ,
n
su ch Don t tru st the blo d ; your true f iend is virginity ; join th e

, ,
’
eunu chs ; keep your b odies clean

as o r
T hom as h as made his future prog am clear a program to st art when

the ti me is right Head and heart now in li ne disparage tim e s e ffect
r ,
’
upon the body Thomas pe mits h imself four stanz s to a swer

. o ne
. r a n :
'
No Queen Heart your skull shows your virgin city is entered ; th e

blo d red banner with h amm er and cythe fl ies over it Ki g Head
, , :
death s head in h past now good as dead ) you r Platoni c

o -
s . n
(y
’
planes can t fly J oy s t a count y ( body ) divided against itself

ou t e , ,
’ ’
not a cancerous growth upon the healthy tissue ; not an i

. no r :
q nc o nse uen
tial fl eeting thing t be blown away ; not an abn rmal state t be

eradicated by ascetic practice ; t a removal from the sun and good
, o o o
earth f nature ( perh aps not a dark and arrow thoroughfa e

no
M an i th Son f M ) In brief joy is t

o or, , n r
f m
I put out the light of abstracting intellect ; you are conquered
or v a e O an .
,
no co ntra na tura .
J y is a s imple coming together Of people i n th e fl esh in a coun try

.
way ; it is th e everg een g owth throu gh the coffin cloth e s ( boxy

o
“
it i pugilist Adam s straight right t th e jaw f Death Y

r r
’
rule a literally cockshut ( twilit ) nation only Pl atonic cave a

s -
o o . ou
government f by and f politic al abstracti on s

—
a ,
As when th leaning Pisan tower falls it cannot again be raised

o , ,
or .
, e , , so
1 16
specifically th e warming li gh tin g li fe givi g su n militates against mi s
i te preti g her state as in any way perverse unnatural She does n ot
, ,
-
n ,
wake alone in dread and doubt but in a multitu de f loves ready and
n r n or .
“ ”
warm d welcoming It is simply that h er time i t yet Becau se f her

o ,
f outlook her willingness to respond i seaso n t th e l ife force

an . s no . o
igh t
hers is a miraculous virginity natural as fo d ; hers is a humble accept
t ness o ,
n o -
,
“ ”
anc of the sort that can y be it u nto me according to thy word

o
”
neither a timorous holding back nor a frantic casting about Which is

e sa
t say that her spirit and her body are also at T his unity of sense
d sensibility of Venus and Christ ( each f wh m supplies a squadron
o o ne .
has the potential f the loaves and fishes

an o o
to form the navy f

,
“
broken and multiplied by Christ

o o
f n on l ove ; h has m erely

.
She has not come to a state of love from

discovered a new and specialized aspect ( a new t ment ) Of h er
o ne o -
s e
original love f li fe
a -
o ne-
o .
a man sleeps where fire leapt down and h learn s through hi arm s e s
Th at other the jealous cou sing of the un ivalled blood

sun, r r .
She i no less innocent no more erotic than h w before ; h is as h

saint ; but in a sh red human ness h h as
s , , s e as s e , s e
was neither animal no r a -

s e
achieved fulfillment a fulfillment impossible had she acted upon the chilli ng
,
pr position that it i b tter to m arry than to burn

,
o s e .
Undoubtedly a reason f Thomas s popularity among younger readers ’
a reason why he can move them to tears as other po t of th e past forty

or ,
no e
years has been able t do i attributable to the resolution of their doubts

and anxieties by h i concept of love There are contingent reasons He
o , s
was one f them an outsider sent e rly to bed whil e Peggy kissed Lionel
s . .
on the p rch and people were downstairs all over the w rld He did n ot
o , a
“
o o .
address himself obsessively t the downstairs p ople s social political o e

’
, , or
economic problems remote and abstract He did not lecture scold

, so . or ,
nor demand that they study their Vergil d Dante H spoke in their
langu age f their most pressing problem and in a marvelous voice
an . e
He offered them physical l ove unatt nded by shame guilt but t

o , .
sentimentalized by Shelleyan Platonism nor m ade mb i g by Law

e or no
e arras n
ren e s absurd mystique and yet elevated

e
’
they felt by instinct it as
should be Elevated but not phony ; serious but not sectarian and yet not
, ,
divorced from a tradition His symb ls related it to a parochial

,
. o no n-
Christianity not subject t the na rowing influences f Puritan Of Irish

priest It invited them as they wished to be invited t disobey authority
o r o or
.
, o
and promised that in that disobedience they would not lose but gain
,
innocence For the disob dience that Th omas recommends is a di b di

ence toward those who are afraid because they are naked and m ake f
. e so e
1 18
their fear a virtue Thomas is quite as much preoccupied with Eden ( and
.
loss f Eden ) Milton was

Pre fall Eden i clearly evident in the pastoral quali ty f such poe m s
O as .
as Poem in O ct ber Fe n Hill In the White Giant s Thigh it is

-
s o
“ ” “ ” “ ’
th goal of the voyager in the Altarwise sonnets ; it is func ti nal i n Was

o , r ,
“
e o
there a T ime Incarnate Devil T oday this Insect If in other poems

” “ ” “ ”
Genesis does not appear Ex dus a ch apter from th garden doe s

.
, , , ,
“ ”
, o e .
Thomas said truly :
I know the legend

OSiflentAdam and Eve is never f a second
in my servic e
or
Th ere i unquestionably in Th o m as s poems some ele m ent of m an s

’ ’
search for the lost youth child But more significant is his positive e ffort
s
to mai tain the child youth in the man ( L m is a jesting example )

or .
n or . a en t .
His celebration f radical innocence invites comparison with that f

o o
Wordsworth Coleridge and Dickens A Wordsworth has his idiot boy

, , . s ,
Thomas has his hunchback ; as Wordsworth teaches the salubrious e ffects

uKnow
pon character Of the rural i m t T homas c unsels hi ch ild to
the g een good since Th country is holy ; as Wordsworth ”
env ro
“
nen , o
”
s
lea ns from the daft or the unlettered Thomas learns from wayside bride
r , e
and Annie Coleridge in Christab el and Tho m as in In Country

r ,
“ ” “
Sleep depict the shock s that i nocence is heir to ; certai l y the sense f
.
, ,
Wthingordswo,
th s great ode and of Coleridge s Dejection pervades every

’
T h omas wrote innocence is T ime s prey but an access of under

r
:
n
’
’ “ ”
n o
standing compensates for its loss assuming firm reco gnition that w receive ,
e
i proportion as we give ( Curiously as T homas gains the philosophic eye

n
hinfe usounds in his poetry less the crabbed philosopher and his poems are
sed with a passion and a life missing from his earlier work ) As for
.
,
,
,
the Dickens tie no one has so successfully bro ken the Vict rian monopoly
.
upButn theessentially
o
,
hearthstone at Christmas tide as Th omas

it is the innocence of Th ] that Th omas invokes ; a n
-
.
o
innocen e beautiful i its unblooded manifestation but more richly

e
c n
beautiful when it accepts but is not subjugated by the compulsion f the

,
blo d There w more than w y jest fearful anticipation in his remark

o . as r or
to R ayner H pp t ll as they looked down at Th omas s spittle in the

e ens a
’
roadway B lood boy ! T hat s the st ff!

:
“
,
’
u
Fro m L o ve s Fi rst Fever ’
Re reading Shelley s Indian Serenade dreams of what Sam John ’ “
would have said of it in bl d p iods ; sink ing in the slush f

-
, o ne
so n anc e er o
1 19
i fe io
n
It is
r LaI thi n ith hdesi
r wre e s olst i Opin on
i s th e twelfth in
nk ,
ce,
w r s t volu e
one
h m a s
r T o
’
s
th e fi
i .
m of T
’
p ems that r ation a ist h ackles ev n th e ym p athe t ritic m ig t

,
t , o s
th e l of ic h
bhings interest
o
egin to ri
,
se re h ve been i n preced n poems good th ngs clever

. Th e
g th ngs prom sing th ings in m or th an su cient qu antity
in i
a ,
i
the
e
i g
s
ffi
c
i ,
over r de doub ts r aised by h om a s s in ce ss ant onc rn w h s e f

t , , e
it
’
i T l no t
to
merely froyemr mediccraaldlste detnhte preavecbuupatio
t fro m th e s rm ma g ot
c e
-
,
th e to the and
his first- a n i
with hys iolo y At h i s po t
hfroowm verre ditheg rat onalist may feel like cal ing it quits suf er n s m Itnn
-
u
to gr
oc
l
pe
p g
f i g o e
. t
g ,
e
in
ui
,
e , ,
O ne Li ttle Pepp er and Ho w He Grew Six Times is

Of n
a n .
M arro w R ev isi ted once te

rhap s it is the shock com ng une xpect dly upon a o m pl a n
to o .
Pe of i of i
sprodigio
ta tem nt th at is
e
u un settling Prece d ng poem s h ad uir d u ch

s feats the puzzle solvin g faculty such cl se f low l ader
of
so . i
e
ol
p
req
e
th e- e
e s
attention h o ma s s athletic fancy th at thi s p m s m s by compari s n

-
,
o -
’
to T
andi appoi
e nforced h our play with l s and dolls p em s plain s tat m nt
oe ee o
’
gir
’
Th e
n ts in ano her way as well O ne h ad wond red whe th r
s
Ob s cu ri ie h ad b n dictated by th e novelty and di cultie s Of the subje ts

s
t
t .
.
ffi
o
e e
e e
th e
atta cked th ey dem nding an obliquit Of vision and sub l ety

s ee c
a y t of im ger
ord n a il y required Explication d id n ot ve al that h e h ad pi n e d
, a y a
i
new are as thou ght neve hel ss the p l asure tracking h im d own had
no t r . re o e re
of of
count r cted th e di s a poi ntment r iv al

; rt e e
of a r
er is l t le cou nter act th e d isappointm ent h re ph as f all

e a p .
Th i t to
in l ove i h noth ing stir th e im agi n ation to enga th e intellect
e
developi g ch ild is
wt
a ,
h uma n being poem is only a case h is t ry

to or
e
ge
: no r e to
. Th e
; the
the po m s thesis is trite the child develops from un ty variety
n no t -
o .
An d
’
i
i
amsense Of the ity i n vari ty
e
to
adolescent as poet prog s ses from
itation ind ividu a it S i ce th e child i s equa y with ou t p r s on ality
un
l y
e
:
; th e - -
ll
to
re
to
and the
an d
phil osophic al signi c a ce a nd sinc th e p m l ck s both th e gust
f ling th e racle Of childh o d of poi n ncy e motion
fi
mi
.
n
n
, e oe a
of
e
is
possibl re d r
ee o , no g a
to the
F ar from recall i g Fro s t at Midnight Word worth s Ode it
e a e .
” ’
ce
se nmstury Ahave
e to
s xampl
.
closest relation to th e d idactic po ms
fo r
its
e
n
ht e nth
e:
or
e
s
of th e eig
,
Th e mouth ith pro r cul i s ndu d w pe fa te e e
First ent rta ns and then ivides f d

, ,
e i d th e oo ;
dv s e ro s eeth m at prep r
, ,
Two a er w of t the e a e,
On which th e gl and fe m n ing j u ice co f s r e t n er;
N tur var u d muscle

a e h as io s ten er plac d
’
By which a tful gullet i s

s
th e r e mb rac d ’
B la m s ( ck o re
’
C reatio n )
In the first s ta nz a the elder reveals h imself as a teacher in the p
di m school T h young m an is to regard women as a sourc f n ourish
, c ar e
maltho
ent is to cannibalize the m Their death is t to be a source Of sorrow
e
u
. e e o
gh like th far m er who eats the w ru n dry and plants a tree over
, . no ,
th e indig stible p rtion which he has rejected the young m an is permitted

, e co
a sentimental ge s tu re B ut this egocentricity is only an aspect f h omo

e o ,
centricity Instead f coming t term s with the l aws Of levering nature th e

. o
young m an is to assert him self against them romantic hero alone and
. o o ,
defiant against the world th fl esh an d the devil f death He is to be a

—
a
, e , o .
combination of Byronic hero Faust and Dorian Gray to forget that it

is contraries not negatives th at produce progression
, , ,
Since lik e the traditional b allad the poe m develops by means f

, , .
now has hi s y But since again like the ballad it

, , o
dialogue the
foregoes expository transition what th young man s ays is t clear There
, so n sa .
, ,
are two possibilities Either h e h as accepted th e advice destroyed a girl

, e no .
wh had m istaken h i m for a m an instea d f t h e devil h e w

.
,
and like
th e consequent ru in of h imself O r despite
o o as, ,
Dorian Gray come t

having tried t be cynical and self centered as his adviser he has himself
, o see .
,
been vanqu ished by l ove

o as -
,
T h a mbigu ous p h rase told her sin o ffers two ways f d estroying a
.
girl by i troducing a vi gin t fornication by causing a non virgin t

e o
feel an unfa miliar guilt But wh ich f these modes f girl destru ction h as
: n r o , or -
o
th e young m an e mployed? And did either f th e m succeed? What happened

-
. o o
to the girl is not specified

I h ave chosen arbitrarily to interpret thus
.
T h young m an tried to cannibalize but grace and girl trans m uted

(to use Pope s terms ) self love to social love His senti m ental gestu re doe s
e ,
’
t attend the girl s death but h er love and l ife

- -
.
’
no
Against his father s Faustian aspiration (ch aracterized by a Gadarene

.
swinishness and co mpacted t Mephistopheles th at dangerous French

poodle) stand fear f death (f the father the m aggot was simply death ;
o ,
is not i sensitive) and the idea f the unch angeable th ough

o or
the
Often hanged g d Th young m an asse ts hi incapability f playing Faust
so n so n o
t Gretchen O t h ello t Desdemona ( It is not impossib le that w h ere in

-
o . e r s o
And the m aggot man can slay th e maggot is i m t l in Th

o , o .
,
“ “
mthaggot that man can k ill m an is Th is latter at le ast parallels And

no ,
r nor a , e
”
e m an no rope can hang and strengthens th e ca s e f a conversion f

no ,
.
the young m an )
, or o
Th omas now co m ments in h is w voice He agrees th at th e u niverse

i s governed but not as a tyranny b ut in terms f a bl essed r age f order
o n .
, o or .
Th e elder whose rebellion is a rebellion Of de spair continues crying
, ,
and cutting himself with stones ; he refuses to be possessed ; he does ”
not accept the universe Tho m as counsels him

un-
. :
Before death takes y 0 tak e bac k this o u, .
B a llad of the L o ng L egged -

B a it
It m ay be th at no other conclusion can be drawn from examination f
T h omas s love poe m s than this th at he fli m l ife in all it aspects and
o
’
: a r s s
manifestations from egg t decomposing particle and with a special

Lawrentia n emphasis upon warm hearted fo nication and castigates any
, o ,
th ing which diminishes l ife such as hate envy avarice asceticism and
-
r ,
with a special Bla k ean anger towards any guilt imposing a nti sensu a lis m
, , , , ,
T homas is conscious f what migh t be called Cos m ic Pullulation

- -
.
Every “
inch of this universe even to th e air and is crowded with people he

o :
”
sea ,
once declared
T h concept differs fro m Shaw s concept of the Life Force only in that
.
the latter seems well bred cer bral and hygienic however i tib l
-
e
A essential part f Shaw s w it consists i his m anifesti g the rap a city f

so -
, e , , rres e .
’
n o n n o
th fl esh in thorough ly dressed young women intell igent d civilized

who tal k th eir victims into submission He accordingly runs the risk Of
e -
,
an ,
being misconstrued as a proponent of th e m arriage f true mi ds a

.
mcitizenship
arriage in which carnality is kept in the proper state f second class
o
o
n
-
,
Thomas runs th e contrary ris k Of so focusing

.
the flesh that love s ’
spiritual aspect appears to have only a minor significance

on
inte llectual
Ballad of th e L ng Legged Bait may be used to m ake the point
or .
“
Th e o -
.
At a party in New York his first trip to the United States he was asked
th e meaning of the poe m and replied It a description f a gigantic
on ,
“ ’
words to that effect B i i wh w his e mbarrassed gu ide m

, s o
mB ents sentence explanation f the central meaning of h is

r nn n,
or . o as , co
: His
“
o ne- o
ll d f h L g L gg d B i w so lewd and searing as to stop con

versation altogether He e xcuses Th omas on th ese grounds
a a o t e on -
e e a t as
. :
T h at may well have been h is intention He had come f a good

time ; instead he w bei g cornered by scholars and critics as if he
. or
were their quar y One of the wive s h ad even gone so far as to sit
, as n
with a noteboo k pencil in hand t take down wh atever might fall

r .
It was th e so t f well meani g

, , o
from th lips f this bardic clown

affront th at never failed to touch ff h i s drive to quench any show
e o r o -
n
f a s a cred fl m attitu de toward h i m

O
o -
a e .
1 23
B ut is it Tho m as s re mark h i s audience s reaction th at needs
’ ’
excusing? None Of th s chol r critics present would h ave d enied th at

or
marriacciagedental
has asfunction
well as its essenti al functio n f continu ance f th rac
e a -
Of (as Shaw p uts it) gratification Of the a moristic

,
o o e e,
“
th
sentiments f mankind Th queer thing is that afteri a gener tion f
e
”
plain speaking the s e post Joyce Lawrence Miller Cel ne l iterati shoul d
o . e , a o
have preferred that Thomas say It s a description f the gratification f

- - - - -
,
“ ’
myThamoristic sentiment
, o o
”
ere can be no question th at in th is circumstance Th o mas was with

.
ma lice aforeth ought s hocki g Given another audience h e could have s aid
th e same th ing in dead earne st without desire to shock I n both circum
n .
,
stances he would be telling the truth though only in th second wouldthhe

.
,
expect care th at it be received as such But neith er time is he telling

,
e
whole t uth Th poem two directional means more th an th at

or . e
T h narrative ele m ent insofar there is narrative is not co mplicated

r . e ,
-
,
.
A man embarks upon a voyage fro m a seacoast town He throws into th e

e , as ,
.
water a gi l alive with h is hooks through her lips While a storm brews
.
“ ”
awitboveh novarious forms f life violate th e girl an d she dies Th fish erm an
r .
more desire th an a ghost reels in his l in e v arious m iracles

, o sea- , . e ,
“
occur notably th e disappearance f th e sea and the fish erm an returns

, ,
his dryland h o me
, o ,
t
T ho m as m ay h ave derived his bait s long l egs fro m Yeats poe m Th
o .
’ ’
LTong legged Fly in other respects the two poems are quite dissimila
e
( itles Of two other Yeats poe m s probably provoked T h o m a s to th ough t

-
, r .
W ild Ol d Wick ed Man describes th e h ero f L ament and

:
“ ” “ ”
Th
Why Should N t O ld Men Be Mad is the question Th om as asks in D
e , o ,
” “
which h e wrote si multaneously with

o O
N t G Gentle
”
th idea f a girl as bait T h o m as nee d ed o nly to recall h is Donne

o O ,
F or e o :
th en thy s elfe art th ine w bait ;

T hat fi h th at is
o ne
t h d thereby
’
Alas is wiser farre than I

t s , no ca c ,
.
,
Donne i m agines h is mistress swimming

Wh en thou wilt wimm in th at l ive bath
Each fish which every channel] h ath
s e ,
Will a morously to th ee wimm

, ,
Gladder to catch th ee than thou him

s e,
.
,
But Donne s poem i playful fl attering a m atory a call to arms Of a

’
p assing fancy T homas s poe m deals with a profound experience a change

s , , ,
’
a gi l a s bait and
.
,
f life T here is a difference between referring t

describing the puncture Of a l ower lip with h ooks
o . o r
12 4
d fl ation f illusion i to reali ty the desiring fl esh cut down to size and
seen in its prop r pe spective T his desi e imaged as bread the staff f
e o n :
e r . r , ,
o
life is shredded and scat ered t rned by f eding birds d scavenger

crabs into its elements to be excreted ( bird and crab e quate with i gh ti
,
t , u e an
n n
g le d hyena ) Thus the d si e undergoes its fi h hyena seabi d change

temptation f th fl esh ( p rsonifi ed as T empter S
a an . e r s - -
r -
.
Th h Sheba
Sexpin essed
e
Lucifer d Venus ) disappears Th change in the q uality f love is

o e e , u ssanna , ,
i the star s triking of Venus by m eans of whi ch the natu r l

, , an . e o
ourse of events reasserts itself d the domination of black is overcome

r n -
, a
c an .
5 Stanzas 3 3 4 4 A arctic frigidity attends upon the desire s death ’
But this the sexual death produci g th e death f d s ire also produces
.
-
. n .
n o e ,
life a life whi ch has its roots in the dead past A long line f ancestors is
,
reborn They come to prophesy th at the w life must round their mortal
,
. o
circl But God also arises to lend th at bleak prospect a meani g a

. ne
“ ”
p rposiveness a quality of l ove and comp ssion

e . n ,
u , a .
6 S anzas 4 5 5 4 Th civili zi g fu nction f success f l love is described

a fu u re prospect i seen ( in terms of the histo ical past ) And the fi h
. t -
. e n o u :
retu rns no animal no angel but a man a husband and a father

t s r . s er
m an , , , , , .
But though hi shi p anchors i a church and he st nds in the door Of hi

home s fe and sou d on land he has ret rned by the same st ets that
, s n , a s
led him to th e in the fi st pla e and hi heart sti ll long legged is i

a n ,
u re
sea r c , s ,
-
,
n
hi hand ready to be o ff r d to the next passer b y Th cycle i renewable

b e made t serve m any purposes
e e
s -
. e s .
Th archetyp l voyage motif

description f the sexual act among th em In thi s p em the prot gonist
e a -
c an o ,
leaves h safe d fami lia for the ali en an d perilous th e rational for
o . o ,
a
t e an r —
the i ational He encounters sto ms of passion is p rty to th rendi g

of flesh wi nesses the deep snouting that tumescence is capable f feels
rr . r ,
a e n
wi th all animal li fe arouses vigorous activity whi ch subsides into

,
t o
at
,
a ki nd f death feels th e subsiden e of his w desire recogni zes the

o ne ,
mi racle f bei g the agent that connec ts th e past wi th th e fut re and the
o , c o n ,
mi racle of tenderness supplanting l ust ( both a alogous to fe li ngs p i

o n u
d by travelers ) and re t rn from th e perilous seas

n e ex er
ence individuated
, u s t e-
but not forlo n r .
Th omas s explanation f th e poe m was not lewd and searing but

’
it we nt But b yond thi s meaning t his Henry

o
objecti vely preci se f

,
MForillertheli poe
e f devel op me n t and runni ng co nter to it is its Coleridge li ne
m
, as
after its fashi on is a telli g of the Ancient Mariner s

n o
ar as
,
. e
u ,
,
’
.
t l e At the same time th at it projects th e experience f th e pleasures f

, , re- n
the flesh it is adv ncing the argument that onl y through subjugation f
a . o o
th e flesh i whole man ness possible Derek Sta ford s criticis m that
, a o
’
li ke the story f Leda d the S wan Europa and th Bull the

s - -
. n
“
un o an or e ,
12 6
cannot plead ( as far I know ) a mythological pur
Lo ng- legge d B ai t
po e is i erro As Glauco Camb n says in his provocati v e Tw Crazy
as
”
Boats ( E gli h Mi ll y 7
s n r . o o
a compari on f Ri mbaud s B
,
’
Iv
n s sc e a n , ,
s o ateau
reand the pres nt p em e o :
they are so simil ar that one would thi nk they came from the
same ship yard Th astoni shi ng fact i that Th om s w avowedly
unaware of h is French foreru ner s creation when he wrote hi
. e s a as
’
B llad whi ch I thi nk mak es the fli ity only the more interesting
n s
“ ”
a , ,
a n ,
b cause archetyp al instead f derivational E ch i hi w idiom

,
e o . a n s o n ,
po ts do sometimes st ike the same st i gs tapping on the universal

reservoir of m nki d s myth
e r rn ,
’
a n s .
Myth reveals th ou gh narra i v e the na ure of the rela ion b tw en the

otherworldly d the worldly and the force of the imperati ves that
r t t t e e
govern to ensure the righ t ess of that relation A defect of love imp ls
an ,
n . e
Coleridge s hero to a b each of the laws of hospitali y ( if the word appli es

’
r t
to anim ls ) Th poem is a record of the resp nse of immutable jus ice
Marin r at the out et of hi v oyage seem to hav e been u awa e
a . e o t .
Th e e , s s , s n r
f any de ficiency He can when it occu s de crib the sen eless but
hpe rpose
o
u
can Offer no reason for its commi ssion ( O ne mi ght infer th at a
fu l power compels the
.
for hi completer self und r tandi ng )

,
act
r
s
,
s
.
e
-
s
e s
act ,
T homas s hero on h other ha d is aware f hi de iati on from right

’
love ; the v oyage is made i order to eradicate an under t od s i fulnes

, t e n , o s v
i is lust ; hi si gle v ision d heart s desire is f

n s o n s .
Th the fl esh of a girl ’
and it is thi s desire he th ows i to the sea from whose bl od and sp rm

e s n s n -
e or ,
spattered waves Venus emerged d to whose p imordial o ze r tional

r n o - -
e
,
an r o a
life ow s its ori gi R esto ed to it element ( defined d differentiated )

e n . r s an ,
reduced to it natur l prop rti ons hi lust dies and the fisherman i
s a o s s
rewarded Bird and fish ( the natural ) pra ise hi m ( for no longer be ing
,
bi d fish or beast ) and h sup rnatural evi dences itself Th world

th fl esh and the Devil are defeated ; time is gi v en another di me sion an
r , , , t e e . e ,
aspiring compassi nati g sp irit inv sts the dead desire ; an e rthl y p radise
e , n ;
,
o n e a a
su ceeds h chao ic sea cape a nature meth d ized asserts itself ; the
prodigal fisherman returns to hi home of love ( once furious w
c t e t s ; o
but agai n to b ) a chors hi shi p in a sp iri ual place d t k es hi plac

s ,
no n o t,
e n s t an a s e
at the door f hi home heart whole lust free Th wh le thi ng had b en

,
summ d up in h w li nes
o s ,
-
,
-
. e o e
e t e t o
Th sun shi pwrecked w est on a pearl

e
A d the mo n swam out of its hulk

n o
whi ch if not c edible na r lly are logic l symb lic ll y

In normal all egory narrative d theme run together as a te m ; i this
, r tu a ,
a o a .
, an a n
127
p o em th ey coll ide headlong It is no wonder th at t h e poe
and a qu al ity f thickness ev n discounti g the image y which m ake s th
m h violence
. as a
eem thin and clear as bro k water by compa ison

o ,
e n r , e
Rim
And thicke nin g the mixt re stil l fu ther is a thi rd elem nt f meaning
o - r
e s .
Like In the Beginni g and Others Bait is a cre tion poe m and
u r e o .
” “ ” ”
like fisherTwili ght Locks

m a description f an evolutiona y proces s Consider
,
n
”
an as the creative force modifyin g chao s th rou gh the power

,
o r
a
.
,
th
of love Th spirit implicit in matter suffer s its sea change and m atter
e
assu mes new form Th waters under heaven are gathered tog ther
-
. e
anthed earth
the dry land appea ; m en and women and a ni mals come t i habit
. e e
; the desire i n them seeks to beco m e like t h e original

rs o n
t m
m l d creative force not rapaciou s a imal lu st bu t f
, un ra
li i g love
and land is cultivated horses are tame d citie s built religi ns a is e
e e ,
n o rrna z n ,
Elder O lson has I think som ewh at distorted th e poem s mea ning I t
, , are ,
o r .
hthasrouhgeh msayortif
, s ication
as it b are theme the notion that salvati n must be w
f th e fl esh
,
,
And he say s again

s
th e s ubj u ga
,
”
o
.
on
tion f s n su al desire b come s myste i ous an d cruel a s th e ac ifi Of

o . :
th e girl the salvation takes the b au ty an d mystery f th e resu cti on

o e e r s r ce
Of th dead a n d f th e past fro m the se a ( Pp 2 4 These a nd hi s

, on e O rre
”
lalaterst Eden
comment ( p 5 1 ) that th fishe m a n com s to h i s tru e h om e at
e o . .
,
“
from wh ich lik e th e Prodigal S he h ad been ab s ent ; and h e

. e r e
p ssesses hi heart again w purifie d f all s e n s u al d s ire i th e i

, ,
on
”
choice of words fro m th e vocabulary f a s eticis m d th ei ignoring

o s no o e , n r
th at sexual experience is bein g descri bed lend th e poe m an aura f

o c an r
religiosity which it does not possess

In a cri ticis m of O lson s inte pretation Rich ard C ondo n ha s prod uce d
.
another sort f dist rtion His argument is that the fisherm an e mbarks
r ,
uinponsexua alityLawrentian quest for innocence through a mystical im mersion

o
XVI p
”
o
Th townspeop l e h e says a re
.
( E p li
aghast at h i audacity and wa n h im t to l eave his d an gerous
. x c ato r, , . e , ,
“ ”
journey This it seem s to me i a plain misre a ding f th e first three

s r no on
stanz as in which the town wishes him luck the sand whispers an ff
.
, , s o
go d bye and the looking land adjures him F m y s ak

, , a ec
“ ” “
ti
sail and never look back These are th e f iendliest farewells im aginable
o na et o -
, , or e
But a negative beginni ng is necessary to h is argument becaus e what

, . r .
hexpe wants to prove is that Th fish erm an s qu e st for a supra hum an

rience through the sexual act ends in th e pathetic k owledge that
“
e
’
,
it is the most human f acts a solace by whi ch th bound m ort al s

e n
seek to escape their mo tal plight onl y to entrench th em selve s m ore

o -
, e ar
ines apably in it That is th e fishe man who has seemingly f und

r
“
a elease from the spi itu al travail of guilt and sin h a s al so h ad th e

c .
, r ,
o
”
unexpected and horrifying revel ation th at th end Of se x i s th

r r
“ ”
ineluctably p hysical co mm onplace f birth

e e
o .
12 8
and vi rtu e of animal d veg table love b ut that he does not want them
to pre e mpt the positions or i mpede th f nctions f intell ectual and
an e ,
spiritual love He in ists upon th difference between rut and th marriage

— e u o
of tru e m inds as Blake does upon th di fference between Innocence

. s e e
d Experienc ; and he i nsists upon their necessary interpenetration as

Bl ke do s upon the i di pensabili ty of a m ar i age of Heav n and Hell
an e
sweetness and light of honey and w not compromi sed by

a e n s r e .
Th e ax are
being located in the l ion s carcass ’

.
In the Wh ite Gi a nt s Th ig h ’
Th e tone of Wordsworth s lit le elegy to Lucy is f a dead fi n ality ’

t o
unexpected i whose in tim ations were of immortality

n o ne .
N motion has she

O w no force ; no ,
She neither he rs nor sees ;

Roll ed rou d in earth s diurnal course
a
’
With rock an d stones and trees

n ,
s, ,
.
Lucy wo ld seem neither to feel nor to be a presence th at disturbs

Th case i quite o therwise with the women of T homas s poem In
u .
life they ou tdid ll surrounding na re in their coupling unconfi ed

e s .
'
as they we e to periods f ru t i nterrupted by the urge for hi bernation

,
a tu , n ,
Th ey outdid their farmyard and forest f i ends ; but they were not se v ered
r , o ,
un .
f om hem Th is hedgerow f joys this blo m f wayside brides “ “
came to love as naturally as uni hibitedly as a tor ch of foxes It i

r t . o ,
o o ,
“ ' ”
only that the na re in the m is raised to a hi gher power One does not
,
n . s
tu .
thi k of Lucy i
n these terms n .
And in dea h the life is stil l in them They may be rolled wi h

cudgelli ng hacked hill but impassive
t , . t
d b rren as boulders in th
“ ”
an a e , , ,
inexpressive inactive they are not Th thermody amic desire in them

, . e n
to procreate did not cease at death If they did not have breasts for .
mouthi ng babes fter the dunghi ll assig ati n they fed the long “
d du g themselves were of virtu e to the grass and to

, a n o ,
desir rs e ,
”
an , n ,
th trees and to go all the w y with Lawrence to the me idian sun

In short havi g given a b igh t pen y for the ld g y they are still
e , a ,
r .
,
n r n o u
a torch of Fawkes fi es
,
r .
Th poem s irony consists in this that these butter ball goose gi ls

’
e : - -
r
for whom farm cart or pig sty w featherbed enough and

,
who ought to have had so many chi l dren they didn t know what to do
- -
as
’
in reality had cupboards bare as Mother Hubbard s that wh ile they liv d
,
they prod uced for their simple J ack Horner no plums however ( like Jack
,
e
s ,
130
and JJ m
ill ) the y ca
e
el cd
—
in the hay Y et, as the
did not ( th c n gh it seeme d
. di
mam
fl
d
not w a ste a dr ain in
ill s spi l t wat r , it d

’
!
of to to o so a x u 3
“
conc ei v in
g , sznc e it hol ds Th om as kazd ma t i n r firm
‘
tna t non e
h
t at is e g
v er reen
”
po e ms Th e m e d kettle s ”
r d einens w rn
a ] hi th e earth th e
m we
3 0
k
W
k “ L
L e per son
n
tes to tn sun a cn e
4
cess e ter cease ct i

I. a? 4 0
s e .
a
I
. o c a a 2
i s
drea m me n m
'
r t
in a tr e “ c
f uru cal or n e an d
e
exp r
s
a s . s e or a pa r o
p oe ar
.
m gn
w
th e
v
gi rl s shr ou d spwaak ta .
a m tn
fro
1
. e erie
r 0
s carv e d herd .
13 ]
A uth r s Pr log u o
’
o e
In outlining Poe m Birthday for B ll Re ad o a s rai s d hi s i Th m

question a man should exult when c nfronted by the nevi abili y
on , e
th e wh y i
Of a lunatic at m ic war He did that poem exult And th ere i s
o t t
“ ”
in if
exultation at least a note of hope in this prologue written e specially
o . .
, ,
.
, not
for the soon to published

,
be W S
it as not an exultation proper to the liberal hu m anist it is th e
“
- - -
M erwi n desc ibe s C o llec ted Poems . . .
exub er
r
ance a man drunk ith the holiness a nd wo nder creation with

;
of w Of
re ality and terror and ubiquity of death but wi h love as

,
th e t G od ,
as more power ul h a n d eath
,
”
f ( C as eb oo k
his statement is somewhat stronger th an the poe m warrants for
t .
,
T
accompanying the in toxication with natu ral world i s a sense
,
th e of
desperate fear for the hu m an O lson ha s s aid th at the poe m m akes “
a racket quite beyond any demand of e motio n th ought O lson

.
”
its (
It a n isy poe m but for a very good reason the voice l ove
or .
,
21 is of
needs be raised somewhat to capture at ent on fr m the m ass medi a

o ,
:
t i
of hate It may be too that om a s needs to shout re lieve his feel ng
to o
Th i
solitary neffectu ality For as said th e poem is a mere
.
, , to
of i w as
declaration of love for created things underlying th s is the urgency
.
, , no t
i of
early epith ets speeded torrent sea

;
his fear their survival for Th e
“ ” “ ” “
shaken and break eck evidence his fe ng the i mm ed iacy

.
, ,
” “ ”
,
n eli of of
the danger
situation at the tim e writing i s this
.
Th e of
1 Hate oods the world fl

As the ood beg ns
. .
fl i
OOfutfeartheragefountai
red
h
ofead n
,
manali v e
MOverolten andwound
mountainous
asleep
th e
,
strea m
,
to
,
SheepWales
wh ite hollow farm s
Toin my arms .
2 . War is immi ent n .
Th e h aystac k ed
Hollow farms in a th rong
OAfndwabters cluck and cling
f cockcrow war !
arnroo s
,
he is room for disagreement over the m eani g to be attached t

T
th ese tw sets f lines R alph Mil ls referring t th e Prologu e as a po m
r
e n o
“ ” “
f praise in time s d espite apparently sees Time as the fl o d and

o o .
, o e
’ ”
o , o ,
Th e sun sets as I chop t my poem t tell you h w I a man
as little any other at the still point of th e t rni ng whe l e x lt
ou o o ,
in thi s ea th risen t f the Ocean noisy wi th birds ditche d md

as u e ,
u
du g and dynami ted by m enri hed by the blood Of the de a d

a
-
r , ou o , ,
Listen I praise everythi ng f om bottom t hi ll top L ok

e n, c .
t of m y love and to the best f my ability I compose m y l o ud

: r sea- o -
. o
with praise poem as a means f salvagin g life f o m the fl ood which

ou o ,
w begins t flow li k e lava out of m an s fear and h a te over th e

- o r
’
country side to the home land I hold dear

no o
- -
.
His addres s has been to hu m an bei gs and its tone has not been
utonfriendly B ut the n he suddenly tu rns his back
address the birds and beasts Of the countryside He ope ns
. the m an d begi s
a
n ,
on n
note f complaint and disill usion

. on
o :
O wls dove clan of seabirds jack har wh hears me as I bu il d

mbeyastsshiptheexfarceptms anareimalfrightened
,
s m ade i God s im age? Listen sleeping

, ,
e—
’
o
by th e fl ood f h ate and the barn

n ,
roofs w m f w ar Fish bird s beasts speed t the safety f my

— o ,
the d ark comes there is no murmu r f p ace save from

a o .
, ,
—
o o
ark
th e d own e d out ch rches an d p astu re s
: as ,
o e
We will sail t al one and shout Multi tu de s of a rks ! An d

r -
u .
mi aculously other arks havens f love f life will appe ar every

r
ou
,
o -
o r- ,
where
S s in ce th fl ood ( a fl
o,
.
aboard my till s unli t ves sel s

d m l ) be gi ns t fl ower
e
-
eur
.
w come u a o no ,
Ihatt every
would app ar th at Th o m as sets ou t t rem in d the s trangers
t hing that live s is h ly B u t recognizi g th e Odds against
e o
him as being too great ( he is Noah ag ai st the worl d ) his poe m s

t o . n
bein g incapable f exe ti g strong a n d enduri ng pressu e ( they are

n , as
cr mb li g leaves a nd puffball s ) he gi ve s up the effort and devotes his

o r n r
attentio n to his w homestead His love e nvelop s the creatu res of th e

u n ,
se a and wood Perhaps his e x ample within the limite d re a will prove
o n .
effic acious His Ark like Don e s well wrou ght will be Obse ved ;
. a
’
and there will be th ose to beg a pattern f his love But then f cou rse
.
, n -
urn, r
he craftily send s th e poem t th e str angers thus worki ng both fro m

o .
, o ,
the ce ntre out and f o m th e p iphery in

o ,
W ith wh at degree f hope h d hi s message is a qu estion Analysis

reveals thi s :
r
o
er
e s en s
.
.1 I n hi p s as Noah Th om as s ts himself ap art from men

erso na , e .
.2 None f th e w g o refe ri g to hu m n beings

a es p rticula ly
r n a are a r
134
a Men are kneeling bu t to dyi ng fish t G d Crow black
may describ the sail s ra ther than th e men ; even th e con ota
.
, , no o .
ti on f c arrion crow is insistent

e so , n
b Boys are stabbi g S f course is the h eron m entione d

.
immediately after But for th e s ame rea son?

. n . o, o ,
c Cities will be destroyed i a religi ou s win d

.
“ ”
n
d Th earth is m an torn
. .
”
. e .
e Fear and rage are m li

. an a v e .
3 N t m e n b u t beasts li ste n to th p et This may mea n no m ore

th a th at h e is alone But why m ake a poi t of it?
. o e o .
n .
. n
Only beasts are addressed in th l st fifty lines e a .
O l y bea ts are invited to come aboard his ark f ref ge

n s o u .
M t f the positive descriptive epithets are of a im al origin

fa ms h b k hill h g b k wo d
os o n :
lm h p wh i
f li ght Th most noticable contradiction i s the uncompliment ry
sa on sun, s ee te r ,
o rse ac , o s ac o ,
fi h w if cross gull
ox . e a
s e- s .
7 . Th most sig ificant reference to G d is the excl m atory and

e n o a
blasphemous Hail to His beasthood ! “ ”
It is to y the least disconcerting to enco nter such denig ation

( a s it app ars to be ) f the hu m an in th e prolog e to a collection f
, sa ,
u r
po ms and ll th e m ore si ce it foll ows immediately the N in

e o u o
which Th omas professes hi

e ,
a so n o te
intention to have been to write for the “
l ve Of Man an d i praise f God But th e N itself awak ens dubieties

s
o n o . o te .
Th omas compares hi writi g for th reasons described to a h p d

’
making rit al Ob servances to the moon from wi thi n fairy ri gs in order

s n e s e er s
to protect his fl ocks Asked why the shepherd answers I d be a damn

u n
“ ’
.
, ,
fo l if I didn t ! Th shepherd is f course nai ve and superstiti ous a

’ ”
fearfu l practitioner f ld wives k nock wood pragmatism I Th omas s

o e , o , ,
’ ’
O o - -
. s
love f Man and praise f God to be designated naiv superstitious

o o e, ,
d pragmatic ? N doubt T homas was aimi ng onl y at a tone f i g ti

ti g g ass roots hu manness What he has achi eved however compared
an O o n ra a
n r -
.
, , ,
f
or example to Bach s of all music the end and final cause should be
,
’ “
,
f naught but the glory of God and the recreati n f the spirit w
the merely clever Light utterance need not necessaril y exclude deep
or , o O , as
feeling but in this instance it at least arouses suspicion f its absenc

.
o e
Distinguishi g the later poems from the e rli er O lson mak es this
.
,
comment There is undoubtedly a development from doubt and fear

n a ,
“
to faith d hope and the moving cause is love ; he com es t love Of

:
an , o
13 5
Go d by learni g t love m a n an d the worl d f n at re ( Olso
I think that might very w ll co me t su ch a formulati n
n o o u . n,
p
from a reading f the late poe ms i th volum e B ut the poet f the
. o ne e o o
Prologu e i t the po t f Poem hi Birth day He i s that

o n e . o
“ ” “ ”
lheoneliest f men Noah ; he i s at day s end summer s e nd pe a ce s

s
himself writes at p or peace

o
no
,
e o
d;
”
’
on
,
s
’
.
,
’
en
It is true th t the p m ends a note f hop

a oe
o
on
.
o e .
WUnder
e will ride t alone a nd then
the s tars f Wales
ou , ,
Cry Multitudes f arks ! Acro ss

o ,
Th water li d de d lands
,
o
MLikeannedwoodwitnh ithlands
e
eir loves th y ll m ove

hill t hill
s
,
o
’
e , .
B u t su rely th is is e xclam atory prote s ta tion a s compare d wi th the fel t

faith f o
the closer I m ove

T de a th m an th rou gh his sunde d
Th l u d er the su n bl oo ms
o , o ne re
And the tu sked m h kli g sea e xul t s ;

e o
A n d every wave f the way

,
ra s ac n
An d gale I ta ckle th e whole world th en

o
W ith mo e t iumph ant faith

T h an ever was sin ce the world w a s said
r r
,
Spi s its m o n g f praise

,
n r in o .
O lson says aga n

there is refuge from it in the Ark P
oo d i s a terror in the e a rly work in the l ater
i : Th e fl
My conjec re is th at ”
; ,
(
hlateromascoursehad inhdueedmanatevents tihadme cocommpee led sucits hdi a inbelief
T
of
o ne
u bu t tha t the
.
tion to th ou gh t l
.
to
m
tu
what migh t be In certainty h is belief a quiet st te m ent would

a
of the of
have sufficed the unsubst ntial hope requires a shout a

‘
.
,
; a .
13 6
In My Craft
or Sull Art en
It is a fit au dience nor are they a few wh o m om procl aims Th

th ey particul arly responsive
no t to as
his al egiance Nor as he c nceives them

l
ith con otations lone liness
.
, o , are .
Small wonder that the epithet s ullen, w its of
cf Skeat a portion serve d

n
and moroseness and unrew ardedness (

“
out to a rel g ou s dar kens th is poe m

.
i i
poem then a co mplaint a realistic acceptance in
.
Is th e ? ?
self ri hteou sness
, , or o r,
some odd a ma festo It is somethi g each

w ay , ni ? n of . Th e -
g
of his divorce from fame money popula ity approval the elite is of
not w thout its tinct re of self pitying braggado io He may e x act y

, , r ,
i l
be alone beweeping his outcast state yet neither is there a s ense
u -
c . no t
all
in the poem of his arising from sul en earth to sing hymns A sense
,
l
the h ghness his calling reverberates far more th r l ngly throu h
.
of i of i i
Author s Prologue th an t roug the pre s ent poem
g
“ ’
no one h h And
reme mbering his fire horse eag rness when an au ience offered can
.
,
d
view with oth er th an rony strictu res agai st the strut and trade
-
e ,
“
i h is
th e ivo y sta ges As Caitlin says Nob y ever needed
n
ms/ O n
”
o f c h ar r . : od
encouragement less and in America he drowned in it He ! ] w as

gave to th ose wide open beaked readings the concentrated arti ery hi s
.
,
ll of
lsmeshll boy vablo ity shows H

- —
f an d and above all od , breath is hi s

”
( C ase b o o k
in th e false modesty with which he greeted
, ,
.
,
encom ium hen I h ad fin shed read ng Dylan said as if

a -
n
B rinni n
’ “
W i i
hLeaps s
nto Sea from O verdose Prais and made as

i
:
e were quoting a newspaper headline andy dandy C rly l Poet

throw
:
‘
R
’
-
,
, u
if to
-
gir y
,
of
himself over the wall C

e,
”
sea ( as e b oo k ,
S til wi h all van y postu ring attention dem nding when h e

.
l, his it
went to work he did s o with a seriousness and di it that m ade him
t , ,
-
a ,
one w li g to suffer the isolat on u ncerta nty

, gn y
a iffe ent person
d il i i
tension and self mut atio n required th e precisionist work ng
r n , ,
il of i in im
precisions and w lling to do th without prof t
-
,
i wi i
m anifesto however that the poem is m st interesting D R
so or .
It is
XII no h as sug ested that poem int nded
as a , ,
o . . .
Howard ( Exp lic ato r 4) th e is

as an answer Yeats s Saili g to Byzantium
, .
g e
’
to n .
In th at poem Yeats divorces him self from th e young in

another s arms in order to pursue monuments of u ag ng intellect
, o ne
” “ ”
i
’
the p s sibil ty p rmanenc ho m as on

n ,
i a world of in of fl ux T th e
other h nd ta kes the lovers the central th ng to his and th e
o e e .
,
i
phrase sullen art m ay be a reply to Yeats demand that soul
a , as art,
“ ’
clap its h ands and s ng i .
13 9
suggestio n has me it Nothing could be more al i n t Th oma s
Th e r . e o
’
s
spi it tha
r deny the fl esh love and lovers for a mechanical si gi ng
n to , , n
bird Nothing more en rances his interest than those dyi g generations
. t
“
n
”
which were the object f Yeats s irony And his sympathy is never with ’
Carlylean heroes past or prese nt but with the scorned the rejected
o .
the men hemmed in wi th the spears Keats forlorn or S we ney beset

,
.
,
e ,
among the nightingales is to his taste as Agamemnon to take a tri , or o
f poets f a certain towering aloofness Milton Eliot Yeats could

never be h owever much b respected th eir g eatness
o o , ,
Th parall e l between Keats and T homas is close Both were precocio us

,
e r .
young men ; both extraordinarily sensuous ; both outsiders

e .
the
Cockney the other Welsh ; both were sensitive about their intellectu al
o ne
deficiencies ; neither w therefore ever free fro m an uneasiness

,
as , ,
Keats in the company of Wordsworth or Shelley Thomas with Eliot

and his compe rs ; each felt a falling off of his powers ; each could there
,
fore speak without false humility of having writ in water Ke ats m ore
e -
b m i gly ambitions than Th omas made his effort with Hyp i

a .
,
to join
the immortals He knew he had failed Thomas perhaps more self aware
u n , ,
e r o n,
certainly the roc ked boy of his age tried neither the epic nor the tragic
-
.
,
.
,
vein He did not hope for the intellectual arist racy in his audience
,
and was distinctly un omfortable when their representatives appeared

. oc
high enough to justify W S Merwin s

c .
Hi aim was lower Yet it w

’
state ment
s . as . .
he w ites his poems Not for ambiti n or bread f public

‘ ’
acclaim nor for the edificatio n of the self righteous

r o , no r or
for the de ad
b u t for the lovers If the act of love is c nceived as th e central
-
, no r ,
act f creation where love in joy and then in pain and th en in

o
joy over omes death it is clear wh y he should h ave felt th at h i s

o , ,
,
c
poems were directed ( C b k

,
so . ase oo ,
How Sh a ll My
A n im l a
his p em has occasioned s ome differenc opin ion Derek Stanford

T e of
takes the poem as the u tterance fe minin ty wom an s

o .
(p . 84)
“
of i ,
of
’
apprehension and knowle ge the male in the act physical union d of of

”
Elder O lson defines the Anim al a m etaphor for Soul a nd reads the
.
the S oul
as
po m as being concerned with the capture and drawing o ut o f
from the in erm st recesses of se lf

e -
In my own conjecture the speaker is homas as wishful Poet Prophet

n o .
T
Ani al represents elemental stuff from which Poetry and Prop hecy
;
-
,
th e m
1 40
b ginni ng was the Word This is th e presumptuous masquerading f
th e m ind Th Word cannot be the beginning f life It is the d
e . o
f life that which fall s she d B u t it has all the mechani cal force f
. e o . en
the vital universe It is a great dynamo f super mechanical

o , . o
force Given the w ill as accomplice it can even arrogate its m achine
non- . o -
mbeotions .
a nd au tom atizations over th e wh ole life till every tree

o mes a cli pped teapot and every m an a u sefu l m echanism S we
,
see the brain like a great dyna mo and accu mulator accumulating
c . o
m h i l force and presu m in g t apply this m ech ical force

, ,
cont ol t the livin g u ncon s cious subjecting everything sp ntaneous

ec an c a o an
certain machine pri nciples called ideal s ideas

r o ,
o
to -
or .
Th om as s difficulty can be s u cci ctly p ut In the begin ning was th e

’
wordless energy ; in the e nd was th e en rvated word Th e xplic ator s

n :
’
difficulty does not d iffer However

e . e
. :
How sh all m y dyn m ic u ncon ciou s trace f whi ch I find i n

sthube liseat
mated fo m i the conscious m ind ( in the brain with i th sk ull
a
f spiritual joy and phy s ical rot ) en d ure being in te l lect al

r n
s , o
n e
i d and verbalized b u ried lik e a Jew under a waili ng wall ; put

o ,
u
to sleep like a princess by a m agical spell ; segregated from life s

ze : , ,
’
activities like a m u ni g widow? How shall this octopus armed

, ,
with fl il l ike tentacles this drunken snail f a libido which should

, o r n
always be furiously its own self never compromising with the

—
a , o ,
w th lik s u perego ; h ow s h all th

ea er e magical u nconf ined unknown lS , ,
being come t terms with the natural the co fined the scientifically
o , n ,
mapp d?
How shall it lik e the aurora borealis ( midnight sun ) exert mag
e
, or
netic force upon a dry soulless land that is brin g color energy ,
—
, , ,
force to the shallow the provincial ratiocinative faculties ? How shall

it ( a mare ) couple with th e stud in a blaze f rut and sh are its
, ,
pasture that is how sh all th e unconsciou s join its force t the sympa
as o
thetic force f the h eart? ( In R l i 9 1 7 the heads f the

—
, o
“
horses were like lions head s ; the problem then is to melt a h eart
o ev e a t o ns , , , o
’ ”
hard as the h f and shoe f a horse ) Pu tting the two images togeth er
, ,
in Yeatsian term s how are th e loins heart and head to be brought

oo o .
into u nison?
-
, ,
How shall this energy ligh t shine heat and melt till m an s ’
softened earth perm it gr wth h i melted Arctic teem with life his
as , , ,
bowels overfl ow with compassion his veins squeeze from every cor
o , s sea ,
l the demanding utterance ? ( Cf Ka fka s definition f a tistic ’
crea tion as an axe to the froze n within

pusc e . o r
“
se a
142
W h a t Thomas is g tting at in this stanz a i again very close to a e s
leadi g idea in Lawrence that the solar plexus must balance the cardiac
n —
plexus Lawren goes far as to interpret history in terms of these

. ce so
plexuses .
In the previou s sym pathetic era the fl ower f the universal blossomed
i the navel B u t since Egypt the sun s creative activity beams from
o
’
the breast the heart f the supreme Man Th is i to us the source

n .
f light th e loving heart the Sacred Heart Against this we contrast

, o . s
o —
,
.
the devou ing darkness of the lower man the devouring whirlp l
r oo
beneath the navel Even the sophists don t realize that the universal
,
’
lotu s reall y blossoms in the abdomen that

.
lower man
dark devouri g whirlpool w once the creative so urce i hu man
o ur , o ur
, n as , n
estimation .
T homas having asked h is question f how the unc nscious will

endure burial bu ial paradoxically mea ing to be brought to ligh t
, o o
“ ” ”
out of its dark dep ths ) now fixe s upon h is figure f unconscious a s
r n
, o
octopus and describes his catching of it and the result .
T here are those ( Tho m as says ) facile amateurs in life and p etry
wh play like childr n at the edge of reality T hey h ave never heard
,
o ,
the m ermaids si ging ; and to avoid the real and si ister denizens f
o e .
the deep they fish shallow with bent pins for hooks and cake for bait
n ,
n o
.
,
T homas on the other hand fishes deep alm ost inaccessible cave
, , ,
po ls using live bait and nerves for lines ( Lawrence conscious

ness is li ke a web w ven finally i the m ind fro m the various silken
o ,
. :
stran ds spun forth from the center of the

o n
He uses an
open eye hook which he s i ks i n the quar y s tentacle ( Th open eye ’
is perhaps th third eye f the clairvoyant ) Havi g nailed h is

-
,
n r . e
“ ”
revelation he drags it forth to fix it in his consciousness ( as sta llion

, , e o . n
is studded to m are )
,
But the beach out of its element the octopus in blood and fu ry
.
clapped down is dead fish Wh at is T homas s score then in this fi h

,
on , ,
ing tou n ament? He has as the fishermen of mermen have not made
,
.
, , s
r , ,
a ma gnificent catch but to no g go d end Th dynamism he ,

rea t o . e
sought was a momentary thing Th moment f revelation does not . e o
provide an Aquinas map ( to use a Poundian phrase ) for the under

“
-
standi g f space and time n o .
Yet th ou gh th fishi ng expedition is a failure and the last stanz a

has its elegiac note it is not a total failu e Thomas addresses his animal
, e
, r .
,
Y once vital Samson of an octopus f creative energy but w

ou , o no
14 3
col d clay beached stunned gasping the shore die slowly lying
lyour
ike a shorn sun god Cold scissors f the mi d cut and prune tu rn
, ,
th icket into a topiary ga rden ; the fury of you r passion i s ifi d

-
.
,
o
on
n
,
“
,
,
”
into a temple f Philistines ; the virgin m outh nails living thou ght to
re e
plan k s f words cuts fl aming fl owers from living bushes makes the
or
lustful lion fall at her feet u tters negatives like Jehovah to cramp the
o , ,
prophet s style i sho t inhibits the intended utterance

’
You dislodged from your cave accept th change from se a t

—
n r ,
.
earth from wet t d y from rest in your element to gasping death on

,
se a- ,
e o
the beach and bu rial in the earth and when your dead eye no longer
,
o r ,
die like a phoenix You have li ke a stalli on kicked your

, ,
sees th
w y out of your stall leaped with a cry to the answering light an d
e sun , .
, ,
a ,
died in my hea t r .
Wher one may assume though it is n ot what it w a d cann t d

all that Thom as might have desired it m ay in some wise m elt th e
e, ,
as, n o o
horseshoe f the poet s h ea t

,
’
o r .
This i a fiercely compressed and concentrated p e m Th anim al

hero takes shape as a Merlin a J w a pri cess a wi dow a d unk s nail
s o . e
an octop u s a aurora boreal is a h rse a S amso n a thicket a te mple

,
e , n , , r ,
a burni ng bush a lion a Moses a phoe ni x And not in su cc ssion but

, sun o r ,
o , , , ,
with confusing simultaneity Thom as h as served s crambled eggs not

, , , . e
.
,
fried eggs in series

T h is he has d o ne quite arbitrari ly a s witness th e s tr a i ght forwardn es s
.
f the ori gi n al fi st st an z a simple p rsona l but abs tract in w h ich t h e

-
,
pre sent complex i mpe s nal concrete st anza ha d its inception

o r , , e , ,
, r o , .
HWowh oseshway
all th e animal
I trace
InBetodurable
th e dark rec s e s e s ,
Under such weigh t a s bow s m e d ow

Th bitter cer ta i n ty f w as te
n,
Th k n owing tha t I catch a th o u ght

e o
T see it cru shed

e
Be neath you r foot m y b nte in g Phi li stine?

o
, a r
h s is i ndeed a s anza eyeless in Gaz a dif er nt from ul tim a

T i
su c s sor as the m ill hand rom temple de st oyer A m racle has
t
f th e
, as f e i ts te
i
taken place b ut and th s is the astou ndi g th in g m acle n atu al
c e - -
r .
i ir of
poem has grown seem s have ro n l ke hair It di d

,
—
n — a r
pro ess The w i

st ict rhythm ic pattern the care ul rhyming
c .
—
or to g
—
.
not , course
of . Th e r , f , th e
1 44
Th e raven s cough and th winter sticks suggest youth s departure con
’
e
’
i i gly enough But the inebriated brain has been omitted And it
tak es some d ing to find the above sickened heart in
v nc n . .
My busy heart who shudders she talks

Sheds th e syllabic blo d and drains her words
as
o .
T ho m as has sacrificed immediate comprehension for the sake f dra o
matic imagery And one might be glad that the simpler earlier version
.
is available except for the possibility of its proving a false sign post Does -
.
the written poem like its a tecedent inveigh agai st the frustrations
re- ,
n ,
n
attendant upon being a poet? Art is long says the early version and , ,
life short and never se ms mor

, than when inspiration refuses to
e e so
team with craftsmanship

I think that the new poem though in the same general area f
.
,
o
discourse h shifted terms somewhat Th omas s problem has become not ’
much one of k eeping alive the words in syntax s despite as of escaping

,
as .
the habit f seeing things in te m s of their names and descripti ns in

so
o r o ,
order to name and describe them better in his w verbalizati ns What

he wants in his poems is the poet wal king on fire d not his shadow
o n o .
an
crab the reality not the app arance He would agree with Stevens that e .
Nothing must t d/ B w you and the shapes you take and that
,
s an et een ,
you must
T hrow away th e lights the definitions
And y of what you see in the dark
, ,
sa
That it is this that it is that or
But do not use the rotted names

Ma n with the Blue Guitar
.
Th e
What i the grass the child asked And Whitman answered the fl g
?
of my disposition the beautiful uncut hair f graves the journey work

s .
,
a
, o ,
-
f the stars and so on Which is to admit as he had done before attempt

ing these fl ights f fancy that he did not k now he c uld only offer the
o , .
,
reaction f a moment s m ood Th relation of poet to thing is a difficult

o , ,
o
’
o . e
one He wants like the scientist t know but individually rather than
generically and to express but in words that k eep the thing alive
. o ,
.
, ,
He must for himself and express as himself But as a lover f

see . o
words and imag s both his vision and his vocabulary f images are
under constant pressure Th h abit f imm di t
e , o
b li ti and f
. e o e a e
'
v er a za on o
metaphoric play diverts the eye And there is the danger of never seeing .
the thing itself but a verbal substitute He may after Whitman never
see grass at all without a thought of uncut h air
.
, ,
T hus it is with T homas in his second stanza He is in his study .

, sur
14 6
rounded by books and manuscripts himself intent upon nothing but
the words before him an d inside him A tower of w rds within a tower
,
. o
f words As he sees in the distance fl h and blood women he com

pl t ly misdefines them They wal k li ke trees They are not women but
o .
, ,
es - -
,
e e . .
springboards for the metaphoric leap

But perhaps this interpretation i t negative too much in terms
.
s oo ,
of the sickened heart Perhaps the inebriated brain co templating from

a distance and u naffected by accidentals is enabled more easily to get
.
, n
t
o the raw spi it f the women ( and the star gestured childr n )
r o
“
-
e
”
and f the words that describe th eir inscape

O
o .
r p rhaps he has intentionally t a heart sickening figur that f

e se -
e— o
the women against the brain delighting one of the children drama
ti i g what he had stated i n his fi t version s first stanza
— -
,
Since he ’
drops the human figu res at once and never retu ns to them one can
z n rs .
only speculate as to their function in the po m

r ,
O “
f these three possibilities the first appeals as being most c dible
In Th O rchards the young poet Marlais struggling with his words
,
e
“
.
re .
li ke a man with the sun is thus described

e ,
, :
,
Th word is t
e m uch with us He raised his pencil so that its
shadow fell a tower f wood and lead th e clean paper ; he fingered
oo .
on
, o ,
the pencil tower h half mo n f his thumb na il rising and setting

, t e -
o o -
behind the leaden spire Th tower fell down fell the city f words
th e walls f a poem the symmetrical letters He marked the di i t
. e , o ,
o ,
. s n e
g ra ti of
onthe ciphers as the light failed the drove down into a , su n
foreign mo ning and the word f the rolled over the sun Image
r o se a .
,
all image he cried to the fallen tower as the ni ght came whose
,
o n,
ha p is the ? whose b ning candle i the ? An image of man

,
he rose to his feet and drew the u tains open Peace like a simile
r sea in s sun ,
c r .
, ,
lay over the roofs of the town Image all image cried Marlais step .
, , ,
ping through the wind w to the level roofs o on .
From th women and children Thomas turns t the landscape It is

e o .
thi s that seems especiall y the burden f his song since it is this that o ,
is signalized by the reiterated formula Some let me make you “
Th ere are seven such incantatory sentences

,
Some let me make you f the vowelled beeches o
Some of th oaken voices ( notes of the roots )

Some let me mak e you f the water s spee hes
e .
Some let me make you of the meadow s signs

o c
’
S me let me tell you of the raven s sins ’
Some let me make you f autumnal spells

o
Some let me make you f the h eartless words

o
14 7
O f these f st thr b in g n g m n d th e l n ds c ap su r und n g
th e ir
the women an d c hil e n spe k only l fe a tou gh strength an d longevity
dr
ee , r i
of
to
i
i a e ro i
B ut the nex t al hough equally coun ryside im ages h n t at d ea h

, a , , .
two , t t i
g ass whose g een st ikes th e ob s e ver s eye is gras s wh ose blade
, t .
’
Th e the
will physically penetrate when h e h as bec me an ex ob se ver th e
r r r r
if
rave n does n t get there first pike h is bo nny blu e ee n
o -
r —
’ “ ”
life is sh ort th eme and the appearance reality the m e are brou h t
to o ut .
“ ”
Th e
togeth er in the opening sentence of this stanza the th ird
g
-
( )
Behind a pot of ferns the wag in g cl ock

ells me the hou r s word th e neu ral m eaning
g
’
T
Flies on the shafted disk declaims the m orning
,
An d tells wi dy weath r in the cock

,
the n e .
Th eclock poi ts an abstract symbol s ay th e nu mb er the cock 5

notifies su se th e poet says It s the middle th e and
n to ,
mgh t
“ ’
of nri of
then remembe ing an unfi ished poe m fee ing an intestinal gripe It s
; , ,
“
l
’
later than you h ink In term s the l atter thou gh t th e minute h and
r n or ,
”
of
th at seems so stationary is a ying sh afte d a row What with gras s

t .
, ,
fl
blades last
raven s be ak an d arrow th is a pointed stanz a
,
’
the incant tory c nst u ctions speak m ore th e poet

,
,
,
is
, r .
of
Th e two o f
than of the landscape He is n ot conce ned with the object bu t
a o r
no w
with th e ubject s reaction to th e object which h as become someth ing

. r
’
moreHerethanpartly
natu ral lan dscape and exerts a m ag cal spell
s
b cau e syntax does interpretation bre aks d own

e s
,
i .
.
, ,
Somespiderlet tong
( m e umake you autu mnal spell s
e d a nd th e loud hi of W ales
of
ll
,
1
Th e , )
What spider tongued means and which is th e l oud I do b ill no t
know and whether they are i n apposition with m e with spel s ” “

l
”
is a question I shall assume that they modify spells and th at h omas

,
or
“ ”
T
is saying m e give you an impression of th e magic l in uence
Le t
.
au tumn hich emanat s from all nature from the small and noisele s s
,
w
a fl of
to the large and n oisy

,
e ,
ere can be little question however th e autumn al sp ll s effect

.
’
Th of
heart spe l s fro m its

, , e .
Th e sybil s leaves the onset of ife s evening o wn

’
l
’
straining be time s vast womb all home all h earse

“ ’
ni ht of f o f—all
”
And su rely the dark vowelle d bird s are less likely to be the te mpl e h aunt
to ,
- -
,
-o -
,
-
g .
ing martlets than the ravens h at croaked King Duncan s fatal entrance
- -
O r I should think Derek Stanford according whom this poem

,
outwardly a landscap piece records th e creative powers poetry

so .
t
, to
“
.
( e- ) of
*
T h o mas may h av e b uried a l ittl e j o k e m sp i d er-to ngue d Th ere i s . l
a c ass o f sp i d ers k nown
as T h omi si d ae b ut more c o mmo n ly kn o w n as c rab -sp i d ers .
14 8
since myth supports man s faith and hope th rou gh the tragedies f life ’
adult sexually m ature and winged

o .
Thomas himself i like an im g

Hi symbols transcend al l spatial li m itations
s a o , ,
.
he can apprehend and

utter microcos m ( this insect ) and m acrocos m ( the c an
s
“ ” “
Comprehend and re gulate mundane time and ( less successfu lly by half )
th mad and m addening moments when ima gination leap and wh en it
falters In halving the se ntient insect ( his nail perhaps the guillotine )
e s
and stopped the fabulou s

.
,
he h destroyed the instinct to survive

as
process f metam rphosis the two halves f the body evidencing

this destruction f innocent confidence and hopeful beginning
o o o
a post French R evolutio n man he h as

o .
T here i a parable in this

attitudes toward the reaso n able d the myth ic ( fact and fiction ;
- -
s : as ,
tw
truth and superstition ) ; case in point though rationally he agrees to
o an
science s subversion of th e factual basis of the Eden sto y em tionall y

,
’
he affi ms that fertili ing myth

r ,
o
Th louse f cerebralis m i fects with black death the m y th ic faculty

r z .
In its l l state the now dead insect w Wingless and wormli ke

e o n .
( a d agon to beco m e a fairy prince ) ; within the confines f his Edenic

arv a ,
-
as
egg he attains his gr wth breaks the egg and enters the quiescent ( shell
r o
shocked ) p p l state a last beginning before a hieving m aturity A crawler

,
o , ,
a chrysalis d before its murder a bu tterfl y ( symbol of hea t s h ope )

u a ,
c .
,
’
a drive for fl ight before it left

, an , ,
r .
( O r perhaps it represented a hope f

the egg a fall from love ) Th is butterfl y this defenseless pawn eve n
or,
.
,
for children unesteemed ( like the donkey in Chesterton s poem wh ’
with ears like errant wings i mistreated thou gh he bore Christ Palm
, o
“ ”
Sunday ) finds Je ich following clo s e Eden

, s on
Again the application the metam rph ic pro ss in nature sugg sts
, r o on .
a similar pro ess for man It is such a process that the Bibli cal myth
: o ce e
dramatizes R eason recognizing the fact in the insect hee haws the myth
c .
-
.
, ,
i to a children s sto y a pleasant tale lik e that of Pandora s box

’ ’
T homas objecting d eclares T h butterfly f myth ff

n r , .
, the assurance
, : e o o ers
f hope because the history of the butterfl y a series of miracles is true

Reas n promises as the only certainty only death R eason Gradgrindian
o , , .
deflating ( like Newton finding poetry ing nious fiddl faddle ) c ies down
o .
, ,
”
the great revelations those f Sha kespeare C ervantes Homer John Job s
e e —
r
’
author and the saints and mystics But th e voice of the hero f the
: o , , , ,
greatest most revelatory myth f them all replies

, . o
My love for man my “
l ve for the visionaries i deathless ( and is deathlessly r ciprocated b y the

, o : ,
visionaries ) No revealer f life s secret comes to a conclusion more certain

o s e
’
than this ( no teller of love tales can expect other than this ) th at th e
. o
names of all the legendary sweethearts are carved on ( or g ow as part f)

:
r o
the immortal Eden tree ( the tree f earthly knowledge of love ) ; and that
behind the theatrical curtain f fable am I on the tree f spiritual truth
o
o , o ,
150
who as l died lay three days in the h y
arv a ,
c r salis state and ,
on the third
day rose an im g that has t lb w d space
,
a o ou e o e .
”
Sh o uld L anterns Sh in e
Th e first stanza of this lyric is charming that it is a pity that the
poem as a whole remains curiously unjelled One might think this t a
so
. no
finished poem but a series of starts and jottings for a poem yet to be
written Th app arance of the lines on the page the bloc k f eight and
. e e —
o
one of seven followed by two disconnected couplets would sustain the

belief lik e the tadpole it is a toad that is all head
—
,
Th Opening lines with their stri k ing image of the m u mmy s fa e at

: , .
’
e , c ,
first glance seen as whole and holy but instantaneously under the , ,
lantern s gleam disintegrating are followed by a set of abstractions which

’
might be entitled Memoirs f a S choolboy Th effect of drop ff is

, ,
“ ”
like th at of an e nergetic narrative poem with a moral tag Thanks

o . e -
o
“
thank s my worthy friend for the lesson thou h ast taught And the
—
,
, .
pictorial li es that follow the abstractions

n ,
field and roof lie level and the same

So fast I move de fying time the quiet gentleman ,
Whose beard wags in Egyptian wind ,
depicting Th omas in aerial combat with an aged gentleman are merely ,
ludicrous Th e ffort to bring the two stanzas into context by allusion to

. e
“
Egyptian wind does not succeed ; and it is not helped by the archaic
”
omission f the article nor by the tone violating verb of mockery wags
o -
,
“
.
”
Th first of the w caudate couplets reverts to plain statement Th

,
e t o . e
second which Longfellow might have discarded is pictorial but paltry

and absurdly removed in e very respect from th e mysterious and dramatic
,
o ne ,
scene with which the poem starts We have moved from R embrandt to .
T enniel .
T here w originally still another couplet

as , ,
R egard the m oon it hangs above the lawn ; ,
R egard the lawn it lies beneath the moon ,

.
T his clearly a couplet for still another poem T homas d eleted on Wat k ins
’
, ,
advice
O ne might justify Thomas s halts and starts here on the grounds that
.
his subject is precisely indecisiveness the poem representing what it

’
discusses by an intended and controlled incoherence I do not thin k that

,
51
this argument enh ances th e p e m s valu e the intention m ay h ave prevailed o
’
: ,
but the control did not

But regardless of the po m s value as p em wh at it has t s ay is f
.
interest since it poses the pr blem that h harassed European i ntellectuals

e o , o o
sreligious
i ce the advent f organized scienc the problem that confronts every
,
o as
n o e,
poet and every poet wrestling up the tower to a religious faith

and h confronted them at least since Donne It is th e problem f
bringing the eye of reason and the eye f faith int si gle focus
as . o
At the outset f the scientifi c movement Bacon its g eatest p p

o o .
u h l r
o , ,
ro a
d i w the split that w imminent Sang ine e did not fee that “
a m an se rch t far i the Book f God s Word in the Book f

an
g t s , sa as .
,
’
G d s Work But he expressed a w rning O nly l et men b eware th at

c an a oo n o , or o
’ ” “
they apply both to Charity and t to swelli ng ; to

o . a :
and t to ostenta
tion and again that they do t unwisely m ingl e
no u se, no
, ,
onfound these no or c
leamings together
In due course however they were mingled th e n atural philosoph ers
.
fo used attention upon Nature instead f the nature f G d that the

, , :
ltoatterdrainbecame
so c
assimilated into the former Th ne xt step was inevitable

God and benevolent pu pose t of nature ; t subtract Provi
.
o
e
o o
dence from history ; to reduce God to a father im ag fath er to an ambul a

r ou o
—
e,
tory libido and religion t an obsessive compulsive neurosis o -
Smal l wo nder that Auden before he regained h i Christian faith could

, .
welcome even Th nursery bogey the w i ll gh ost since

, s ,
” “
nightmare / Of hostile objects could be as terrible as th is Void

e or nece ar no
Lawrence once defined belief a profound emotion that has the m ind s
.
’
as
connivance He had his belief My great religion is a belief in the

.
”
:
“
blood the flesh being wiser than the intellect We can go wrong in
minds But what blood feels and believes and says is true
,
.
, as
o ur
.
.
”
o ur
Thomas has not yet in this poem come t his He recognizes the over
powering question What s h all I d ( as m an or as artist ) to b e saved?
, , o .
“ ”
and its concomitant What have I done to be damned? He recognizes

, o
“ ”
that the Christian answer has been rende ed suspect by cience which
, ,
t
oo , r a s
supplies no substitute Finding available easy answer he has

recourse but t wrestle with the questions He started adult l ife without
. no , no
a d gma a creed though h i mind had been ti ged as by soot by the

o .
ambient Welsh Nonconformism Unli ke so me f h i contempora ies he

o or , s n , ,
came t
. o s r ,
absolute conclusion he did t go gentle into Anglo

Catholicism like Eliot into Rom an C atholicism at his wits end like
o no : no
’
ism cum
, , or
T homas Merton ; he did t forswear Christi nity for Confuci

, ,
neo Platonism li k e Pou nd or contrive a system that never was on l and or

no a an -
sea like Yeats ; h e did not with the assurance f a Stevens t ake the
-
, ,
, o
Santayana w y
, ,
a .
15 2
b ers the R otarian approach of the priest in D bli ) the critici sm f
the one s trike the oth er
u ne rs , o
Th poe m r ns somethi ng l ike thi s

s .
e u
Th church steeple s retches i neck away from a rth water food ;

i cr ni ng i quite m cra elike Its birds carved stone not p rmi tt d
e t ts e , ,
th h z ard of fli gh t a sil ent

ts a s u -
n .
, , e e
d j weed and fro h “ ” “ ”
comment on the church s areful u ili ta rian nonsen e attitu de )

e a an oy ,
t are
’
are less divor ed from na ure It would s em that th Estab li h

c ,
t ,
no - s ,
no c t . e e s
ment w i ontrol ; everythi ng i i deme ne i s fely lifeless

d or abstracted But when th e de d iron of the spire im
as n c n ts s s a ,
i mmi
p ison d bell s sounds it mu sic scap s the p riest s control d falls
so ne ,
. a -
lswiikemmnotrs sarer i p adrticipati

r
“
e
r i n up n the water ( i whose servi e th outl aw

’
g ) s tti g the hythm for the crawl fur

t a ne
”
,
a
s
o
e e
n c
an
i hi g backg o und m usic for the swimmer embra e ( sil ver l ck )

e n , e n r ,
’ “ ”
and ki s Th mu ic ( d app ar ntly s m e re l birds ) falls away

n s n r s c o
?
from th church escap s the trap th shep h erd s h ok

s . e s an e o a
d
’
( perhaps ) th e p i a te clutch f Captain H ook cum L ng Joh Sil ver

e , e e o , an
r - o - -
o n
sy ntax of th last th e li es i ambi gu o u s I t ke it as di ct

.
Th
address Th ose pie l the sky s eking birds are choi e images for y
e e r e n s . a re
you songs th at dare not venture fro m th e ontriv d voice th at avoid

: -
n- - -
e c ou,
re li ty i th bell tower s shelter

c e or
’
But David Ai wh finds th th em e f the po m t be art a s

a n e -
.
ill usion fai h ill usion thi k s a Hobson s choice i b e ing off ered b
v az , o e o e o
” ’
tw en and faith and he concludes sadly Th poet implies th at the

,
t as , n s e
“
choi e i none sin e both art and f ai th ( ni ghti ng al e and psal m i

e art , : e
‘ ’
ano her po m the voi e and b ll here ) are ill so y when they deny
c s , c n
‘ ’ ‘ ’
t e , c e s u r
process ( T dl k p ”
I do not hi nk hat the choi e i b tw n art and f ith but b tw en a

. e oc ,
.
da i g un es tricted experiencing and safe p t li d narrowness

t t c s e ee a e e
rn ,
r a , a erna ze .
O can ch ose the cou se of the pr digal or f hi stay home

brother A d since the choi e is possible the fi al note is optim i tic
ne o r o so n o s -
at-
. n c , n s .
Bc e a us e the Pleasu re -
B i rd Wh istl s e
Ab ut five yea s g I read Hen y T r e s expli cation f this poem ’
I have not l ked at it si e nor hav e I attempted explic tion f m y

o r a o r eec o .
w J ust out f curiosity I prop se t writ without referring to T reece s

oo
a alysis whi h may b found on P 1 3 7 of his bo k

o
n
n .
c
o
e
nc ,
o o e
an a o
’
, . o .
It i New Y ar s Eve and sn wi g Th mas stand in the snow spitti g ’
and thinki g thi nki ng about him self and hi craft He i alo e self
s e o n . o s n
n —
s . s n ,
-
co n
15 4
cerned probably more h n a li tl e drunk A h po m pro gr s h
e x e l c ld of the ni ght contend wi th h h at of the lcohol w ithi hi m
,
t a t s t e e es es , t e
n rv e lik e dr g;
t rn a o s t e e a n .
Th N w Year snow f l l hi k ly s illi ng the ci y

’
e e a s t c t t s e s a u
Th om s obs rves h w y i whi h ( spat dow by the N w Year ) i f l l

,
a e t e a n c n e t a s
up n d swaddles
o an h breaki g bubbled spi le whi h h t e n -
tt c as
proj cted from the tip f hi tong e Th b r i g bubbles remi d hi m

of split eye b all s Th snow cut hi m ff f om the f mi li r w rld f
e o s u . e u st n n
-
. e s o r a a o o
p ople ; it is if h were c mp ing out l one i the wil de ne h nch d

e as e a a n r ss , u e
over a sm ll ampfi e Th o l y w mth d ill mi ion f r e i

that wi hi n hi m e lf (rather m re a sp iri t lamp th a campfi e) d the
a c r . e n ar an u n at . o cou s , s
fire se ms to b a k f om hi eye Th sn f ll p n hi m li rally d

t s o -
an r an
e re r s s . e ow a s u o te , an
wi hi n him met phori all He li e ll y ta tes the now th if th o gh

hi hai r ( it i v e y lik e Th o m ha ve lo t hi cap ) to h i t g e ; he
t a c y . t ra s s at s ts r u
s s r as to s s s on u
me pho icall y co template h col d e s the

ta r h t g d l i k the
n s t e n s ,
ro u g -
on ue c
lashi g of h times d hi pl e alone i the fore f e r Th in er

,
n t e an s ac n st o rr o . e n
c mpfi e b gi s bl ze d h fl mi g t g e to fi d e a ce A d
, .
a r e n to a an t e a n on u n u tt r n . n
at first he pay no heed h o r e f the b l e

ak e m e phil ph i l iew
s to t e s u c o az .
But h s lf namoured man b gi

( v en though lik e L t s wife he i b gi i
t e e —
e e n s to t a or oso ca v
f eeze ) Beca L t s ’ ’
puni hed for lo ki ng bac k her p in the w i k d i y f

e ,
o s e nn n o to r u se o
wife w
.
Sodomit s should I ( ill minated i w n e ) s v er my c nnec ion

as s o to ast c e c t o
e , u —
n t o se s s e o t s
with the burnt po ket wo n p t N thi i absurd b

-o
ut, the c —
r as
?
o— s s eca use
c ses are not analogous Th ere i not one l w f L t s w ife d f me

,
’
a . s a or o an or
there i not for h ple re bird d the bli d hor Th compari on

,
of the lat er w has o ffe ed f od for though t ; k en n ly i h arri ved

as s t e asu -
an n se . e s
t t o r o e a a ss as
at thi conclusion
s .
N w he i prep red to fl sh wi th meaning the bare b n s of the B iblic l

story Though no one f e ds the dead the dead f ed Wh t hey hav e
o s a e o e a
. e . e us . a t
done i olently a ff c a m
c an v whe her he i on l nd d w hether
e t an t s a o r sea an
poles away from their tomb

Tho m as works hi m elf out of hi
s .
lf pitying mood ( i whi h he w

bli ded bird tort ed Pe ga s br ken b bb l d ma led b ) e xp res es
s s se -
n c as
n , ur su . o u e an u oy s
his gratit d to those of a ld l s e w h s pp lied ome w od for hi

.
,
nter h pub to tak e a i gh g d i lli e w ght i

u e u an g yn o u s o s
fire , and no doubt re—e s t e r t oo w -

au n
their honor .
My Hero B r s h is lV
a e ere es
'
Acc rdi g to S anford the p m d scrib s an act f m asturbation ;

o n t ,
“
oe e e o
and My He o refers wi h that unhappy R ab l i i n jocul arity which

‘ ’
T homa someti mes emplo y s to the m le m mber

r t e as a
(P 5 6
”
s , a e . .
15 5
He is quite wrong Th m t cu rsory reading f the poem shows th at
thheroe mofalethemember cann ot by any stretch f th e imagination d what the
. e os o
p e m i described as doing
o o
Th omas s h ero is that part f h im w h ich compe l s him to th e w iting f

o s .
poetry That is there is Dylan the lazy Welshm an and there i Thom as
o r o
the Poet as Hero Like all normal pe ple Dylan reverences Thom as for
.
, , , s ,
h i re m arkable abilities but hates hi m f his insistent calls t action As

- -
. o ,
this poem opens the Hero i prodding th e Welshm an into creativity

s or o .
Far from being a description of onanism the po m is an elaboratio n

, s .
f th idea th at poetry ( if it is t escape being rhetorica l entimental )

, e
mustIn result
o
from the united activity f head heart and loins

e o or s
the first stanza the cr ative impulse t l oads mate ials from th e
o , , .
brain ; nerve impulses run from the bent head on the straigh t spine to th e
,
e ou -
r
pen hand There is clearly om e conflict Th Dylan h ead i t particul arly

eager but the Th omas spine pe mits no evasion f duty
-
. s . e -
s no
In the second stanza Dylan reveals himself as a f ustrated d ay dreamer

,
-
r o .
a volitionless co mplainer full f self pity He badly needs both as poet

,
r -
,
and as person a little recoll ection in tranquil ity Here perh aps he feel s
, o -
.
,
an urge toward onanis m

.
, , ,
poetic impulse hastens to stimulate Dyl an s fl agging spirits H

.
’
Th
Opens up their mutual rib case and reveals the h eart within which looks
e . e
-
,
like a rather bloody Botti elli Head and heart are now seen t b function
ing properly And promise is made f a better h eat than sensu l passi n
c . o e
perhaps the divine fll t plus its product an i m aged love

. o a o
But a third step needs to be ta k en Th Hero thou gh he has deni ed th e

a a us , .
genitals actu al physical play prepares to the nerv us energy store d

. e ,
therein ( Th phallus is certainly the emperor f all love hunger ; th e

,
u se o
“ ”
genitalia whose sole business i birth copulation and death would natur
. e o
,
s , , ,
ally praise what the poem calls the m rtal “
A d then comes the poem s most p u zzling l ine

o
’
n :
He pulls the ch ain the cistern moves ,

.
What h happened In the first li ne of the sta nza the Hero h olds th e
as ?
wire from this b f nerves Are the wire and the chain identical? If
ox o .
no t w h y does he hold the one and pull the other Th

,
wire f ourse ? e , o c ,
suggests electrical energy held in abeyance Pulling the chain regrettably .

, ,
suggests fl ushing an ld fashioned toilet O -

.
I would suggest that w are supposed to visualize both and thus keep a e
tight grasp the related id eas that poetry is a simultaneously psychical

and physiological process and that the honest poet never forgets th at
on
“
Love has pitched his mansion/ In the place f excrement But if the
reader feels strongly the need expunge the toilet image from h is m ind s
o .
’
to
15 6
gnashing of teeth ) And Th om as more be nt to serve his Master m akes
.
,
his oath L t my blood fail if I take either to destroy or to return

,
unchanged the bounty f this world which exacts f each m an his day
: e , ,
, O o
labour .
L o ve in the Asylum
To determine what this po m says is not difli lt e cu :
A mad gi rl has come to share my ( mad ) room in my ( mad ) h use

escaping from and ( li ke Kate in R ossetti s T h King s Tragedy )
o ,
’ “ ’ ”
bolting the door against the dark ness of the night Th ou gh confined in
, e
a narrow bed ( like one trapped in a maze ) she fools the theoretically ,
heaven proof house by trailing after her Wordsworthian cl uds of

gl ory ; still in that bed h f ls the room like a spirit from the other
-
o
world by walk ing by sailing into imaginary male wards

, s e oo ,
She owned and m addened by the sky brings light through the
, , or .
ightmarishly pulsating permeable wall She walks in h er sleep and

, ,
raves on the fl oors which I have tearfully paced And I caught to h er

n , .
ill umined by her will surely be capable of my w L Si

.
, ,
, o n ux t .
But to determine what the poem means is not so easy F Stanford it . or
is a tender and humorous piece rather out of the Freudian Romantic

“
tradition i which th e later T homas writes about love (P

-
”
n . .
Possibly so If so is it about Caitlin Another?

It could f course be a jok ing celebration of Caitlin s return to his
.
,
—
or
’
, O ,
bed after one of their inveterate bl w ups But the tone of the poem and o -
.
its obvious similarity t Th Mouse and the Woman in A d o

“
i h e
”
v entures n t e
S k i T d suggest that its theme is a heralding f the return after an

n ra e O ,
absence of what used to be called inspiration

,
“
.
”
Th girl though she sleeps in th narro w trough Of such tercets as

“
e , e
compose this poem yet walks and raves at will like Stevens poem which ’
goes from th e po t s gibberish to

, , ,
’
e
Th gi bberish f the vulgate and back again

e o ,
deluding lik e a supreme fi ti li t all things confining Thomas who h ad

lost the foll y of th e moon ( to quote Stevens again ) and become Th
, c o na s ,
.
,
-
“ ”
prince Of the proverbs f pure poverty has regained h is folly ( that

e
necessary angel ) and feels again the Genesis urge within him He m ay
o ,
-
.
soliloquize now like the hero Of his story, :
It i t a little thing he thou ght this writing th at lies before me

s no , ,
.
15 8
It is th telling f a creation It i the story f birth O ut f h im h ad
e o . s o . o
come another A being had been born not t of the womb but t
.
, ou , ou
f the soul and the spinning head He had come to the cottage the
o
heyesill thatf men

the being within him might ripen and be born away from th e
He u n derstood what the wind that took up the woman s
. on
cry had cried in hi s last dream L t m e be born it had cried He had

o .
gi ven a woman being His fl esh would be up n her and the life that
. e , .
he had given h er would make her walk talk and sing And he knew
. o ,
that it was upon the block of paper h w made absolute There

, , .
,
was a n oracle in the lead f the pencil

t
oo , s e as .
o .
All this is mere conjecture f course Th simple fact is th at we are

faced with an occasional poe m lacking th e footnote to spec ify the occasion
, o . e
A s occasional poems go it has it virtu es if all the rest is verse the l ast
.
line i poetry ; but the virtues Of occasional verse are something less than
—
,
s ,
transcendent .
On ce it W as the Co lo u r of Saying
In one s youth declared Ezra P u nd
’
discu sses styl e one
should Just t f Grammar S chool Th omas and his frie nds d rank
,
o , o ne or
”
coffee dashes in the K d m h Café and discussed mu sic and poet y and
. ou o ,
painting a nd politics Einstein and Epstein S travins ky and Greta Garbo

-
ar o a r
death and religion Picasso and girls com munism symbolism Brad
.
, ,
mangelo
an Braque the Watch Co mm itte fre love free b er murder Michel
, ,
ping pong ambition Sibelius and girls

,
How Dan Jones was

e, e , e
,
, ,
,
going to compose the most prodigious symphony Fred Janes paint the
-
, , ,
mtrout
ost miraculously meticulous picture Charlie Fisher catch the poshest
Ve non Watkins and Young Thomas write the most boiling poem s
,
,
, r
how they would ring the bells f London and paint it like a tart O
the hissing of th e butt ends in the drains f the coffee dashes and the
h O
,
gibble gabble f the mo ning young lounge lizards as they tal k ed about
-
o -
Augustus John Emil Jannings Carnera Dracula Amy Johnson t i al

-
o r
marriage pocket money the Welsh the London stars King Kong
, , , , ,
r
, , se a ,
anarchy darts T S Eliot and girls ( Pp 7 8 9 Q i E ly O

,
, , . . .
-
,
u te ar ne
Mo rni ng ) .
From these c nversations and from his solitudes young Thomas emerged
a poet wi th a subject matter and a style which did ring the bells f London
o ,
a subject matter strange because it dealt with u nborn life a style obscu
-
o ,
because though it did n ot exactly freight every rift with

-
, re
loaded “
words a nd images with a weight of meaning almost beyond their capacity

, o re,
15 9
bear Th ere had eventually t come a time wh n he woul d co me t f
thhise mines
to
a n d give his donkey Pegasus a canter Th pre s ent poem tates
.
recognition f the need o .

o
-
.
e
e
ou
s
o
Such a turning point occurred in Yeats s career My friends and I he ’
wrote loved symbols popul ar beliefs and Old scraps f verse th at m ade
-
.
,
Ireland romantic to herself ; but the new Ireland overwhel me d by responsi

, , , o
psychologi cal truth In giving up the embroider

,
b ili y begins to long f

”
ings of the ld mythologies Yeats not merely broke with his w past but
t ,
or .
( powerfully assisted by Pound ) i n e ff ect ushered in 2oth century p try

O , o n
No such widespread effect atte n ded Thomas s similar declaration f

-
oe .
’
o
independence from his earlier mod e of poeti ing It w indeed t so

mhisuchcontemporaries
th later eth e earlier Th omas wh o had impact upon the practice f
What th is poem signalizes i Th omas s recog ition f a
as
z . as,
’
, no
dneotficiency in himself as a hu m a n being a nd the fore as a p t a deficiency

.
unlike that remarked by Keats i n his image f the chamber f m aiden

,
s
re oe ,
n o
th ough t
o o
As Keats w that he needed to sharpen h is vi s ion into the h e art and

.
nature f Man and to convince his nerves that the world is full f m isery
sa
” “
a n d heartbreak pain sickness and opp ession T h o mas sees that h e

o o
mu st give u p hi s aesthetic concern for words in their c lors for a human

, ,
concern with the m eaning f h word ( a cloaking word f many col ors )
,
r , so
which is Love A truant school b y h e had given the u nhouse d lovers

o t e o ,
wh asked for bed a stone A young poet he had submerged hi h uman

.
-
o , ,
smubjects in abstraction and conceited image y Now he says I sh all i d

o , .
, s
yself f my ego entricity simultaneously I write ou t of myself and

r .
, , r
myGexperience o c
with human b ings instead f my reference books

S Fraser h said that the poem gives a foretaste of of Thomas s
, as,
e
“
o
,
mlandscape
ain l ater themes the reminiscent celebration through the evoking f a
. . as
that the perspective of time has made legend ary f childis h

, ,
o ne
It does more Up to the i mmediately preceding

, o
in ocence ( C b k
there had been an almost complete absence
n . as e oo , .
poem ( Aft r the “
f identifiable hu m an beings From this time

e
people as well as
sHehadows ghosts halves seeds neophytes and th e li ke populate his poems
o n,
o .
,
.
, , ,
did not altogether give up his earlier style his fondness for physio
, , ,
logical data But he has become se lf conscious about the l atter L ate in
or
-
. .
1 9 3 8 he wrote Watkins conce ning A Saint About t Fall

“
r o
Th last line of the 2 d verse migh t appear just a l o n g jumb l e f

my old anatomical clichés but if in the past I ve u sed burni g
e n o
’ “
loosely th is time I used them as the only

, , , n
brains hair etc ”
. to o ,
words i dead earnest ( p

—
n .
T homas s marriage the birth

’
, of his child the war , , th e e xpe ience r of
1 60
poore how faint h w pale how m o me ntary h ow transitory h w
empty h w frivolous h w Dead things mu st you necessa ily thi k
, ,
o , , ,
o
o , o ,
r n e
T itles and Possessions and Favours and all when you see that Hand
,
which w the hand f D ti i Of Ch istian D ti i Of the A l

, , , , ,
mighty G d lie dead ! as o es n e, r es n e,
o ,
Th omas s is a poem the other h and

’
on .
.
Wh en I W oke
It is with the seeming simple poems lik e this aubade in k th a t the ’
interpreter can reall y go wrong In the difli lt poem s Th omas fir s at

-
, s,
his reader with a shotgu n ; the puns and symbols have su ch an area Of
. cu ,
e
dispersion that he can scarcely m iss though he may only wound B u t here
the precise and simple im ages are like ifl b ullets and if m issile an d
.
,
r e- ,
t rget do not coincide not even a feath r f l ls

T h characters of th is poe m are T ho m as a man wit h a bill hook and
a e a .
e ,
-
,
a voice in the air What happens? Morning noises waken Th omas from bad
dre m s Am ong the n ises is that m ade by the bill hook wielder T hen
.
T homas hears the voice in the air speak Of th e town s destr u ction And
a . o -
.
he goes back to sleep Th ese are the bare bones f the poem and may
.
justifiably ask Shall these bones live? Clearly the poem amounts to nothing
. o , o ne
the literal level And it raises mo e questions than it answers F

example Why does T homas devote eight line to the bill hooker if h i s
on . r . or
only function is to awaken Thom as? What whose is the voice of doom ?
-
: s ,
Why having heard it does Thomas calmly g back to sleep? And wh y

, or ,
are the coins on h i eyelids singing like shells?

, , o
Thi s last question s u ggests a second line of inquiry P erhaps Th omas

s
had t bee n waked fro m sleep bu t from death S o what h appens is this
.
Th omas in h is grave wakes each morning to the s o u nds f l ife ( the

no . :
bill hoo ker is tidying up h is grave) ; b ut th is m rning he h ears wh at h e ha s

, , o
been waiting f God s voice declaring the dissolution f the earth A d

-
o
’
T homas goes back to sleep i n joyfu l a nticipation of the coming

o r: o . n
tio n f his glorified body

resurrec
It makes a certain sense But Th oma s has never before revealed himself
o .
a resurrectionist f so distinctly a C atholic persu asion T the c ntra y

.
Fu rther the poe m has neither the sound r the imagery to support such
o . o o r .
a concept unless the intentio n is to show h w local h w personal even

, no
world s end will be t the dead This afterthought furnishes a rather

—
o ,
o ,
’
th
amusing poem a good deal more than Mr M L i h End f t he
e o .
’ “
World Th ou gh the latter is recommended by its walloping last line

, so . c e s s o
”
.
Noth ing noth ing n othing nothing at ll th e m etaphor f th e world
as a circus is t trite and t imperso n al to generate mo e than a m il d
, , , a .
-
o
amusem ent Tho m as s eliciting an agreement that the end might ve y well
oo oo r
’
Occur and pleasantly u iting the macabre and the co mm onpla e sets th
.
, r
imagi nation to work but within th context f reality rather th an m ake

so n c , e
, e o
b lieve
But is thi s the poem Th omas wrote? Perh aps it is t the end f th
e .
world but th end of a world wh ich is being described F ex ample

no o e
e . or :
Th so u d of birds clocks and be l ls propelled m e o u t f an infer n o

f dreams wh ere devil s d slimy creatu r s and sexy women writh ed
e n , ,
o
about m e Still h alf asleep and dreaming I am fully awakened by th

o , an e
everyday sound f a bill hook outside my bedroom A n rdinary m an

.
-
, e
with living bloo d in hi veins slashes aw ay th e las t dre am creature

o -
. o
asshapethouBear
gh it were Aaro n s d returned fro m it eptile t its proper
-
s
’
ded like God like Father Time he has in d stroying ro s r o
tmhayself
t d m world ass umed a G d like or T ime like function I
. or , , e
in a Berkeleyan sense am God like and create th e e rth

re a -
,
o - -
.
each morning ; my sight moves up n th face f th e bay waters (and if

,
—
, re- a
I m still a little bl ind after th e night before a short walk t th e bath

-
o e o
’
room clarifies my creative vision) I cannot f course s ay f th ea th I

, o
ma ke that it is v ry good ; mine is in which Death lays h i icy

.
, O , o e r
hlaborer
ands on ma mm oths But this particular morn ing th e G d like
e
woke me to perfo m my God like function I was m ade aware

. on
o ne
, as o
s
-
f th supervention of a m ightier forc than m y

-
r ,
w Th radio
brought news that the life f my town w t be changed ch anged
o e e o n . e
o se a- as o ,
utterly th at it w twenty fi o clock and God w dead that day ’
to have its nightmares less ru inous than night

, as -
ve as ,
w
I retu ned t m y bed i fear and anger and h opeless loathing The
as no .
word that the voice ha s spoken to m e and the bill h oker recently
r o n .
divinely des tructive and creative is GOtt damm g

-
o , so
so , er erun .
his t m akes sense And the subject ( the m or ing the w broke over
T
the world ) must the poem w published in the autumn f l 9 3 9 have
oo . n ar
weighed heavy upon Th omas s mind All th e questions ini tially raised are
—
as o —
answered the bill hooker is desc ibed at length to t up the theme f

.
G d like ( to be developed in the passage devoted to T h o m as a s

-
: r se o
m
creator ) and f man as destroyer ( to be develope d in th e concluding
an as o -
section ) Th voice f doom is identified news f war Thomas does t

o
g back cal mly t sle p but in trepidation Th coins hi s eyelids

. e o as o . no
“ ”
suggest both death and the war s cause ( they are so to speak Rhine gold ) ;
o o e . e on
’
and th e shells suggest both bombs and bombed t cities

-
, ,
-
ou .
1 67
Cerem ony a ft r e a Fi re Ra id
Wh at are you going t d in the war? Thomas wrote Watkins I ”
I suppose will have t join the dang rou s RA MC

o o .
can t kill
’
(Watk ins p He did not kill but h e saw much death

so , , o e .
Ofthehi realpo death c ncerns his own i m agi ne d end

. .
, ,
ms about wa time death

f a s m all girl th at Of a centena ian and this p m
s e r , o ne o ,
that f a j u st born infant As no one i n time h as captured and rendered

o ne o ,
o ne r ,
oe
the feel f childhoo d i n pro se poet y as Th om as h don h

o -
. our
as
mmustore besuccessful
o
l y e xpre s se d th e pathos of t h e l oss f the n ewly alive I t

a ssum d that h i s sight f the b u rnt child was
,
of the m ost
or r ,
o
as e , no o ne
sh o king events f h i s life

e o one
Th seed f the poe m is f co u r s e th e vis u al image

c O .
t kneadi g
the b lack b re ast it s arms full f fires S urely no
e o , o , rs n
m th / C h
”
d
has more vividly an d with su ch economy expressed the h orrific
ou arre on o .
e nd re sult f the O lympi n scribble by the hand th at sign ed th e paper

o ne
P owerful e m otion recollected in tranqu ili ty I do t think th at Th omas

o a
-
.
c uld ever have recollected th is scene i n tranquility He was forced

. no
th erefore to particularly tri gent effort s f objectificatio n and for the

o .
,
mburial
o s t part has adm ir ably su cc e ded In over ll fo m at the poem is a
,
s rvice ( It re ally i s a Ceremony and the third p a rt f th e poem

“
s n
e .
o
-
a r ,
,
is th e mu sic at the e nd W ould it be called a voluntary is th a t nly

e , o
mu sic at the beginning? Watkins p After the introduction in the

.
, or O
”
fi s t stanz a foll ow hy mn pr ayer and ch ant Part II repre sents a s e m on ;

.
, ,
andInPart
r
n I II as he says the postlude

, ,
o part f the poe m d escrib ing th e cere mony do the va rying e motion s
, , .
. r
get t f h and With someth ing of Eliot s skill in Ash Wedne s day
o
’ “ ”
( and his c a reful n otice f Eliot s meth od and devi es h a s aide d m aterially
ou o .
i h is e ff ort to objectify ) h e has di ffere n ti a te d h is t ne in t h e th ree sec

o c
tions thu s proving h is control

n ,
o -
But in th first stanz a he is t so s u ccessful Pertinently this is the

.
,
stanza wh ich contain s the shu dder produ cing visual image It was t mu ch
e no .
,
for h im and in his effort to exert control he went t far Th result is

-
. oo
c nceited stanz a
, , oo . e
Th Open ing p h rase M yselves / Th grievers th ough the v sounds

a o .
“ ”
are plea sant is a contrive d and tricky ambiguity He may be referring to

e e -
the several aspects f himself to h ims elf and othe s like h im Its
.
,
mtoeaning is b side th point Th phra se is obt usive drawing attention

o
th e poet s leverne ss Th ambiguity i s t one th at c unts a s f

’
e e .
, or
e r ,
r .
example Eliot s L t u s g th en you a nd I is A mo ng the treet

c . e no o , , or
’ “ “ ”
nconjagsunction
f attention as in advertisements a p position s ubstituted for
or
, e
does What he means is open t qu estion ; p rh ap s h is e ffort

,
o ,
, re
.
e
s
. o
1 68
music s wells And there will be glory to this child in its lowness F its
. . or
end will have b en a beginning the thunder f genesis announcing a

e : o
lightning f revelation dividing a bad past from a good future

o .
I do not know that this is exactly what the thunder said Th subject f . e o
the sentence masses m y have the s pecific Christian sense

”
the Marxist I have given it an i between mtechnical humanist m eaning

a ,
or
. n- ,
u -
.
And the e upting fountai ing ente ing to utter may apply what happens
r , n , r to
within an individual rather than to a society But the note Of triumph is .
so powerful that I have chosen the latter It i a powerful note And it . s .
must be Th fl ames dwarfing the streets and gutting the cathedral are
. e
so awful that only the affirmation f a Gloria can overwhelm them A

Glo ia with substance affirming human life and love in the concrete
O .
and particular It is the fi s in the arms of the child that extingu ish
r ,
. re
the fires in the street .
A Re fus a l to Mo u rn
An important questio n in literary criticism can be approached in these
terms Does Keats s O de to a Nightingale despite its gorgeous imagery
’ “
and its marvelous seventh stanza collapse lik e a pric ked balloon when
: ,
it is read My head aches or My bac k aches ? Can rhetoric compensate

,
“ “ ”
for its intense subje tivity its self pity its morbidity beto k ening a failure
,
f nerve in short its failure to c me to mature terms with reality ?

, ,
O , ,
o
Th e dispute will never be resolved so long as there are tough as

well as t nder mi ded critics And no doubt similar dispute will in future
e -
n .
concern Thomas s Refusal to Mourn ’ “ ”
T his is a poe m with a big sound It starts wi th an emphatic N

.
t d epith ets
. ever
( which is a ve y long time ) ; impressively piles up h yp

r ena e
to regain the altitude brie fly lost by until and gaining momentum “
arcs across the whole world s history from Chaos to Judgment D y

, ,
’
, a ,
with salient elements of the Burkean sublime darkness silence , ,
light and sea brought into play All this in a periodic sentence over
,
—
.
two stanzas long

what effect T declare that I Dylan Th omas ( I I I ) refu s e
.
T ?
to mourn the death of child refuse to let my art become propaganda

o o , , ,
Owagon a
ne might visualize the v hicle here as an ornate and lumbe ing circus
transporting a piping midget tenor For the tough minded Observer
e
,
.
-
r
.
informed f T homas s statement what possible response exists but a

o
’
curt S what
,
“
?
B t the t ugh minded one is exposed as tender m inded if thi s is h is

O
u o - -
initial rejoinder He has answered t f emotion not pausing t determine

. ou O , o
17 0
hether under the m ag il quence the l es a tou gh reasonablenes s His i
firs t question should have been Why not
w n o re .
?
hat the poem succe ds fa ls not because th e f rst
,
W ch is to
hi i i
three stanz as resound but because th e fourth gives do s
say t e or
ive no t
them reason If not then the poe m s virtue merely that Roll
or e g
is of
’
thou deep and dark blue ocean

to .
,
”
o n,
It has b en said e XVII no h at homas is refusing

( Ex p lic ato r
th e conventional outward show grief the O ld estament tradition
,
of
.
,
. 3) t T
T
of the meaningless elegies the “
And no of
doubt he the grave truth that murders the mank ind her going
is :
“ ”
of
”
and the mule praises over Annie s grave have an identit But an
“ ” ’
y .
attack upon convention a criticism platitudinizing is too partial and of
negativ e to sustain the cosmic scope Of the first stanza

,
No hi g less than an Ev erlasting Yea can accomplish this end And

to o .
this is precisely the achievement the last stanza

t n .
Of .
Deep with the first dead lies London s daughter ’
Robed in the long friends

rains beyond age the dark veins of her mother
,
Th e g , ,
Secret by water th e u nmo um ing
Of the ridi g hames n T

A ter the first death there is no o h er
.
f , t .
Here the gi l assumes with sobriety Deep with the first dead
hdescribed r
er place in the history of things at cosmic plan so son rously

requires her for its resolu ion idea of the interdependen e
all . Th
Th e
o
of m acrocos m and m crocosm has its sublimit And h ose ele ments
i
developing the first sta nza s note the subl me are carefully m atched ’
t
of
.
i
y . t
c
here th e dar k ess Of the earth the silence of the dead the roll
: n , , of
th e T hames nto the sea the lustrous dignity Of endur ng comradeship

i i
somewhat m ore than m atched
,
“
( R obed in the long A nd
since friends grai s veins add a humanness with out diminish ng
,
“ ” “ ” “ ”
( i
magnitude that i s missing from the f rst sta za here is not
, n ,
th e ) i (T
much hu m anity in a fathering darknes
n .
“ ”
)
poem ends on an interesting ambi uity
s
Th e the first death g : is

“
b rth death It can be defined either way and it does

i ? ally
course is wh at he says often
or , no t re
matter What homas is saying

. T , of so
that Death shall have no dominion And as usual he is sa ing it

, ,
“ ”
in terms a scientific humanism rather than in O ld estament stanza

.
, , y
of T (
2) orNew estament stanza terms
T three fun tionall positive
( 3) .
(T h e c y
images of these stanzas Zion the water bead s nagogue the “
of
” “
Of
ear of corn a nd mankind of her going really anticipate the

, y
” “ ”
,
—
affir
17 1
mation Of the final stanz a ; the ve riding tone f the firs t th ree s t anzas
f dismis s al )
o r o
is
W il l the poem see n i thi s way satisfy th e tough mind e d c i tic? I
o ne o .
think that it s hould R eflection ought to suggest th at So wh at? i s

n -
“
r
”
sil enced and Wh y t? sufficiently answered S uch self centerednes s

.
“ ”
areading
nd petul ance as m ight seem initially t appear are s een m ore carefu l
no -
.
to be swallowed up by th e m ki d f the poet s m otives

o on
’
It should bu t it wi ll not In D d
an n ness o .
A Phi l ph i l I q i y
C E M Joad com ments
, . ec a ence : oso ca n u r
( pp 3 12
-
. . . . z
Many f the poems which appear in H i appe a r t o fall

within th is second category ! the poet drops form altogeth er and
“
o o r zo n
“
produces phrases and rhythms which having no structu re to which

to attach themselves m ay b e likened to the flots a m and jets am which
th e waters of a consisting as they do of a mere
,
i carried
saying f things which h ave neither m eaning nor form
s on , ,
e x ample th e followin g by Dyl an Tho mas from th e

O .
T ake f
October ,
number of H i
or
194 5 Th p m is called A Refusa l

,
‘
t Mourn the Deat h by F i re f a Ch ild in Lon d on

o r zo n, . e oe
’
! He q uotes the first sentenc ]

o , , o .
Some f the expressions used in this poe m se m t be m ean

e
for example sowing salt seed i n the least valley f sack

o e o
‘ ’ ‘
i gl
cloth ; so me of the allusions b fli the intellect what for instance
n ess, , o
’
is the precise significance of the round Zi n Of th e water bead?

a e , ,
‘ ’
Conscious f my w obtuseness f the finer shades f the poetical

o
art I foreb ar comment which m ight be irrelevant ; th ou gh it i s

o o n o o
perhaps relevant to point out th at from th e reading f this poe m

,
e
neither I nor anybod y else t who m I have shown it has been able
o
to derive any pleasure at all

o
I think that Mr Joad is not obtu se as perverse dem anding a pro s y

denotativeness where poetical i to be preferred B u t
. so ,
t ti
there is a certain precision i n the poem In his first sentence Th omas
c o nno a v eness s .
ays i effect th at he will die before he will weep mou rn Wh ich

.
is t say that he will comp lete his mortal circle ( As he e xpresses it

s ,
n ,
or .
it is ll creatio n which returns t th e darkness whence it came completing

o .
,
i
ts mwith a
ortal circle ; but to th e dying person death seems ) Th om as

the ele ments becomes part of another circle
so ,
a drop f
o
,
,
.
,
water and f th e cycle that water underg es W ater ( any element )

o ne ,
o
is holy and Zion is a holy pl ace ( and as a hill at least semi circular )
o o . or
On Ziowater
n is thebeadtempleand whic h b idges the gap between earth and heaven
-
.
, ,
bead suggests th e round rosary bead and th e

, r .
Th (
C hristian prayers which go heave n ward ) drawn by th e sun equ ally
e
-
172
Neither is i any way extraordi ary ; each is Everyman Generali
from the ir deaths in accorda ce with Tho m as s philo sophi c al
n n .
’
i
outlook are possible and are seriously m ade We are concerned with
zat o ns ,
n
the mankind th Adam and Eve f the ir expulsion

.
,
“ ”
e o
But i h present poe m w h av e read forward fro m Adam and

.
,
Eve (universal and mythic) to Methu selah (unique and legenda ry)
n t e e
Gen ralizations are not based exceptional cases thou gh som e cases
.
does lend themselves to ironi c com mentary Briefl y

e on ,
may as this
to read thi s poem as reads th e oth ers is like eading with out a
,
o ne , .
,
change of emotional set Life is a jest and all thin gs sh ow it and

o ne r
“ ”
, ,
Th ey are ll gone into the world f light

“
a o
Th o m as has bee n at some pains to ensure th right approach He

.
adopted th e convention al s nnet length and h as fu ther t ated

e .
h
with convention by u sing ( for h im ) nusual number of tru e rhymes
as o r re
But his rhythm predominantly an apesti c is a ll wrong f the form It

an u .
, , or .
Wh en th e mo ning w waki g over the world

r as n .
An d it is all wrong for th e subject Of the poe m Pipp should be

ski ppi g down th e street
. a
n .
Wh y Because a very go d joke is about to be perpetrated

? which o o ne
reduces th Power Eli te to th e absu rd by showing them busily breaking

,
butt erfl ies on th e wheel

e
Th poem opens an In the Time of the Breaki g f Nations

note the p rm anence of mo ning contrasted with the transitori ess
e on n o
,
e r n
f war A ordi nary man ( save for hi g ) acti g as routinely

as the m orning rises to enjoy
o . n s a e ,
n ,
as inevitably as permanently
it Th en occurs the break in the routine he dies But it is a departure
,
. : .
from the norm onl y in a particular sense he has not died before ;
in the general sense death is routinely wak ing over men li k e morning
:
over the w
death h owever would seem t f the ordinary th e Ol d
ar .
Th
man is kill ed by a bo mb And yet thi s is not what Th m as says
e , ,
ou o :
. o :
he stress s the point that he stepped t d he di ed not that ”
he w kil led Even as he stepped to th e door th e locks Of h is life

e ou an ,
as .
were yawning loose

A d th is i th e po i nt of th e joke this is where Th omas beco m es
.
deri ive O ne m ust imagi ne the millions f doll ars the myriad f
n s ,
workers at the asse mbly lines the legions f m ili tary devoted to puttin g
s . o , o
a bomb on the doorstep f an inoffensive Old man wh o is about

,
o
to fall over dead when the bomb explodes

And wh dies precisely where he wants to die Th is i th e key
.
o . s
174
l ne the poem He dropped where he loved
i Of For a hundred
years he had lived on th s s reet He knew as Old fami iar friends i l
e very cobble stone e ve y lamp post e very trash can and of ourse
t .
, ,
e v ery neighbor His character had been fo med his life haped the
-
, r -
,
-
,
c ,
. r s by
street he in tu n had onditioned the ha a te lored the
,
A nd
i e that street O f urse it needs to be told this most excellent
. r c c r c r, co
lf of . co
jest at the expense the mass d enem es homel streets ey Of i of Th

used a sun to k ll the g ffer s as Olson says is not imag n tion
e y .
i Th i i
but fanc But it is a pleasant fanc and the fol k q ual t of fanc
a .
, ,
a
i y
warm and g d humored but with a
-
y .
y, y ,
oore og ition real t is what

-
w ry c n Of i y,
is call ed for here not h elevated peril of imagination t e
He dropped where he loved Let him lie ( Lea v e h im b the

.
,
street might say tak ing some pleasure in the i fini ti ve s ambiguity )
. . e,
’
n
And now comes the poem s d ifficult p ssage O lson does not explain ;
.
,
he reacts W can ot be mo ved by the ambulance and the stork s

a .
'
symbolic or Othe wise Elmer B ook s ( E p li June 195 4 ) takesi

: e n ,
ambulance to be that whi h con veys our immortal part to

r . r x c a to r,
th e c ts
i p i h b l home ; Ph yllis B a l ett ( l b i d Dec as that whi ch

onve ys the broken body to a prop r bu ial ground there to be repaired
rn er s a e rt .
, .
c e r ,
agai st the day f physical resurrection

n O
figu re is
.
Th e mly not clear I what respect is h ambulance

c ert a . n t e
heavenl y Is it drawn b y a wound as though by ho es or drawn
”
?
h wound lik e buzz rds by h smell and sight of a dead cat D es the
, rs to
t e a t e ? o
participle assembli ng modify wound or a mbulan e ”

c
”
?
S ince there is no evidence to support a swe s onl y ingenuity will

serv e I feel no compunction about bring ing the passage i to li e wi h
n r ,
. n n t
my under tandi g of the octave f the sonnet
s n O
ki d f street h old man liv ed on lo k s suspiciously on

.
Th
strangers and pa ticularly on presentati ves f bureaucracy Policemen
e n O t e o
they may have lea ned to live with B not tax ollectors set lement
r re O .
workers buil ding inspe tors so ially cons ious clergymen and the li k e
r . ut c ,
t
And the ar i v al f an ambulan e li ke that of a police car can cause

,
c ,
c -
c ,
.
alarm d excitement e v en in street more famil iar with and amenable

r O c , ,
an s
to the incursions f outside officialdom O
on one le vel there is h image f the official ambulance around

.
S
which stand the vul u rine attendants themselv es surrounded by sus
O, t e O ,
p i i
c o us nati v es awar th at something si,g ificant has left
willing to pa t with it to Outsiders Here heavenl y me ns other
the
e i
t
r li v es not
,
n
“ ”
,
r . a
worldly i the sense of outside the nei ghbo h od ; the ambulance

n r o
”
does come as though attracted to the wound ( a testimoni al to efficien y c
but wi h grisly undertones ) and assembli g modifies ambul nce

,
“ “
t ; n a .
175
It is f course a Red Cross ambula ce which has bee put in to
mwhose
otion by Christian charity its symbol th wound f Christ ( a wound
, o ,
edges were fitted together and healed) a sy mbol which h as

,
n
e o
n
held the people f Europe together and produced such org i ation s
,
o an z
as the Red Cross

But this organiz ation is associated by it symbol with th e church
.
a state church which is p rt and parcel f h Establishment Officials

s ,
f O rganized Christianity motivated by that wounded man

a o t e .
the rude
red tree m ay be suspected t have co me t ensu re the ld man s final
o , on ,
’
relation f propriety to the organi ation Again if t hostility the

,
o o o
part f the street certainl y on the part f Th omas f wh m organized

O z .
, no on
o , o ,
or o an
church is t dissimilar from th organized government and military

T h m an and the mo ning which f a hundred years he wo ke to
no e .
e r or
g r eet are inseparably united All the Last T hings have already been
.
achieved without the i t m di y hip f bureaucracy And as the

brought the other world to h im he takes his hundred years Of d m ti
n er e ar s o . sun
, o es
d neighborliness to the sun

So as he was uncom mon in having been for long a part f the
c ate .
street let him rem ain a pa t ; as he was uncommon in having pricked

, so o
the b b b l f organized efficiency let him rem ain apart from it

, r
In 19 1 7 Wilfred Owen wrote O sbert Sitwell

u e o , .
, :
Already I have comprehended a li ght which will never fil ter into
the dogm as of y national church namely that f C h rist s
’
essential comm ands w passivity at any price It m ay be a

an : , one o
chime ical an d an ig i i principle but there it is It can only

as :
be ignored d I think pulpit professionals are ignoring it very

r no rn n ou s ,
.
,
an
skillfully d successfully ind d

an ee .
homas would have subsc ib d to these convictions without reservation

T
I thin k that they underlie and give rea son f th e derisive qualities
r e .
f this poe m
or
o .
On A nn iv rs ry
a Wedding e a
The earlier published version Of this poe m in London ( Po e try ( ) 19 4 1 )

eight lines l nger and with two stanz as devoted to the war ti me context
,
before th e lovers are introduced ha s nei her si mplicity nor

o ,
-
t th e th e
bu t it is an nteresting poem
,
intensity the final of does i and no t

forgotten
o ne,
deserve to b e :
17 6
fi st tw stanzas f th poe m present difficulty Perh aps th
Th e
cr at r c arryi ng cloud is sligh tl y ff cent r Grigson compares it to veins
r o o e no . e
wi th ear But i s aturation bombing the s ticks f crater producing

e -
o -
e :
b mbs v y ne ly cl ou de d the sky ; an d craters full f earth and debris

s
. n ,
o -
ros i clouds after the e xplo sion s

o er ar -
o
Th las t s t anz a is cl e a r i its sugge stion bu t Ob scu re its literal

e n .
levoc
evel And it is a sh ame to b i g pros e an alysis to be ar upo n wh at is
.
e
ative enough without it T late in the wrong rai says all that
n
rn
“
on
no herds t thbe cosauni d tryWhy love joip anrted the lover s ( because one s ent th e
. OO n
ed th e WRENS wh at h ave y ) i s
ee o .
t
f
t
m om ent Wh eth er th ey have come together th rou gh dying in a
o e
r ain f bombs wh ether th ey are alive and t gether b u t f o nly a

o no .
, or o ne ,
or ou
fin al mom ent i s b side the poin t Wheth er they e killed by fl ying
o , or o or
fr agm e n ts ( ironically by fragm ented window and d r the means

, e . ar
f
vision welcome and entry) is irrel evant Wh atever th e sp cific situation
oo ,
o
th epit ap h a pp l ie s
, , . e ,
e .
Th ere W as a Sa vi o u r
Th s ile nt i ony f th i s poe m consi s t s i n its be ing a poe m abo u t d e ath
in war written in the m etr f Milton s hymn in honor f Ch ist s birth
e r o
’ ’
a bPairtrhadoxe
attend ed by a univ rsal peace th rou gh and l and “
s are fplentiful as blackberries perhaps numerous as to

e o
e se a
o
.
”
r ,
invoke th e l aw dimi ish i g retu n s Most f the m are common t

, so
Chth istian fthsorrow

ough t th e fre d om i n bond age the rtainty i n u ncert ainty
n n
o r . o o
the life in death B u t the g e a t is the escape from

r : e , ce ,
j y
lTovehomasmades poeposm ibi letobymake
e
a falsthee idew cof mmCh istian love Th pu pose f

one
o o , . r
ndme nt s concluding phrase

s a o r . e r o
’ ’
thy neighbor a s thy self seem less a voice d ropping afterthou ght Th at
s ne a ,
“
i s it is a serm on the text f L k 1 0 2 7

- .
,
Th p oe m open s a thi d person once upon time note

, on o u e, , .
e on r - - -
a-
w as a s vior in who te achings children kept old and d a rk

,
Th e
fo nd th e wa m th f love th e light f h p Wh olly cap tiv ated by
re a se , c ,
his teachi g they freed themselves from the hopelessness f futile

u r o , o O e .
wishi g From th e early Christians we h ear wh at th new faith

n ,
‘
o
ffer d th em do ing hi s will earth despite all Odds offered h ope

n . e
f h aven ; th e apathy f th e h eavy lade n w a s transmuted i n to the

o e : on
alm f the s pi itually obli gated ; in Christ s life de manding l ove we

o e o -
fo un d th e co u rage t fa ce death i mp s ing h ate ; Hosanna sile nce d

c o r -
y; s w t a s ac ifice were t pu rposeless suff red

-
o o
w
alon ; dying f him had reason
ar-c r
e
orro
or
, e r , s r
.
no no r e
17 8
T
i
h om s s conomy with qu tati n mark s
scihz ldngrentranends
’
h i s h ab it
sit on s m akes it i po ss ibl e determine where th e vo c
a e
i m
o o and of de-emph a
“
i e of
i
m you s
”
M y assumpt on th at it ends wi h Und er h is do ny
igh ed as he s ruck th e
.
b ing u sed as the e uiv ale n t

i
”
is
“
to
”
t
“
w
of
Granted his as sump ion th e th e following ine

ar t , you e q
“ ” “ ”
t of l
wh o could e m e s th e pron un direct add e ss h om as
one . t , you you
”
not c ry ) b of T now
pe aks in th s inter a war ye a n om nal Chri s ti an but h rou h
co o r .
i w of i
Christi ans h ave f alsi e d th e te ach ngs h rist by
s , ar, to , t g
hi m to all wh o fi i of C
eli atin g obliga ion person l s a cr ce and by delet ng on e a h
min the of ifi i
“
from th e L rd s pr ayer
t a rt
’
o
ha d te a r a man f allen a ong th eves bu t

.
0 wh o for ( m i )
tear s enou h a man long dead and eyes a far heaven
you no
for for - ff
th ere i s be sid e i n th is unh e av nly da rk Ch ist bu t m e

g O ,
y u now
o e not r
om as al e s hims e lf hi s comp anion his fal se pride a re th ey

.
Th now li in (
toge ther in a black ty from work ng a mong ruined
to
? di r i
and the exclaim the unhallowed year
—o ut or
two to :
0 we felt Ch i s ti an ch a ity and t ook ac ion when ava ice

wh o
of
undrheamartatic
h all y dam ped the f es and depleted the store s
no
attriti onally
side friend s b ut took refu ge the sweet bye and bye

,
r r
ir
in
no t r
we p imm ensely s tran er s for the de struction their h ome s

, our ,
no w for of
th e unknown de ad and issing we s ee vivi dly a s if only

e g , ,
fo r m now (
we were left to see h at th ough these str angers aliv meant noth ng
; ,
) i
to u s in heir deaths they are near neighbors Perhaps their ashes
t , e
!
blacken these l onger proud b roth e s We alone in th e d ark
, t .
)
and feeling as if we were islands to which lov had been exiled i cite
no r .
,
action the force that opens all sepulchres

e ,
n
to .
W e are in these last li es t aken back the descriptive p ra se

rarer than radium Love l ike radium b rn s sh nes he a s and
n to
i l
h ,
is derived from pitch bla ck m atter A partic l a ly apt p hrase and prob ably
.
, ,
u , ,
the only poe m ofte n rec alled Indeed o nly the r t tanz
-
. u r
in th e fi
re a y s ucceeds second is dete min edl y p ara doxical s eem
one .
, s s a
ll Th e to
sincere h ose th at fo ow have such a wordy den sity that reading i s ik
. to o r
ll l
wadi g throu gh kn e deep wat r phra se s that s tand ou t N ea
; t e
“
Th e
and cfilever
n
r e neighbour bre ak a giant te r chu che s h is e a s
m elodramat c a
”
e-
“
fter A Refus l to Mourn f mil r

,
e .
a ,
“
” “
r of t
”
r
ia
r
i ( )
breed re spect Ex c pt th e su rgin g n al nt n c
too , or , or a a
to . e for fi se e e,
a ouse sof we r th e t,
Unclenched armless silk and rough love th at bre aks all rocks
, , ,
nothing in the poem produ ces anything like the r sponse of sim l e th e pe
introductory lines
17 9
here w a saviour T
Rarer th an radium
as
Comm oner th n water c ueller than truth a r
and even these are saved from triten ess by the second line
,
D ths d E ntr n c s ea an a e
his poem wh ch takes its t tle from Donne s se m on

T i i
’
D eath
’
D uell
appears to be a meditation upon the subject death s being
, r s ,
O ld
’
Of
respecter of persons and a comment upon the

no
ironies that war Hardyan

im agined scene is the invasion then late in
,
causes to happen Th e ( 1 9 40 )
thought to be im inent the characters are a dear friend a neighboring
.
m , ,
stranger one s self and a German invader

,
’
, .
I it pp to be such a meditation because Lita Hornick inter

say a ears ,
p t
re s the second stanza as being concerned with the birth f a Savi r o o .
Her evidence here is the phrase wind his globe out Of your water “
thread Her argum nt is that Twining threads cords fibres and tenta
.
”
e
“
, , ,
cles which are standard paraphernali in Thomas s uterine depths are ’
said by J ung to be archetypal womb symbols ( P

, a ,
Since this ”
inte pretation gives th poem a quite unexpected meaning it will h ave

. .
r e ,
to be taken into account

opening line repeated in each stanza m akes double possibly
.
Th e , , ,
triple of the word lm the events be described will occur very

u se a o st : to
close to the time of invasion ; the horror of that evening will be so great
as to s em almost lik e the in which the heavens shall pass away “
with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat And
e o ne
”
sin e the poem w written in Augu st it may be that Thomas hints at

.
, ,
c as ,
the irony f an invasion on Christmas Eve

O n such a night there will be near hits and near deaths exact h its
o
and certain death s among them that of at least one of your closest m ost
.
vital friends one f those wil d m of Do not go gentle wh

, ,
“ ” ” “
caught and sang the

o en ,
o
in fl ight Implicit in these lin s is a tragic ”
contrast the one hand the fire f love and song and eulogy break ing
sun . e
from the dust formed body ; on the other the incinerated dust f the
: on , O
-
, o
dead singer Donne says f the latter in D h D ll

. in this o ea t
’
S
'
ue :
death of i i i and di sp rsion of dust w

nc ne rat o n, hi g that w call e , e see no t n e
h
t at m T his death of incineration and dispersion is t natural]
ans , o
the most i b l death of all

,
reas o n, rrec o v era e
*
T h e q uo tati o ns w o v en into th e
ed iti o n .
fo ll o w i ng p aragrap h s are all fro m D o nne
’
s p ro se, N o nesuc h
180
It i s t mptin g to see in th e s econd s tanza an i oni c ally j uxtap sed b irth
f a S avior and the l ngu age i s hi ghfl w en u gh ( With eve y
e r o
“
scabincele lighta/Fl dh Bdufti tstheacros s hi thund er cl appin g eye s ) t em ppli

o n
o , a y o r cr
”
s me s ort f rheto ic s ounds in th e p viou s

-
as e r s o se a
t
po m ( Do t go which d als with m e e m Su ch l an gu age
o g o . a o r re re
“
is m ore easily j u stifie d h er ; it take s es undin g words t c ap ture th e

e no e r en .
effect of aeri al bo mbardme nt A nd su ch a birth d e stroys the p e m s

e r o o
’
coherence One mu st ask the s e qu e stio ns If the dying stranger is a

. o
Chthe ilsatstfiguArere thwhat

r -
.
is th e frie nd f th e first s tanz a? and the ene my f

ese al s Ch i st figu es? If why should a C h ist figure
, o
:
?
b said t hold hi peace ? why should h e se r just ri ders b ack ?
r -
o -
r so , r
“ ” “ ”
e o s a
Sl i uentsuencablh queitstioseensmsraisebesdt twio llleave

nc multipthley handero ansfwers
,
th b ecom e i
e second s tanza a
,
nc reas
ing y
Christ like fig re t a Christ
-
e,
u no
o
If th vio l ence f th e rhe t oric s ti ll s ms e xcessive o n e sh o ul d rec all

.
,
th viol e n e f Th o mas s d re ams

e o ee ,
’
e c o :
Are you f ighte ned th e s e n ights? Wh e n I w ake up t of b u in g

bf yirdman
i d re am they w re f ying aviator s
r
nigh t in a huge
g pa n i t s unds wh im s ical n ow it was appalli ng the n and hear
s— e r o ne
ou rn
th e s ounds f b omb s gunfire only a l ittle way away I m relieved

r n : o ,
—
Ig coeyulclotd lhaeudgh ycryfacedWhblat ik mfrig

o
h tening I think i s the i dea f

, so
l tt d troops m arch ing

or . s so , , o
m m
ing with out a s ound up a vill age street Boots on the cobbles Of
r -
g , re -
, ac ar e e , o ne o
cour se b ut Heil sh outi g g ding goose stepp ing Just s ilence

.
, ,
Th at s wh at Goeb b e ls h a s do n e f m e I get n igh tmare s l ike inva s ions

, no -
n , rena ,
-
. .
all succe ssful

or .
,
Holy Spri ng
It may b e th ough t tha t th titl e f this poem is s omewhat t grandio se
it s e sse ntially occasional ch aracter P erh aps better would have bee n
e o oo
f
something Word swo th ian like Li s th e occasion f my rising from
or .
abombebdingon Satillsprithnegpommorndioes
ng h avi ng su vived th e preceding evening s
ne on
r o
’
”
m ake us e f th e occasion t procl aim once
again th e virtu e f a natural pr cess whi ch whatever men may d never
.
, e
,
o
r
ceases F thi the s e ason i s worthy f being n ame d h oly Even if it

o o , o,
wer t it would e m t th e man wh d ri g the ai d e xpect d

. or s o .
n ver t expe ience it agai

e
e no
o
,
r
s e so
n .
o o u n r e
18 2
Th epoem e xtends to tw 12 lin e stanzas eac h comprised f s en
ten Each has mi or ambigu iti e s Th first sta z a s I am s truck as
o -
, o one
’ “
lDer
o nely as a h oly m aker by the sun offer three four possibiliti s
ce . n . e n
”
k S tanford is b oth ered by th e l ack f punctu ation after N i the

, s or e .
“ ”
second tanza s
e o o n
’
s
NO
Praise that the spring t me is all i
Gab iel and radiant s hrubbery as the m orn ng grows joy ul
r i f
woebegone pyre
O ut of th e ,
feel ng th at th e sense would seem to require a p ause after th e nega iv

i
s nce with out it the general affirmative tren d the sec nd stanza
t e;
i of
thou gh menace is h eard in th e la st line i s upset St n rd p

, o
”
( ) ( fo 12 6
B ut he m s reads th e st anz a th e sense is clearly Let there be pr i e
. a , .
“
i
to balanparape thhrase
To
e f lowing But blessed be h ail and uphe aval
the poem
c ol
“
;
:
no
”
.
as
I c l mb i a bed love where th at death defeati g he al er ried

o ut o f of (
againfortom sooanhearmmyymcrossedortal fated body wh l e th e p inciple de a h in
n t
-
t i of
the gu arded assault houses an d

, r t
th e of
o ur l ives greet another day of a for which I h ave enthusi asm

) to
but wh ich I m ay h ave o er th e debt death I life I c all ff
war
sea to o ur
no
of o we fo r
a onfessor and a m rror wh ich shows me my si s more cle rly but
to to ;
i ( )
none is l eft alive unsh attere d after the night s r aid s uch a raid th at
c n a ,
’
(
o ne h inks Zeu s thundering aga n s t
t
suI amn witashloutonelyevenas aamcreator of
or
it n s an d alone in th e
irror im age a poet m aker faced by w r s debris
i th e T a ) ,
’
facing ch ao s h e mus t organ e

,
-
,
-
a ,
th e iz
as much at loose end s as a creator whose work h a s b en t aken over
or
by Iaosuerrrogatepraise that the spri g is angelica ly bri ht as the morning

ff
.
l
e
qu ickens over th e bo mbed city m o rners cease their weeping

no n g
and the
retu rn ng in h is plenitude l avi sh with light h is quiver
u
(th e i d
i s as an ope sepulch e h e is a m ghty m an but I bless th e an nci a
go -
sun
i );
ation down pour and upth ust h at pas s ion renewal wh ich
n r , nu
for no w
and always is the one certain th ing a m an alone pra ise hi s
,
-
,
r , t ,
fo r in
expendable body in h is sh attered house and I bless Nat vity
, to
th e i and
the sepulture th e Jesu s spring th ou gh it b e th e l a st ti e

,
of —
, m .
Beauty it must inferred i s rath er b e s ide the oint under c cu

be the ir m
st ances it is th e ever recu rin g n ew t st a nt spri ng wh ich d e sp
, , p
me of ite
and becau se h ail and high water o fers re a son ho ven
; -
r e , ,
of f for in th e
s h mbles th e stricken city
, pe e
a of .
18 3
L ie Still Sleep , Bc e a lm ed
T re ece speaks of this as Th omas s nearest approach to the traditional ’
sonnet With quotation marks suppli ed for lines 9 through 1 1 th syntax

is not in any way eccentric Th vocabulary offers no insurmountable
.
, e
difficulty Th poe m is neatly organized the narrative pro gressing logic

. e
ally Nevertheless it is not I think a poe m which can be finally inter

. e ,
p
.
t
re e d .T here must always remain questions
,
whic h there
e qually satisfacto y answers Th questions are these Who what is
t are several
, ,
or
r . e :
the wounded sufferer being asked to lie still? What is the nature f o
the wound? What will happen if he or h or it refuses lie still? Who , s e, to

speaks the poem? Unless all these questions are answered the poem
mains ,
re
mysterious
Lita Hornic k (p 2 6) believes th at
.
the sufferer with the wound

in the throat is T homas s omnipresent god i hero tak ing the archetypal
.
’ ‘ ’
night jou ney by water a well known death and birth ymb This is
-
n- ,
an interesting identification but because it does not answer the q estion

r ,
s o
why the god in hero should lie still which is the crux Of the poem does
s
, ,
u
- -
, ,
not assist much toward interpretation .
For example :
Sleep dying god ; we have listened all night t y ur

,
o o
labored breathing
We were fearful ; and when you burst into song
.
, ,
w heard all the dead cry

We heard all Nature speak in your voice Sprea d the
e t ou .
sails th at I may hasten to my resurrection

:
Sleep dying god speak no more ; we shall go

.
with y among the dead

, , or
ou .
Th e qu stion is why should the god s follo wers be reluctant to ’
hear the allu ing ong of death and resurrection?

e : so
r s
Stanford ( p 12 6 ) is uncertain of the ufferer s identity

.
s
’
Whether the poem is a lament for drowned at as

I incline to think is to b e taken in conjunction with the next poem
o ne se a, or—
in the boo k Vi i which describes the birth of one f

—
d P y , s o n an ra er, o
the poet s children it i diffi cult to say In Vi i

’
d P y the poet
speaks of how he listens t the m / Of the mother h idden and
, s . s o n an ra er,
“ ”
o o an ,
“
th sufferer with th w d/ I the throat burning and turning
e e o un n ,
”
Of the earlier makes I believe a like reference , , .
Since he too fails to an swer the c ucial question h e does r ,

no t make
184
I myself waver between tw interpreta ti o ns F the firs t I as sume
that T homas has recently seen a motion pictu re Of the sort exemplifi ed
o . or ,
by Lif B and Th C l S d h a s be n m oved to write h is w

scena io sonnet which might b e entitled De th of a Ship Th hip
e o at e rue ea an e o n
“ ”
torpedoed burns fills with water and slowly settles wh ile such offi rs
-
r , a . e s ,
and men as h ave escaped wait in th ei life bo a t f their s hip s inevi table
, , , ce
’
end Th storm f singing can be understood as the his sin g of s team whi ch
r -
s or
occu r as the burnin g decks se ttle int th e sea su face ( th e salt sh t )

. e o
“ ”
before the final plun ge Und er these ci cu mstances m e n wh have

s o r ee
closely identified themselves with the shi p d wh see ch ance f

. r , o
s rvival might be tempte d to w i n close t be pull e d down by th

an o no or
si k ing vessel s suction

u ro o e
’
If thi s i s the so nn et th a t T h o mas wrote h e mus t b c dite d with

n .
great t ct H e h as n ot trie d to d o wh t th e m o ti n pict re c an d

, e re
bsenti
etter ; he h as personal ized but t per sonifie d th e s hip ; h e h
a . a o u o
m entali zed m elodram tized th e re acti ns f th e o l ookers B ut

t no
no as
i n avoi din g th e sp ctacular he h t dimi n i sh ed wh a t i s su e l y

or a o o n .
f th e m o s t pr fo u nd expe ie n ce s tha t m en c an un dergo

e , as no r one
In my second i te pretation I a sume th at Th omas has bee n immer se d

o o r .
i n the stu dy f Walt Wh itm an and that what h e h as w itten h ere m ight
n r , s
be cal ed Vigil S trange I Kept in a Boat One Nigh t Th ere are i hi s

o r
“ ”
poem what app ar t be ech oes fro m su ch Wh itman favo ites a s Out
. n
“
Of th e C radle Wh e n Lil acs Last Pass age t India a nd T the

e o r
” “ ” “ ” “
Man f War Bird F example , ,

o , o
”
-
o - -
. or :
W so ng f th e ble di g th roat
w und i n th e throat
. o e n
T . o
W all i ght lflong

a ll ni gh t a oat
. n
T .
W under the full f th e m oo n

T und r the mile Off moon
.
.
e
o
W sound f the sea

se a sound
. o
T .
W burst th e wild storm

T broke in a sto m
.
.
W Victorious song death s ou tlet song ’
isin g and fallin g fl o din g th e night

.
,
T h v ices f al l th drown ed s wa m th e
r , o
T . e o o e on
W Away 0 s oul ! hoist instantly th e an ch !

C t th e h awser s haul t shake t
. or
u ou ou
186
T Op n aopawhway
. t ough the slow sad sai
de to the wind the gates of th e wandering b oat
e t hr '
,
Th r w i .
W L t in lov ng oati g ocean thee th e i fl of
Laved in th e ood thy bl ss death

. os , n ,
fl of i 0
ride wi h throu h the drowned
,
t you g .
Su pp se homas
nigh t in a sm all b at
o b e with C aitli n
T
a speck a oint
S t Ge rge s Channel at
world s oating va t
to
“
on
th e
. o
’
’
fl
”
He he ars fro m th e sea cratered e arth Wh i s ers he avenly death

o , p on s .
“
of
mforever
ystical b reezes wafted s oft and low ti de s a current owing
-
, p
of fl
ow ng He feel s soul r in g to thee O vast and
,
fl i hi s tu n
well veil
’
the body g atefully ne s tl ng cl e th ee Under
d d eath , / A nd i
”
the hy not c n uen ce sibil ant chor als h e m ay very we l a sk h ms l

-
r os to .
“
p i i fl of , l i e f
th o u
D arest soul now 0
Wa lk with m e tow r d th e unkno n e ion
out
Where neither g ound is the f t any path follow r

a
,
fo r ee
w
nor
r g ,
to ?
Hwhe atdidhe hnotad bdaen But one may wonder whe her he ever again
e
re . t was
before wh at there in the ht ni g
By the sea under the yellow and sag n g m oon

,
gi
munkessenger
Th e
Th e
there
n wn want the dest ny of meo
fi e th e sw et hell with in arou s
’
d, th e
i
r ,
.
e
,
Ido offer th s as the p m ho m as rote bu t i seve al T w as o ne o f
poem s which can be constructed from ho a s s blue pr nt But I Of er it

no t oe r
T m ’
i f
with ou t apolog e s some poem s the in terpr tation mu st be as ne a ly
-
.
i F or
equivalent as pr s e paraphrase can be th ers are wh at m igh t c all ed
.
, e r
O be
bucksh ee p ems of ering something unexpecte d u ne arned om eth ing
o .
”
f
present poe m I take be th e l atter presen in g as
-
o — s
, ,
to boot Th e o ne o f t
it does with a grati ying generosity several s o nne ts each qu ite valu able
. to , ,
f
th e price
, , ,
fo r o f one
G offrey Grigson however feels h i self to have b een cheated He

.
m
neith er u nderstands likes the poem His chief at ack in t s ins tanc
e , , .
hi
is upo n hom as s rhy ng Near rhymes h ve th eir virtue h e write s
nor . t e
T
’
mi ”
but only if they come as del ibe a tely as true rhym e ha ve aga nst
. a , ,
“
and i
each oth er proper weigh t accent and le ng h H r , ,
th e e ”
( C as eb oo k
hen quotes the first stanza with its rhyming
, ,
t .
,
of w o und-so und , float

hom as s inepti de p r i ul arly
t , a
sh eet, as an example of T
’
A float-shee t
botIherths nk h at w uld be hard put it determ n what
i
him .
he
tu . a tc
t o to to i e pro per
18 7
weight accent and length are He has previously cited as poetry worth
consideration a passage from Coleridge In it Cole idge rhymes l l w d
.
, ,
’
find th e weight accent and length of

.
, r a o
wd By what standard d es
this rhyme proper and that of fl h improper? Of course
c ro . o o ne , ,
a is
o a t- s ee t , o ne
true and the other half rhyme But in th same passage Coleridge rhymes e
h with f
.
h H w can it be determined that C leridge contrived

,
this as deliberately t ue rhyme whereas Th omas did not deliberat

ea rt o rt . o o
at all but wrote the poetry Of a child volcanic and unreasoning

as r , e
“ ”
?
,
It would seem to me to the contrary that the most curso y reading

of the po m would show how carefully Thom as has worked his sound
, ,
r
values Th fricative in ff t suggest th hard breath ing f the

e
wounded man ; the contrast betwe n fl wi g lik b l d an d the s taccato

. e su erer o e o
e o n e oo
l h b k to indicate a dramatic change ; the short i w m bringing

the voices up to the W ind s height ; the inner rhym es and vowel ech oes
sa t s e et ro e a n s a ,
th e al literation and onomatopoeia and r petiti ns holdi g th e stanza s

-
,
together Nothing h as been left t chance noth i g h as erupte d volcan ic

e o ,
n
ally Sense impression and symbol co ll aborate to pr du e a poem s

. o ,
n
.
-
o c a
dramatic and as evocative as any T homas wr te

I have placed this sonnet among the war poe ms for n o better reason th an
o .
that I should like him to hav bee n m oved t d escrib a naval a cti n
e o e o .
18 8
Sh a ll Go ds h e Sa id
Sh ll omas said to be serious this ra ny day poe m It
Th
very dif cult t ll Af er a series question implyi g a relation
a
fi
be
of
in i -
? is
betw n go s and noi y weather he m akes the s a ement It

to e . t s n
“
d w et fl at
sh l be sai d h at god s are stone and the stern demand th at the
ee s , t t ,
”
al
ongues th at are all tongues

t ,
s ones spe ak / W ith ”
the p m is m ore th an a joke and the st t r e stanzas

t t .
If ( fir h
c an ot be taken very eriously m llen i aft r the exp ul ion the
oe no e
s tw o i of
gods then it repre ents no more th n an impl ed Welsh cu rse a ain t

n n a e s
) i
a rBa unt sthore mlas at strather
i
,
-
t
a h avy h anded rewrit ng a n ra go away
s
nza is i vest d with a seriousness tone th at sug e s s

, e -
a
i of
“
R i
of
,
in ,
g
.
”
s
a g ea er s iou sness pu pose than th at

n e g t
r t er of r .
ISthashlalla bedropped
s aid tha t gods are stone
l s tone drum the g ou nd
.
Flu ng g avel ch me
Wit ton ues that talk all tongues
h
th e stones sp ak
r i ? Let
on
e
r ,
g .
Su pp s then th at the rs t t ee stanzas are not ai ed speci c ally

anott pad anthamt yttheh butstoneat ananyd paro
o e,
h ial an h opomorphic tendency It is to be

, fi hr m fi
th emselv es without personalit and

g c t r .
gravel
describe as app ur enances any man l k e deity It fu rth er
e are y
d of i is
to be noted ha by reducing to the abs rd the s ky god and m a ng
are not t -
.
ki
st ne div n e h om s has ab l hed th e fir t e of Lord s Prayer
t t, u s
i T
’
o is li n th e
I would su gg st still ssumi g seriousness intent that deleti g a
o , a s .
of
posses s ive hom a s

e , a n , n
T worked the Ps m to read

h as 2 4 th al Th e earth
is th e Lord an d th e fulness thereof the world and they that dwell

, re- :
therein He has upl t d a stone and st ted a h resy the stone wh ch the
, ; ,
if i
relig on bu ilders refu s d is b come head stone And all th e serm ons
. e ar e ;
i th e
in he d ston s spoken in al tongues have th s burd n all are the
-
e e .
( ) i of
dustAltanhougd t rn d u t ag ain
a -
e e :
f om sepul chre
r
h th e
c urse th ere
u
, of th at o her stone fou d ro led away

to
o
s
,
.
w as t n l
.
I Ha ve L o nged to Mo ve Away
Rebe l and atheis t t Thom s he e st i kes t at the Ch i tian
fo mul a tion of god pr du ed destiny and th at vice natu e cu stom Hi
oo , a r r ou rs
e b lli on is however ra ther more voc al th an active h e is not u li ke

r - o c -
r , . s
an Old soldier fed t the teeth with routi ne d ifl and u less forms
r e , , : n
o , r s, se
191
( pap r and otherwise ) wh would lik e to desert but is deterred by
fear f ivilian life s lac k of org ni zation to say nothing of the long arm
e , o
’
im agery of the first stanza is preponderantly mili

o c a —
o f h milita y ( Th
t e r . e
tary hissing of the spent li

“
fused artillery ro ds ; goes over ”
the hil l going AWO L ; thunder of calls and notes bugle calls )
: e un
“ ”
Th omas s posi tion is ambi v alent He is ha lf convinc d that the C h ris

‘
’
.
-
e
tian interpreta ion of life and death drill ed into hi m in hi youth is as

t s
empty d meani gless as raising a hat in g e ti g as fl hl as a kiss

an n r e n es e ss
ov r the telephone But it is clear from h strongest phr s s ( th old

,
“
terrors conti u al cry ; and ni ght s ancient fear that Thomas fears
e . t e a e e
’ ” “ ’
the dar k as much the early reli gion inventors did and does not d re
n
as -
a
leave the defense they erected agai st it He has then th ee courses n .

, ,
r :
to renounce th old lies to die outside the t adition ; to accept making

e —
r
Pascal s Choice ; to separate the truth and life from the false d
,
’
an c o nv en
i l accepting the one renouncing the other

Wh at course he takes is un lear Stanfo d (p 7 7 ) sees it as the first
t o na , , .
c . r . :
Yet if the e is some truth ( some life ) in thi s religious orthodoxy the
r
‘ ’
p t would prefer to die outside of i ; si e it appears of so mixed a

oe t nc
na re And Stanford is probably ight But some uncertainty persists

”
b cause Thomas neglects the rhetori al device of emphasis in m ak ing

tu . r .
a tr nsition i the second stanza from his fear which presumably defeats
e c
a n
his longing and his st tement of defiance A neve heless or how

,
ev er at the fif th line would hav e helped Further he has been imprecise
, a . rt ,
lin king ni ght s ancient fea and the parti g of hat f om hair
.
,
“ ’ ”
i
n r n r .
Th w are not at all of the same order Th latter may b the former
and is not eithe onv ention or lie If latter d y religiosity form
e t o . e e,
w as no t ,
r c .
-
a ,
divorc d from reality is then he should have disti g ished b ween it

and its forgotten source in the te ro of the u k nown
e , ,
n u et
r r n .
G S Fraser ( C b k 4 3 ) sees the poem in a quite different light

. . as e oo ,
as a piece of poetical self c iti ism “

-
r c
”
:
Th po t is ponde ing whether he ught to make a b nfire m

k
e e r o o —
ac c o
i d by small f i rewor s perhaps dangerous ones f childish

fears ob sessions and superstitions ; a bonfi e also in his writing f
p an e ,
—
o
r , ,
o
poetry of given ph rases li es and images ghostly e hoes paper

, ,
‘ ’ ‘ ’
n — c on
about wh se source d meaning he is not clear He is wonderi g

,
whether he ough t to b come lik e so many of his contemporaries of

—
o an . n
the 1 9 3 0 an adult and s cially conscious p t He decides that

,
‘ ’ ‘ ’
5, o oe .
he can ot fford to make thi s bonfire for the reason that the p etic
lirepet n a o
fe the undue fearsomeness and rhetoric the ghosts and the

‘ ’
—
i tion of salutes are somehow bound up with the possibility

,
‘ ’
of h fu ll life gi vi ng po tic vision

—
t e ,
-
e .
Th difference between our interpretations results from his being less

e
1 92
scarce anything that hath t killed some b dy ; a haire a feather hath
But I cannot agree that it i humorous T be knoc ked down by
no o ,
done
death s feather is to be killed dead and that s no cockney jo ke He is
s . o
’ ’
qserious
—
.
uite serious in his refusal to die in terms of myth f convention He is or o .
in his refusal but t certain in it the I h ll , it must be

no : s a no t,
noticed changes immediately to I would not care to

,
“
.
”
T here i still a third possibility Placing more weight upon the military
s .
imagery of the first stanza one can argue that Th omas is denouncing the
possible re qui ment that because of nationalistic or racial fears and
,
re ,
socio economic conventions in which he only partly believes he should

be inv lved in w B t again those key phrases Old te rors continual
-
,
“ ’
o ar . u r
cry and night s ancient fear seem t have implicatio ns too broad for
” “ ’ ”
o
so restricted an interpretation .
Why E ast Wind Ch ills

his like O ut of the Sighs is one of Thomas s least discussed poe ms
T
’
yet one f his better achieve ments T otally different from the former work
, , ,
o .
immediately understandable impersonal though warmly sympathetic

keyed down
—
, ,
and dramatic written mostly as if from the outside l oking

-
un- ,
o
o n— i shows that T homas had more range than he is usually c edited with
t r ,
that he could sing both tight and loose

the ultimate questions will only be ultimately
.
Its thesis is a simple o ne :
answered ; therefore rest content Th tone different from that of Was . e , so

“
T here a T ime is one not f Stoical but of Epicurean acceptance Th

, o . e
embittered farm boy of the earlier poem would seem to have fired his
-
shot and got the rancor out f his system o .
Th theme of death is enunciated in the fi rst phrase and is

e t absent no
from any part of the poem But it is t death as a horror though its
chill is not ignored but as a sleep It is like the cold sheets a child climbs
. no ,
.
,
into and warms as he drowses ff T h death images as I say are O . e -

, ,
introduced at once and are nicely varied through the progress of the poem
,
the chill of the east wind ; the drying of the wi dw ll the Aeolian bag “
n e
”
—
f winds ; the drowning of the west ; the many a hundred falls autumns “ ”
o —
and autumnal windfalls ; the breast s blood which becomes the child s “ ’ ” ’
and when the stone wounds turns dry black on the stone All
,
“ ”
ow n, ,
-
.
these in the initial stanza

,
In the se ond stanza the images are expressed as unwitting ironies

.
in the actual questions f children

c ,
o :
When cometh J ack Frost? the children ask .
Shall they clasp a comet in their fists ?
1 94
Th e funeral service tone of cometh the latent sense f Jack Frost
-
,
o ,
the rapid extincti n implicit in comet are supposed t bring to the

o
“ ”
o
reader s heart ( as the questions would to the parents ) that sudden w ench
’ ’
r
chill that children s words and actions often innocently do It may be

’
thought that Thomas has misstepped here ; that these do not sound like
or .
a child s questions so much as the q uestions an ingenious adult would

’
ascribe to a hild But his development of the questions images in this

c .
’
d in the final stanza is b yond repr ach Will they clasp a omet in their
fists? Th answer ( white as a comet s tail white as an icicle quietly shining
an e o . c
’
to the quiet moon ) will not echo till the children s eyes are frosted windows
e ,
’
.
In the third stanza Thomas sepa ates himself from the pra ti al ( g own
up ) limited questi ners the askers f H w rather than Why These ask
r c c r
o —
o o .
direction f the stars and a push fr m the winds ; for them All things
are known because the metaphysi al is sense in every sense T h mas
o o ,
though not so practi al and limiting is e qually content Hearin g the hand
,
c no n- . o ,
bell ring B content and Know no answer he tak es his place in the
c ,
.
“ ” “
e ,
class r om d oing like Mr Chips the best he can

-
o
T his is reversal with a vengeance for onl y one poem separates this fro m
. .
, , ,
the bitterly pessimistic Was Th ere a T ime It is quite possible of course

,
“
.
that the w poems th ugh placed together were w itten at widely

, ,
t o ,
o r
divergent times ( R alph Maude has addu ed evidence to indicate that

,
. c
Thomas has violated hronol gy in the arrangement Of his poems ) If c o .
however they are contempora ies their dispa ity is immensely interesting
,
Has a fundamental shift in v iewpoint o cu red O r is each the expression

, r ,
r .
evidence ; one must be

c r
f a momentary mood ? Unfortunately there is

content know no w A d answe s are beside the point It is enough
o no
to enj y the sk ill with which Thomas handles the movement of this poem
to ans er .
_
n r .
o :
the w y in which the lilt of the opening tetrameters and trimeters the
a
ballad boun e is muted ounteracted but not stifl ed by the retarded and
,
c ,
c
assonantal rhyming the run ons the interspersed pentameters and the
, ,
-
, ,
spondees ; and the w y in which he enfor es va iation of tone and f

,
a c r o
rhythm attention to pause and con ern for sound values in the poem s ’
last six lines O ne feels a desire to read this with the are one is willing
, ,
c
. c
t bestow upon a run of couplets in Dryden or in Pope

o .
In the B g inn ing e
his poem li ke the first verse f J h and in h same w y defies

T o o n t e a ,
rational analysis This is as it should be since a mystery by definition does

,
195
notomabide
Th
ques io n and bo h faith John
as are concerned with the g eatest th e my s teries
o ur t f i th seeki g t th e fun
-
of
and the a -
n
But what defies also invite s sc uti y becau se a myste y al s by d e ition

.
fin
is fascinating and never knows what ncrement will r n
serendipitic al
r ,
o
i
,
accrue
; o ne
homas s poem is th e rst l ine I n

.
Th e flower in the crannied wall of T

’
fi
imm ediate questio n in
:
the beginning was the three poi ted star ”

Th e is
the b ginning what Is his as it appears to be a pseudo h ex aemeric
-
n .
,
of ?
exercise is the poet using the Creation theme as a metaphor the

e t , ,
-
for
beg nning of something on a s m aller scal
, or
i a new faith of a life a f of
poem a man s regeneration B u t there can be certain answe th is

e —o
, ,
’
,
of ? no r to
question until a ecision is reached to d what doing the creating wh o is
In any case even hough the genesis desc ibed he e may be a m etaphor
as or .
, t r r ,
it has to explained as a genesis

be
real proble m in the line arises from the three pointed star By
.
Th e
formula homas h as put his poem in a
-
.
utilizing the Ge nes is-J o h n T

Christian context his eing the case one s rst though t must be that
,
b fi
’
T
hcannot
T omas is referring to
m hre Personed
.
God is a star But omas

ea n this literally He must be trying to vivify the
th e T
idea that
.
e-
,
Go d . .
O ld
Th
God is Light that particular kind light which we associate with stars of
But the light which associate with stars is dim cold u f uitful hose
, .
we , , n r : T
rolling fires discover but the ky/ N t light us here R eason does not s o
fi d the metaphor as happy as the tone of the passage demand s

n .
Perhaps it is not then despite the opening words God of G i and

, , ,
enes s ,
perhaps not God at all Possibly consideration f the epithet three pointed
. o
“
-
will assist
Assimilating th e future into the present many artists represent the Star
.
of Bethlehem as a kind f refulgent cr s ; their star disputing the dictionary

definition that stipulates fi or m ore points is four pointed Thomas has
o os ,
ve ,
-
.
gone the artists one better ; and in doing he has neatly halved the Star , so ,
of David Th is he did either in full awareness and with a purpose by

.
, or
unwitting coincidence If the fo mer w h y? Here are possible answers ( 1 )

Because he objects to the Hebraic Jehovah concept and wants his poem
. r , :
read from a Gree k New Testament point of view ( 2 ) Because he wants to

-
deny the distinction symbolized by the double tri angle between God and ,
Nature
,
If he had no thought of d nigrating the i pointed star why did h e

.
e s x- ,
seize upon the number three Again there are spec lative answers ( 1 ) ? u :
Because he is a T rinitarian writing a Christian poem ; ( 2 ) Because he

recognizes three ele ments working together in any creative process ; that is
he is writing a non Ch istian po m in which the figu re three h a s no
,
-
r e
196
Even in Dante s more Platonistic acc unt ( P di XIII 5 0 ff ) the
’
original source is 11 nostro sire In the Thom as we do have indeed a

o ,
ara so , ,
.
“ ”
brain and blood which may be argued being identical with the clear
.
, ,
“
as
Vision and the warm Love f the Primal Power ( i bid

” “
And ” “ ”
this blood is shot and scattered to the winds f light But the question
o .
,
remains is this the warm love f God or the b fi t warmth f the sun?
o .
: o ene c en o
Hints of Gree k philosophy also appear in the poem but they seem t , o
perform a structural not an ideational function It may be said of the first

four stanzas that each of the four ele ments is brought into play earth in
.
the first water in the second fi in the third and air in the fourth And
,
re ,
.
one might discern distant allusions t the theories concerning original

,
substance advanced by Democritus Thales Heraclitus A imi and

the lik e But very distant indeed
, , ,
n ax nes ,
Any effort to pin the poem down to a specific m eaning seems to m

. .
,
self defeating Th poem does certainly say this blood and brain that i
-
. e : —
s,
feeling and thought ; that is love and intelligence are the constituents f —
o
the creative imagination ; and any cre tion is accompanied by a acrifice

,
a s .
That is all w kn w and all w need to know What the pale signature i
e o e s,
the fire or the translating word is not k w bl but only f l bl Th

.
or ,
no a e ee a e . e
creative process is beyond description more specific than Thomas has given
,
it B ruc kner climbs a hill ; tired and sweaty he sits down by a stream to
rest and eat his lunch Immediately the slow movement melody for h is
.
,
next symphony b egins to run through his mi nd Wh can account for it?
-
.
Not Bruc kner and even less a J ohn Livingston Lowes Th thing cannot
. o
be described nor explained But well hos n objective correlatives m ay

,
. e
give us the imp i f an xplanation Thomas s in the present poem

.
—
c e
’
ress o n o e .
, so
concentratedly allusive so apparently definite th ugh so question defying

,
o -
,
lend that impression as in very few poems on the subject they do .
Analysis then is beside the point In the beginning w the Word and
, ,
.
“
as
the Word was with God and the Word was G d Th statement as it
,
”
,
o . e
stands is so perfect in its certitude and in the satisfacto riness the finality
of its expression that it compels acceptance as T ruth with a capital T
,
Begin to worry (as a d og a bone) the preposition (Was th e Word at the

, .
side of God Or was it pregnant with G d? ) or any other part f the

? o o
sentence and one but evermore goes t by the same door wherein he went ou
Thou gh nothing m y be lost nothing will be gained

.
Still the mind like the d g must have its bone of contention Th bone
.
,
, o . e
of bones for a d g a mind is that one which retains its identity and its
,
potency however it is t eated gnawed lick ed buried k icked merely

o or
sav ored Th verse in J h of cou se stays whole regardless of all analysis

r —
, , , ,
or
. e o n r
T homas s po m has its durability too

.
’
e .
19 8
In ca rn a te D e vil
In this p em o iginally called Poem for Sunday Thomas is seen
o r ,
teaching his Sunday School class about the origin of evil Effective teacher
,
that he is he offers two traditional hypotheses and then turns the discussion
,
to the present and the personal .
T homas s version f the Eden m yth is not quite traditional however

’
o , .
Th garden of E den is not God s but the devil s and it is t properly a

’ ’
e no
garden but the plains f Asia Adam and Eve the leading figures of the O .
,
myth are conspicuously absent so there is no temptation of the woman

, ,
an d Adamic uxoriousness Though the devil appears in the form made

no .
famous by the C hi i i mythologists and by Milton G d is a decidedly

reduced deity potterer an amateur music maker the executive Officer
st an , ,
o
—
a ,
-
,
O f a penitentiar y w h can be visualized uninterestedl y waving the pardoned

o
pri oners ff to freedom as he concentrates on a difficult bit of double

,
s o
bowing Who is being pardoned for what is not mentioned

. .
Assuming the sentence order to be d il g w k i l

d v i l the active fi gure is the tal k ing sna k e wh
-
t ev s tun a a e c rc e , no
i l
c rc e g w k s tun a a e e in , o,
the time of the shaping f g laxies venomously put into motion the whe l
,
o a e
of fi the seasonal cycle the life death cycle and turned the circular
,
re — - —
apple into a shape of sin All is still abstract wh y he do s this for whom
,
.
—
e , ,
and to what end are questions left unconsidered

T h striking image f the stanz a is that of the bearded apple
.
e o Th . e
immediately following referen e to God explains it in part It is the apple

of Th ou Shalt Not and whoever loo k s at it sees superimposed the stern
c .
bearded face f J ehovah ( Th contrast between the wrathful negater and

,
the fiddling pardoner is I think intentional ) Th emphasis points the

o . e
devil s horns arrow tipped tail and pitch fork and the serpent s tooth
, ,
. e on —
’ ’
-
, , ,
may lead to a hidden pun b d and b b At any rate the love apple : ear ar e .
,
-
is transformed into a apple and one recognizes at once the necessity sex - ,
of making oneself an apron .
Th second stanza offers an alternative and non Christian myth In very

primiti v e tim s before man had learned to sail the seas when m an
e -
.
imputed semi divinity to the moon ( which w ancilla y to the sun )

, ,
-
as r
gods Twisted good and evil an Eastern tree And when the
,
“
P i pi
r a an on .
moon changeable as the wind rose it ( the reference is loose but no

,
matter ; the description fits both tree and moon ) w double natured
, ,
O as -
ne would guess that Thomas had been reading Frazer or some other
.
anthropologist and had been struc k by the fluid natu re f moon goddesses O -
:
of how Artemis the virgin goddess became associated with childbirth ; how
Hecate a b fi t deity becomes a goddess of night the underworld
, ene c en , ,
and magic and is identified with Artemis ; how Diana assimilates the
,
characteristics of Artemis and Hecate and as Diana of the Grove is ,
1 99
i
n o vl ve d i h acrifi e th t gave Fr er the n me f
n t e s
o i d r ion of M ry h Di na like h d
c a az a or hi s b o
rn ai de n
ok All of thi s
of h hanged
.
l ea ds t o c ns e at a ,
t e a -
an er
W h a Th om s seem t a
h the uni e s lity of th a he s be g e ttin g at is t
m m d for b y the
to at v r a e rc
t l t m h i b i r li ty of the hum n
hi s by ing h t rm of th nci ent storie
yp a y s s t o e ac e te un v e sa a
e perien e A d he ilf mi
d sc i be h t h ( d hi S n d y Sch ol li ste e ) have them el e
x c . n u nates t us t e e s e a s
“ ”
w
e xp i n d We in th a cr d w te f the w omb hav e k own para di l

to e r a e an s u a o n rs s v s
er e ce . e s e a rs O n a sa
e i n e d a golden in h i o nt Fern Hill mo i ng of ch ild

c rs the p em s m aj r ambig ity Who w
x ste c . an a ge t e nn ce ,
-
rn
d here
’
h d B
a nza w ere int d d a s p nt
oo ut— an oc u o o u . as
r p ib le f hat B I h fi t
“ ”?
fi ddli n G d N w ( shad es of Ar emi He a Di a M ry ) w

es ons or t ut n t e rs st ro u ce er e
d
e a fiddli g p I it G d or i it the devil wh b ou ght l s
an a g o . o t s- c te- an -
a e
e n co un t r n ser en t . s o s o r us os
f Ed n d ll w ?
I hi k h t Th om s li k e Bl k i of h D vil s p y It i
o e an a our oe
f
’
t n t a a . a e, s t e e ar t . s se x , o
c e h a in h h api time of adol c e de r ys h i e ce f

a de il b a bearded Th ou Sh lt Not ing J ehov ah
o urs t t t e s ng - es en c st o t e nn oc n o
chil dh d B it i
,
( i nv ed by h ab m k er ) h p ki g wi h fo k d on gue enu i
oo . ut s n ot v ut ,
-
a -
t
w
d h f l e di ti c ion ( clo v en m ely th t s xuality i hell

ent t e t u- a s o, s ea n t r e t , nc
“
i i m ( an ex i gui hi g of w mth and li ght ) i h aven And

ate t e as s n t na , a e s
d
for d troyi g th po i bil ity of i en e in e xual
an as cet c s tn s n ar s e .
the nhim elf to b l

. s arne es n e ss nnoc c s
i y i gi e di t f i g the rem r f l im r fr m the clu h s f

h D i l Th e e i i the p m no d vi l at all Th re i o l y th Jehov h
t , s v n cre or sav n o se u s e o tc e o
hi h fr m Th m s poi t of i ew is de vil i h In short h po m

t e es . r s n oe e
. e s n e a
im
’
be d i o j n ti n w i h Th M i g f H v
age w c ,
o o a s n v ; s .
, t e e
i d H ll
h gai from n lysi At fi st gl n e it em onl y
s to rea n c n u c o t e arr a e o ea en an e .
Th i i m w hi
p rfi ci ll y clev er h h the li e B lack as h b ast and p ler th n h
p s s a oe c ns a a s . r a c , se s
“
analysi s e v als h c eful articulation

su e a . t ou g n t e e a a t e
cr m b i g
os s
”
p sho
ay B rn on e u rt . ut r e t e ar
f h im age h ri ch e s of ll i o d the ignifi n e of h theme

h s z w hi ch at fi t em are
o t e s, t e n s a us n an s ca c t e .
epara e u it ; each n ed
,
Th
f h m i irr le v ant to w hat i i the others
e t ree tan as , rs se so no t s t n s e s
h h n hi g in
t e O t er— ot n any o t e s e s n .
Th e surpris e at th e en d h as be en prepar ed for in th e first stanm b y image

vc o ab u ary , an d
th e un
l to e th ugh o leger m b n emplo
n ,
de t n ding of the t ick d s not le d to di app i n ment I i a

and, o s me de ai n has e e yed,
,
rs a r oe a s o t . t s
Th is S ide of the Tru th

Th e a mbi v al e nce in th e first li ne of Th omas s poem ab out a life that ’
to be and is sai d to b e ambi v ale nt b ut is nog i s on e o f Th omas s

’
appe ars
2 00 '
Universali st doctrine that all men will ultimately be saved Th poem
h we ver is so completely lack ing in Christian overtones that there seems
. e ,
likelihood that he is advancing even so unorthodox a Christian theo y

o ,
no r
as this Again B ailey would appear to have the right f it when he says
. o
that love is the creative power f nature the life giving for e
re verence for which m y fairly be regarded as his true reli gion
o ,
-
c
”
I do not k now whether Mr Baile y has read T ho m as T h excerpts are

a .
q1uoted from the introduction his translation f Lu cretius published i

9 1 0 B t I do not thin k he would find the T homas of this poem an alien
. u
.
to o
. e
spirit .
B for
e e I Kn o ck d e
Among the interesting aspects f this poem not as poem but as docu
ment are these That Thomas should have written about Christ ; that h e
o ,
should have placed Christ neither in heaven nor earth but in the womb ;
,
on
that he should have situated the poem itself between one a p and on ro c ess
one on a f that the poem does not conclusively reveal Thomas to be

a believer or a non believ er in the div inity f Christ
o rce ;
-
o .
W iters about Christ are b oadly speaking f two kinds There are the
professing Christians wh belie v ing in the simultaneity of Hi manhood
r ,
r ,
o .
,
o, s
and G odhead diffe entiate Him from all other human b ings and from all
r e
mythi al deities And there are those w h as humanists regard Him as a

,
c . o,
man whom credulity has d ifi d successful A pp ll i of T yana

,
to spea k And of the humanists

e e —
a o on u s , so
school will fi d the ethical teachings

f this J ewish So rates laudable another will find them repu gnant
.
, o ne n
O c
rdinarily those wh write about Christ have an axe to grind Either

o
they want to strengthen their reader s b lief in His divine differentness

,
’
.
.
they want to sub v e t such belief ; they want to enlist suppo t for His
e ,
or
ethi or they want attac k it

r r
c, to .
It is not clear that any of these motives has actuated Thomas T h ethic
is not dis ussed w y or the ther ; and the last w stanzas mak e only
. e
c o ne a o t o
an ambig ous statement as to the nature f Christ What the poem says
most clearly is that J esus developed physically after the fashi n f e very
u o .
o o
man B the emphasis is up n this devel pment but upon a fore

knThwledge
o
q
. ut
a f re experiencing f the su ffering of life to come

or o -
uestion that arises and is not answered is this Is such f k wl

no t o
o
o
edge f fi i g possible only to a divine man? O r is it the lot f

e , ,
: o re no
ev e y man That is did Thomas choose Christ his poem s protagonist

or o re su er n o
’
?
be ause He is a special case? did he choose Him as a representative f

r ,
as
c or o
202
the n rm f human k ind mo e widely known more gifted but still
o o —
r , ,
representative? A Caesar in the estimation of a Cassius ?

O r has he attempted a tric k in emphasis his point being not that Christ
is m an but that man is Ch ist that every man i div ine and a scapegoat?
:
I thin k that a case could be made for each f these three possibilities
r —
s
but it is not my intention to mak e a ase for any but merely to point t
o ,
the ambigu ities

c , ou
In h first stanza the protagonist speak s of himself either as a fertilized

.
t e
egg which has not yet gain d access to the uterus or as a spi it prior to
,
e ,
r ,
i ncarnation As yet shapeless he will give meaning to that whi h confines

.
,
c
him as water gives a water c urse meaning and as the meaning of Christ
has aggrandized the meaning of J ordan But the particular point he
,
-
o
“
has to mak e conce ns his relationships

.
r :
! I ] was brother to M h daughter ’

net a s
And sister to the fathering worm .
Here arises the first diffi culty Th brother of M h daughter in ’
Blak e s Ti i l is Har Lita Hornic k following S Foster Damon takes

. e net a s ,
’
r e , . .
,
M h to be a personification of intelligence and Har to personify poet y

,
net a r .
She thus discovers here a corresponden e between the artist and God But c .
Sloss and Wallis define Har as a senile dotard author of a code of i , restr c
tive morality ; No throp Frye has referred to him as a hideous imbecile ; “ ”
and he seems to me B of course the q uesti n is how would he have

r
so . ut o ,
seemed to Th omas? For this there is no answer ; so what Thomas meant ,
in this line is purely a matter of conje ture

fathering worm f the next line may be the worm from whom
c .
“ ”
Th
Thel learns the universal lo v e of G d as she has learned fr m a Cloud that
e o
o ,
o
T hen if thou the food of worms 0 virgin of the s kies

art ,
How great thy use how great thy blessing ! everything that lives
,
Lives not alone nor for itself

,
Elder Olson think s that there is no real particularity in Thomas s ’
allusion ; he is me ely saying that J esus as yet unconceived w utterly

f mless and had every and no relation ev erything and everybody as
r , ,
as
a conseq uence (Olson p

or , to ,
”
. .
,
B T homas h particularized It is quite uncharacteristic f his

general practice to make so direct an allusion as he has done here What
ut as . o
I believe has happened is that T homas has assumed Th ] w h is refer ed e o r
to as the beauty f the vales f Har to be the daughter of M th

,
(Yeats conjectured that Bla k e originally intended her to be so ) And

o o , ne a .
he has brought Thel and worm together in the person of Jesus to show ( in
Blak e s words ) that
’
203
God is in the lowest effects well as in the highest cau ses ; for he is
b come a worm that he may nouri sh the wea k F let it be remem
as
e . or
b red that creation i God descending according to the weak ess f

e s n o
man for Lord is the Word f God everything on earth is

o ur o
the Word of God in its essence is G d (Sloss Wallis II

, ,
o .
-
, ,
If this conjecture is accepted some earlier question s are answered

Christ is a special case because history has made Him so ; but if every
,
“
thing earth in its essence i G d He is representative And further

”
since creation is God descending here and now and everywhere the n
on s o , .
, ,
“
, ,
this poem is well situated between A P and Th F because G d ro c ess e o rc e o
is force and proces s .
Th second and third stanzas put Christ in a relation to the physical

universe and under the influ nce f the force th at drives th fl ower Derek
e
Stanford sees stanz a 2 as a vivid d escription f th child from the poi t

e o e .
“
o e , n
of view of its w being during th moment f coitus Th image f
the unconceived ch ild s fl esh as m lten ( li ke the warm amorphous
o n e o . e o
’ ‘ ’
seminal fluid ) and of the phallus as the rainy hammer with the leaden
o
‘ ’ ‘
stars ( where the adjective phonetically suggests the state f being laden )
’
as the drops of ejaculated seed are examples f high poetic inventiveness

o
o .
( Stanford pp 4 7
Th omas however has put h i emphasis upon tra n scendent cos mi c
.
,
, ,
s
forces Th point of c urse is the conjunction of finite and infinite the

simultaneity of trans endence and imm anence
. e ,
o , ,
c .
Th real d ifli l y in these two stanzas is in the lines

e cu t
And the wind w my sister suitor ; as
Wind in me leaped the h llb m dew ,

e o
Each of the images wind as suitor and wind as hell born dew seem s
—
,
- —
eccen ric At a h zard the lines could be explained follows the

t . a as :
external i woos him out of his womb haven and it do s by impelling

,
hi growth th needfu l oxygen rea hing him in the blood coursing th rough
a r -
, e so
the umbilical B lood as a prime symbol f mortality is justly h llb m

s , e c
“ ”
. o e o .
Th emphasis in these s anzas is upon the unpleasant or uncomfo table

e t r ,
and the emphasis increases in the fourth Here the bones harden into their .
rounded shape and the various organs take form F the unformed . or ,
“
molten orga i sm this structuring is as to turous as a crucifixion Indeed
”
n ,
r .
,
the stanza is usually taken as representing Ch ist s foreknowledge and ’
t ha v e to be
r
fo resu fl i g f the crucifixion It does

er n o taken If d m no so . rea s
is defined as the aspirational force that produces growth only a present

.
activity is taking place And the next stanza suggests that physical changes
,
o ccur because f psychic compulsions thirst causes ( or at least antici

o : ,
pates ) the throat ; hunger th belly ; love the heart That is the basic
,
, e ,
.
,
2 04
treacherous dealing of God the Father and makes these identifications
For J esus is man and the Father is time death the repr ssive forces f
:
“
society and the antagonistic for es f the universe (Horni k p

, , e o
”
,
I c o . c ,
.
do not myself believe that Thomas identifies the father with time death
and repressive fo ces ex lusively T rue the I felt thirst but he w m ade
, ,
“
r c . as
the i h / B y sipping at the vine f days and at least for a time words
, ,
r c er o ,
and water made an unfa iling mixture T rue he smelt the maggot but h i .
, s
heart knew love True he was cast upon the seas but it w a salt
,
”
.
, , as
adventure Th poem is not of unrelieved tragedy Whether is to

”
think it tragic at all depends upon how one inte prets the pun d bl
. e o ne . o ne
the hortatory final stanza Here the protagonist spea k s and

r on ou e
d i
speak s as though he were Christ to Christians
c ro sse n .
,
.
,
You w h bow down to ross and altar o c
R emember me and pity Him

,
Who took my fl esh and bone for armour

And doublecrossed my m ther s womb o
’
.
q
Th e uestion he e is whether not Christians add essed are being
r
adjured to have two distinct attitudes toward two separate entities a

or th e r
o ne
,
mortal ghost the other G d Th ejuxtaposition f lower case me with

, ,
o . o -
“
upper case Him validates such a conclusion B t if this is the case what
-
“ ”
. u ,
distinction exists between this particular mortal ghost and others in

Thomas s poems the p for example of I Fellowed Sleep I
’ ” “
—
ers o nae , ,
Dreamed My Genesis My World is Pyramid or I in My Intricate

,
” “ “
Image ? In plain words is J esus the Son of G d or

, , ,
”
of God And if ,
o a so n ?
the f rmer wh y should He be emembered and God pitied rather than

o ,
r
vice versa ( A possible answer is that G d deserves such pity as Th ]

?
evokes in Blak e s B k f Th l ) Th emphasis throughout the poem is

o e
’
oo o e . e
upon mortality not spirituality upon h period of gestation not that f

,
t e ,
o
the gospel teaching years upon implicit death not the cru ifixion Still
,
-
,
c .
,
the narrator refers to himself as his father s dying christ ( though again
,
’
, ,
the lower case diminishes the appellation )

T hat such q uestions arise in a po m
.
apparently lucid suggests that e so
for easons f his own Thomas intended that his fundamental beliefs
r o
remain mysterious
An anonymous TLS reviewer has recently written of Auden J uggling
.
with incompatible tones is of ourse an ld tric k with this poet and the
:
, c o ,
exa t prop tions of deliberateness miscalculation and uncertainty are no

,
c or
easier to estimate now than they ever were Th words apt f the
,
”
. e are or
practi e of Thomas It i not easy to fix upon the exact tone if there is

only one or to determine how many are harmonized if there are more
c . s ,
, ,
than one in the line And doublecrossed my mother s womb There is

,
“ ’
.
2 06
the rath er v lgar thought ( but Thom as is commonly vulgar ) that the
u
mother w cheated in su ffering the pain without the antecedent pleasure

denying J oyce s dictum No population with out copulation There is the
as ,
’ “ ”
.
,
more exalted idea f the womb s being twice crossed or traversed first
o
’
as Stanford puts it in the form of the Holy Spirit by whom h w made

,
“
,
s e as
pregnant ; and secondly in the form f the Son f God whom she bore
, o o .
In su ffering the agony of birth as well as the agony f the crucifixion o ,
Mary may be said to have bo ne two crosses And to revert to the l wer r . o
level she w cheated of her good name as the medieval li t did not
hesitate to record for being found with child before she knew J oseph All
, as ,
c aro s s
these might be te med sweet cheats since all take gospel the gi ven tory
.
,
r as s .
But the interpreter eager to prove Thomas s non Christian position might ’
-
argue that the double cross consisted in Mary s having bo ne a man instead
-
’
r
of a Messiah all later propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding We

suffered all in J esus fall from upp r case t lower case
.
,
’
e o .
In an early version of the poem T homas had four lines immediately ,
preceding this final stanza :
A virgin w my df d d m as sa ac e a .
My sire was f wind and water o .
Get thee behind m my blood s tempter e,

’
I cried out when the blood w dumb as .
But these lines seem to me not to Cla ify Thomas s intention T the ’
contrary they multiply the questions For example he seems to adopt a

r . o
.
,
Christian attitude toward the vi gin birth ; but to refer to the Holy Ghost
,
as wind and water is scarcely Christian In the second sentence the

“ ”
.
,
blood s tempter must be the force that causes it to fl w If this f rce is

’
o . o
to be conceived Him a devilish Him why should pity be called for

as , ,
in the next stanza ?
N this poem which reads so easily and seems lucid is as di ffi ult

o, so ,
c
as anything Thomas wrote

,
Th questions pile up the higher the more one digs f answers And
the top of the pile is the ultimate q uestion did Thomas intend lu idity
e or .
on : c
and miss it did he intend and achieve the existent my ifi ti ?

, or st ca on
Th is B read I B rea k
T his i another of the poems that seem at first glance straightforward
s
but on refl ecti n tu n Delphic It i t a juggling with tones as in

Before I Knoc ked that p ses the problem but with pron uns T h ee
o r o ut . s no ,
”
,
o o . r
207
times the I f the poem says to some y that b read and wine were once
t and grape T his is both true a n d as T homas phrases it poetic l B u t
o ou
i it i m portant? Th a n swer to that question depends u pon who speaks t

oa .
, , a .
s e o
whom
generalizing tendency of the first two stanzas the fi st sta nz a
.
Th
moving swiftly from the dinner table to the ru ral scene and from I t M
e — r
in th abstract the second stanz avoiding the personal and the indoor
o an
e , a
setting altogether sugg sts that the speaker i Thomas But the last
stanza and pa ticularly th e last li e My wine y drink my bread y
—
e s .
snap ) returns with a cras hing specificity t first person and dinner table
,
r n ou ,
ou
”
and that table the particular one f the Last Supp r Th i s stanza t
o ,
introduces the second person pronoun ch angi ng the po m from general

o e .
, oo ,
-
, e
comment t direct address unless the y is the equivalent of M

several possibilities are these Thomas speaks to someone in
o —
ou an .
Th
particular ; Thomas speaks t Everyman ; Christ sp ak s to his apostles ;
e :
Christ spea k s to Everyman

o e or
Stanford h as chosen the first

.
Th poet tells h i m istress th at in their unio n h d i nks h is wi n e a n d

eats his bread ( as th is is an t going energy it le aves a desolation
e s s e r
“
in the vein And this vital force bequeathed in se xu al love i s Born

ou -
f the sensual root and So the act f s acrifice (s ee mi g i

pa t an act of destruction) has involved b oth nature and man
o p sa o n n
(P p 7 4
r .
The transfer of vital energy fro m earth a ir and water to th growing

plant thence to Th omas next to the mistress and finally to the conceiv d
, , e
, , ,
e
child each transfer involving a sacrifice defines a sort f pantheistic

, ,
o
eucha ist
But suppose that the speaker is Christ And suppose furth r th at this is
r .
the kind of Christ describ d in Lawrence s Th M Wh D i d th at

. e
’
e e an o e ,
Christ wh came to realize that

o
I as k ed them all to serve me with the co p s e of th eir l ove And i n

the end I o ffered only the co pse of my love This is my body take
r .
—
r .
and eat my corpse

A vivid shame went through h im Aft r ll h e thought I
—
wanted them to love with dead bodies If I had kissed Judas with
. e a ,
.
li ve love perhaps he w uld never have kissed me with death Perhaps

.
he loved me in the fl esh and I willed that he shoul d love me b dy

,
o .
,
o
lessly with the corpse of love

T here dawned him the reality f the soft wa m love wh ich i
,
in touch and which is full f delight (P p 204

on o r s
,
o . .
20 8
his mornin g the secretary of the London Verse Spea king Choir I
T
thin k it was called rang me up as k ed me whether I could attend
- —
the final rehearsal before mak ing an H M V record f their speaking

—
.
i
. .
,
o
of my And Death Shall Have No D I said I couldn t so there

“ ” ’
then the Choir recited it t me down the telephone Oh dear Picked

.
,
o . .
voices picking the rhythm to bits chosen elocutionists choosing their

own meanings ten virgins weeping slowly ver a quick line m atrons
,
, o ,
mooing the refrain a conductor with all his vowels planed to the
,
last e .
Thomas may very well have been surprised by the popularity achieved
by the poem and irked by the way it was manhandled by other rendition
,
i t B t it w
s s . u which he himself loved to belt out ( this seems the most
as o ne
appropriate description }and it w one suited to h i methods f delive y

Its popularity has not been due solely to its declamatory q ualities
as s o r .
Published in a time when notes of ffi m i philosophical political

otherwise did not resound among intelligent liberal h umanists it answered
a r at o n— , ,
or
—
,
an emotional need in readers jaded by the anxieties f youthful G ti

suspicious of the doctrinaire optimism of th e partisans It affi rmed
o e ro n o ns
without sentimentalizing ; it expressed a faith without theologizing For

or .
the liberal humanists caught between the Communists Fascists nd

, , a
Christian converts the one hand and the latterday Samuel Smil
,
on e ses o n
the other it brought g od tidings indeed

,
o .
T here is neither amb iguity of tone nor f syntax in the poem but just o ,
the question of whether T homas has been content to borrow a phrase from
St Paul ( R m VI 9) or has acceded to the doctrine as well In the
. o ans , , .
p ecedi g chapter Paul has made this declaration

r n ,
where sin ab und : o
d grace did much more abound But realizing that the casuist might ”
c , .
impute a false causal relation he devotes Chapter VI to answering the

qisuestion Shall w ontinue in sin that grace may abound? Th answer
,
“
God forbid And the reason is that having been baptized into Christ s
.
e c
,
,
”
e
’
death w are dead to in For he that is dead is freed from sin Further
,
e s ,
“
.
”
,
being dead with Christ w believe that we shall also live with him , e :
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead di th no m re death hath e o :
no more dominion over him In m the wages of sin i death ; but .

”
su s
the gift f God is ete nal life through Jesus Christ Lord
,
”
o r ou r .
None of this is expressed or implied in Thomas s poem Th mas ’

. o
Connolly has speculated that Thomas depicts heaven in the first stanza and ,
hell in the second and then shifts violently to versify the principle f
onserv ati n of energy in the third Th evidence that Heaven and Hell
, o
c o . e
as su h are in T homas s purview is not compelling Connolly I think salts

’
the line Th ough they sin k through the sea they shall rise again in order to
c .
, ,
find it thoroughly Christian in onsidering the resurrection of the glorified

“
c
2 10
and perfected bodies f those in heaven Th given words fit the pagan
o . e
concept f death and rebirth by water rather more precisely Assurance

.
o .
that Thomas is postulating a Christian Heaven and Hell is diminished b y

his references to the child s play man in the moon and to the evils mythic ’
as unicorns punished after the in quisitorial fashion

-
B t supposing that he is the poem still seems to say no more than this
u , :
that however y regard i i te ms of myth religion philosophy

ou t— n r , or
science death is not an end of living but a metamo phosis T h force

, ,
that through the green fuse dri ves the fl ower does not cease when the
—
r . e
fl ower no more lifts its head to the bl ws f the rain

No personal God is mentioned no redemptive Son of God ; the question
o o .
of whether spirit alone or spirit and body are reborn is not raised Th . e
poem affi ms a faith but it is more nearly Luc etian than Pauline and
r ,
r , ,
indeed says less of God or of g ds than Lucretius does In Lucretius

,
o .
,
the atoms are assimilated into the gods bodies ; here they add fuel ’
to the sun
I hav e a feeling but no ev iden e that T homas had been reading
.
Swinburne and that this oem is a rejection of the total annihilation theory
, ,
p -
presented by Swinb r in Th Forgotten Garden and Th Garden

u ne
“
e
” “
e
of Proserpine .
In the latter poem since in death there is only the sleep eternal / In
,
an ete nal night Swinburne maintains that dead men rise up never
” ”
B t the Dead men na k ed in T homas s p em ascend to m oon and stars

r ,
.
“ ’
u o .
In Th Forgotten G arden when the lovers die L ve deep as the

e , ,
“
o se a
as a rose must wither but in T homas Though lovers be lost love , ,

“
shall not And for Swinburne the dead

”
beyond change whatever
the perturbations of the universe
. are ,
Here death may deal not again for ev er ;

Here change m y c me not till all change end
Fr m the g aves they have made they shall rise up ne ver
a o .
Who have left naught living to rav age and rend

o r ,
Ea th stones and thorns of the wild ground growing

While the sun and the rain live these shall be ;
r , , ,
T ill a last W ind s breath upon all these blowing

,
R oll the sea

,
T ill the slow sea rise and the sheer cliff crumble
T ill te race and meadow the deep gulfs drin k
, ,
T ill the strength of the waves of the high tides humble

Th fields that lessen the roc k s that shrink
e
Here now in this triumph where all things falter

, ,
Stretched out on the spoils that his own hand spread

,
°
211
As go d lf sl in n his o wn su ange altar ,
'
-
a se a o
But in Th om s h dead not only not bey d ch nge th y

a t e are on a , e are
h cha ger
t e n s:
HB adks iof hh ch acill tersh h mmer

e
b l
through daisi es
dow
t e ar a
A d d a th h ll have no domi i on
rea n t e su n t t e sun rea ts n,
n e s a n .
They q ie hey are not ev n gently t r in g to omp st in

b ea ti g thei r way out h mm er d ton gs
are not u t, t e u n c o
h g ave they
t e r , are n a an .
Th en W as ! My N eop hyte
Af er h affi ma ion f And De th Shall Hav e No Do mi nion th e
t t e r t o a ,
de p ir of thi p em omes a h ck Death h domi i n here

s a s o c as s o . as n o
“
I w ime mur der m O mi ght thi k Thomas a p rson di vi ded !
ag i n t hi m lf d ay fi di g ertai ties th o gh Newm an s ill tive

sa t e . ne n e
’ “ ”
g the u i v er e th rough
a s se ,
to n n c n r u a
e morrow b i tifi that i '
eyes d ar ivi n g at di b li ef There is ertai nty i Domi

sens , to o s ern n n s sc en c s,
b s rac i g
“
er i y hat c n ists in the erti de f the contemplating

a t tn an r s e . c n n
”
i th
in N ophyte uch ertitu de h bec me a myt h one f all
on ,
e c ta n t t o s c tu o
mi d B
“ ”
for d whi ch i to be sh elv d i fav or of h m

n . ut e , s c as o s
pti o s of cien e
S ien e d reli gi on o front one ano h r in the poe m and eli gion
an s e n t e assu n s c .
obj ct s ili ng th ugh spa e i

c c an c n t e r
c om es off b dl y Th ear h is een a . e t s as an e a ro c , ts

i n e ior b ni g and ome im s erupti g to pock m rk it rfa e A
ma s f t l d velopment on thi prec arious su fa e i ompa d to the
t r ur n s t e n -
a s su c .
’
n oe a e s r c s c re
ra e hi ory of the il Th e e i neith e irony nor skep tici sm in th s

p ages B there is i ony in hi choi e of th e word n phyt e to
c st sn a . r s r e e
“ ”
ass . ut r s c eo
h rac e iz hi p o ago ist f it h rel i gious nnot ion hat do not

welv e di iple eas in which di ci ple me n
c a t r e s r t n ,
or as co at s t
apply S w ith
“ ” “ ”
A d k p ici sm i reve l d in the f act

. o too , t sc s s a s
more th n tim e ontroll d

“ ”
hat the d ctri e of L v e do eviden e i s lf i ature but in

no a -
c e . n s e t s ae
p i i g of a re d in d c or d motion picture ( I w h i g a
t o n o es no t c te n n
“ ”
phot g ph an p q e bo de i used to cov e unwan t d p rts )

a nt n s n tu an o t e s . n as n
o l d be of o e hat in j uxt po ing th tw po m Tho m s

o ra , o a u r r s r e a .
I
i dram i i g h dil emma of the post Darw i i an i ell ct a l ; and th a t
t c u , c urs , t a s ese o e s a
in the Al ta wi s s n ets whi ch follow he i i tim u g a me an f

s at z n t e -
n nt e u ,
“ ” '
olving it by what mi ght be all d a non pre c ip ive g ammar f as e t

r e o n , s n a n s o
thi i p ul a ion
s c e -
s r t r o s n .
B ut s s s ec t .
2 12
the latter encounters only the landscape grief Th tragedy of m an . e
is identical .
4 Who ends my story ? Th time fi d series is broken comes

to a most lame and impotent conclusion the rowboat excursion ends
. e -
c o n ne
“ ”
when the boat hits a rock ; the hedge w is cut down ( Perhaps even
:
the gastropod foot is la med )

-
ro .
, ,
Who asks the Regulator could destroy the negative soon to be m ade
.
p sitive of you r life ; could remove the immaterial foot print made by
, , ,
o ,
-
the heel of your future journeying revelation guided spirit?

-
,
-
T ime can ( As the high tide washes the beach clean )

Th R e gu lator denies this T ime will not k ill ; the h pe fill d circle will
. .
not be bro ken ; the spirit cannot be des royed ( after all noughts have
e . o -
e
t ,
their meaning in their interplay with crosses ) ; the sacred heart within
behind the physical heart cannot be hacked ou t ; you are as yet untried
or
a v irgi n neither really alive nor really dead but a T hel existing betwixt
,
and between
,
But the poet saw time murder him .
The A lt rw is a e Sor mets

It was a ch aracter in a N w Y k story who tossed sleeplessly in e or er
his bed because the words Altarwise by wl light in the half way house o - -
”
teased with their multiple possibilities of meaning Beyond questi n . o
others have suffered similarly and still others will do so because the
sonnets of which this is the opening line both bemu se the intellect and
,
haunt the imagination Empson w exact when he describ d Thomas s

. as e
’
best lines as ragingly good “ ”
Evaluation of the sequence has quite naturally touched extre mes

.
thin k s the op ning lines almost a self p arody finds the

, ,
:
“ ”
D i h wh
p em congested with its metaphors and the reader left with a feeling
a c e s, o e -
,
“ ” “
o
o
f oppression O lson on the other hand places it among the great

po ms of our century But there has been no division f opinion as to
, ,
its diffi culty And this remains true despite the full dress e xplications p
e . o
id d by O lson T indall Kleinman and others and will remain t ue

.
-
ro
v e , , , ,
r
despite later contenders

O .
ne of the difficulties attend ing explication consists in determining

how difficult the sonnets are O ne should t forget the dialogue b etween . no
T homas and Brewster Ghiselin :
T homas Those sonnets are only the writings of a boily boy

in love with shapes and shadows h is pill ow
:
on .
2 14
Ghiseli I ve wondered about the sonnets I coul d n ever
n:
’
. see
anything very deep in them It good t know I need .

’
s o
search further no
Th omas Well they would be of interest t anoth er boily b y

.
Or a boily girl ( Long pause ) Boily gi rly

: ,
. .
o
-
.
o .
But Thomas was never in private m erely a boil y boy nor are th e
sonnets me ely steam from the singing teapot Yet it is tru e that f th eir
, , ,
r . or
reader the temptations toward dedicated ingenuity are great that every
recourse to resistance m ust be adopted
so
T ho m as m ade understanding f the poem h ard enough ; Elder O lson

.
not made it easier Th elaborate structure that he has contrived

o
h
is wonderfully articulated and h e is trustworthy an analyst f
as . e
Th omas s poems in general that any other analyst s stren gt h i sapped

so , so o
’ ’
b fore he be gins He cannot but feel the necessity of refuting O lson s

, s
’
i terpretation before beginning h is own But this i s climbing an Alp to

e .
n .
get to the Alp he really wants to climb

I am not myself going to attempt a refutation ; this can best be left t
.
dissertation writers I shall merely register dubiety on the following

o
-
.
,
g ounds
r :
1 Now h ere in the rest f h is work do s Thomas reveal the intense

interest i n or thorough knowledge f astronomy and astrology
. o e
that were re qui ed to write the poem as Olson conceives it

o
r .
2 In no other poem do s he attempt so elaborate and pedantic a

. e
point for point allegory

- -
.
3 Nowhere not even in his explanation of the jaw for new s

passage do s he himself allude to the possibility of such inter;
.
,
, e
p t i He did not commonly explain his po ms but he was

re at o n . e ,
not averse t pointing out his ingenuity as in the rhyme

o —
scheme of Author s Prologue and the seventy two variations

“ ’ ”
the letter 1 in I in my Intricate Image Could any

-
“ ” ”
on , .
clever young man have maintained silence about such a master

piece f cleverness o ?
4 None of his close friends

. not even Watkins with whom h e —
discussed his poems and to whom he read aloud the sonnets

,
seems to have been aware of their astronomical underpin ing n .
5 Thomas uses symbols and images and literary allusions h ere

that he has used without such ulterior m eanings in earlier
.
poems and will again in later and without any indication

that here and here alone they take Olson s added sig ificance
,
’
on n .
2 15
6 T here are par allel pass a ges in h is sh t storie s A th ey t
be read there as O lson read s them in the poem?
. or . re o
7 Th langu age imagery and na rative f the p em as it a ppears

on th page are clearly and consistently Chri stian d t a t
. e , , r o o
all clearly astrologic al

e an no
In brief Olso n altogether lacks exte nal evidence ; he as sumes Tho m a s

to be doing what he does not characteristically d ; he assumes Thom as
, r
t to be doing what he c h aracte isticall y d s If h is i terpretation is

o
to stand it mu st solve the poe m s problems m o e convincingly and

no r oe . n
’
lglance
eave fewer probl ems uns lved th an y rival i te pretation Let u s
,
briefly at his an alys i s of the first th ee s onnets

o an
r
n
r
r .
Al ta wi se by owl light i n the ha lf way house

Th ge n tle m an lay g aveward with his fu ries ;
r - -
e r
Th time says O lson is 2 2 S epte m ber th nigh t f th e utum nal

equin ox Th g ntlem an is the con stellatio n Hercules which i s declining
e , , , e o a
t the west Th gentleman also represe n ts t h e s u n wh ich i m ovi g s o u th

. e e ,
“
toward the constellation Ara the Altar

o . e , s n
.
,
Q estions 1 D es the concept f a g ntlem an readil y evoke

the idea f a cons tellation?
u : . o o e
2 Does . t th e s till s u pineness of lying gra veward w a r with th

no e
idea f stellar moti on?

o
3 Is an initial weakness not evi denced by th nece s sity f b if

speak the Red C ros s
. t e o urc a
ing the personificati on? We have

Knigh t pricking simultaneously west and south across the plain
t , so o ,
4 Is there an
. wl l i ght for th e s u n ? o -
5 If the gentleman is Hercules is he also Apollo merely the

su n? Th qu estion here is this do we consider the per ons of the
.
, or
po m as things in nature or as figures in Greek mythology?

e : s
Abaddon in the h an gn ail cracked from Adam

And from his fork a dog am ong the fairies
,
, , ,
Th atl eater with a jaw for news

Bit t the m andrake with to m orrow s scream
e as- ,
’
ou -
.
Now the constellati n and s un become an O ld Testament m ortal with

des truction d perdition implicit in th e fl esh derived from Adam
o ,
It i however a character from G k myth th at bites t the seed f

an .
Astronomically what has h appened is that as Cani s Major

s, , ree ou o
h i loins
”
s .
, ,
2 16
immediately upon the gentleman s arrival begins t address the sun ’
symbol First he tells his visitor about death ( though the latter just
, o
”
having xperienced it is the expert ) and then he tells him ( who already
.
, ,
knows ) abou t his ( the sun s ) space travels

e ,
’
-
.
You by the cavern over the black stairs

Rung bone and blade th e verticals f Adam
And manned by m idnight J acob to the stars
, o ,
, , .
T hat is the sun climbs a Jacob s ladder the rungs f wh ich are the
,
’
, o
t b f the serpent constellation Hydra ( which is also Abaddon

the angel of the bottomless pit ) and the poles f which are th ose
v er a rae o -
,
im aginary lines the longitudes of earth Having arrived it is addressed

, o
by a hollow agent ( O lson describes it as the marrowless ske leton

, .
,
“ “
which still acts on all life ) and told that all i subject to T ime ”
s .
Questions 1 How does the climb upon the Hydra s vertebrae ’
if that snake is not in s k eleton form? But if it is a s keleton it is

: . sun
-
,
dead and if it is Abaddon then Death is dead Is this not precisely

what Thom as means in the phrase Jac b to th e stars which
.
,
“ ”
Olson fails to interpret?

o —
2 How does the hollow agent fit into the allegory ? Apparently

“
Oflsonhis found
.
no astronomical equivalent Should this cause distrust

other identifications ? Hercules has made a special visit to
.
sp ak to Thomas Where did the hollow agent come from?

e .
In the th ird sonnet the sun figure finally is permitted to break into ,
-
the conversation and he tells the story of his adventures from the winter “
solstice f two years before to the autumnal equino x of the p di g

,
year ( O lson s italics Why it should be this particul ar span f ti

o rec e n
” ’
. . o rn e
is not explained ) .
First th ere was the lamb knocking knees on
And three dead seasons a climbing grave

T hat Adam s wether in the floc k f h orns
on
’
o ,
Butt of the tree tailed worm that mounted Eve

Horned down with k llf t and the skull of toe s
-
,
On thunderous pavements in the g d im ; s u oo
ar ent e
Hydra up whose vertebrae Hercules w sai d t have climbed now

,
as o ,
does some climbing of its own as a grave that is Death Which is to

say that winter comes as Hydra mounts toward the zenith Then the Ram
, .
,
horns down the serpent s tail and along with it the constellation ’
, , ,
218
Camelopardus which O lson says Thomas does not a giraffe but
as a jelly fish medusa Thus spring comes
, , ,
see as
-
or . .
Questions 1 O lson has assumed that T homas saw a jelly fi h

: .
-
s
inste d of a giraffe in Camelopardus He has done so in order to

explain the d d word k llf t a translation of ph l p d H as
a .
“ ”
he not erred here? J elly fi h are not p h l p d but l

o s u oo ,
ce a o o .
-
s ce a o o a c o e en tera ta .
Should not Horned down with have the sense of b y the use of ” “ ”
instead f along with o

”
?
2 H he perhaps misread the fourth line Is it not more likely

as ?
that butt refers to an abused person ( Adam s wether ) than to

.
“ ” “ ’ ”
a snak e s tail? Th idea of horning down the il of a sna ke is

’
absurd ; the punctuation suggests an appositive ; O lson s readi g

e ta
’
produces an extre mely awkward inversion

n
3 Again we ha v e a onfusion of levels a constellation ( H ydra )

htoasthemounted
.
a non constellation ( Eve ) More important according

traditional story Eve had been living in ete nal sp ing until
-
c
.
:
r
,
r
,
she w seduced by the serpent Winter and all our other woes
followed that But in O lson s reading spring follows immediately
as .
’
.
,
upon a seduction that apparently occurred in mid winter Must -

.
tradition give w y to astronomical fact? a
As I said I have no intention of refuting O lson s interpretation but

,
’
o l y f suggesting a sufficient sense of dissatisfaction to justify doing

one of my w What O lson has done is to find a level of meaning
n o
constituting a poem in itself which Thomas may or may not hav e w itten
o n .
He has to spea k elaborated the anagogical without explicating the

r .
,
so ,
literal
.
Edgar Allan Poe held that allegory succeeds only when the suggested
meaning uns through the obvious
r in a v y profound undercurr nt o ne er e
as never to interfere with the upper one without volition

,
w
as never to show itself unless called to the su fa e O lson has called
so o ur o n ,
an undercurrent ( which m y not be there ) to the surface and sun k the

so r c .
surface beneath the undercurrent This is espe ially unfortunate with . c
the Sonnets since what Poe calls the obvious meaning is not obvious
,
at all T h pr blems of establishing the ha acters separating dial g from

narrative proper d fining the wo ds distinguishing those with mere
. e o c r , o
imagistic value from those with symb lic or allusive potential w king
,
e r ,
o or
out the syntax all this to get a consistent meaningful literal reading are
,
tremendous
,
great that disco vering h meaning is

.
They are I suspe t f

the question I shall not tr uble to make the meaning clear Yeats
,
c , so t e o ut o
”
. o ,
2 19
once wrote f a p e m ; a clear vivi d story f a s tran ge so t i s nough
Th S o nn ets d t h ve
o o o r e .
Th m aning may be different with eve yone

”
as many po s sible m eani gs as all th at but they d lend the mselves t

e e r . e o no a
mfromore thethanother Ainterpre

n ta tion I h ave see n s everal each qu ite different
d what I offer will differ from these
o ne
n
.
,
,
o o
A number f general qu estions need to be answered bef re getting

. .
down t line b y line work Th first is whether the poe m s sh ould be read
o o
-
o -
. e
a continuous na rative with a begi ni ng middle and end as po ms

revolving about a singl subject like Donne s Holy Sonnets When
as r ,
n , , ,
or e
’ “ ”
T ho m as read the po ms to Wat k ins there were o n ly seven ; later he added

e , .
three and he stated his intention f adding more S either he could t

e ,
o . o, no
complete the series he thought it complete enough as it was

,
I am going t assum e a continuou s narrative until I find myself bending

, or .
the poe m to fit my assumption And o n the evidence f the last sonnet s
o
’
tone of finality a conclu sio of sorts T h at the sonnets are closely linked
.
, o
,
n .
and cannot possibly be thought of as separate entities i evidenced by

the repetitions and variations f words and phrases throughout and the
s
appearance and appearance of various ch aracters And though there

o
are inter uptions a continuing action involving a t least m

t e- .
,
ajor char
acter appears to b ta k ing place
r , , o ne
Who are th e ch aracters? And

e .
next question is a double

,
Th
which are the h eroes and which the villains? An swe ing these questions
e o ne :
will go far toward dete mining the the me of the poem which has been
r
r ,
variously defined follows as :
1 A man s di s coveri n g from astronomic al observ a tion th at nothing

’
i t be gained from time ; he pins his faith t the cr s w h ich h e sees

.
s o o os ,
in the heavens sees it a symbol of G d and C h ist as the T re f Life ”
( O lson
, as o r , e o .
2 Inca nation represents a vicious joke pl ayed by a m aliciou s God

Christ Mary and man kind ( R M Adams )
. r on
”
. . . .
, ,
3 . the life death antagonism inextricab ly bound up with O ld

-
and New Testament mythology and sexual symbolism the reconciling f

the creative and destru ctive elements f sex ( Francis S carfe )
o
”
o . .
4 they announce the current of rthodox Christian feeling feeling

rather than thought which was h nceforth increasingly to domin ate
o —
T homas s work in poetry ( G S Fraser )

’
. . . .
another portrait f the artist as a young dog ( W Y T indall )o . . . .
6 .He b lieved in G d and Ch ist ; th e Fall d death ; the end f a ll

e o r an o
things and the day of eternity ; while eve ything living carries i it its w r n o n
2 20
the Sonnets he has fi st said Death shall have no dominion and then
,
r , ,
“
I w time murder me
G i v en this context the S nnets li kely to be either negative
sa .
out y against Time tainted life leading to death or an attac k upon the
o are —
an
cr -
,
sentimental Christian inte pretation f life ; or positive a non Christian r o -
affirmation of life in T im or that plus a statement f belief in some sort e, o
of post death continuity an acceptance of the Christian position

—
,
or .
Any one of these alte natives can successfully use the Christ figure
as a maj r sp k esman as He w used in B efore I Kn ked If the
r —
“ ”
opening sonnet p esents a figure which can be recognized as having

o o as oc .
Christ s haracteristi s it should be a cepted as su h T h first sonnet s

’
c c ,
c c . e
’
figure is wounded and dies ; he is a gentleman ; he is dissociated from “ ”
the angel of the b ttomless pit but i m Adam ; he has expe ienced
o no t ro r
an unusual ancestry ; his Wo d lives after him ; his influence is world wide r -
.
He would in brief seem to be the Christ

Th us far I thin k I have been brea k ing in open do rs Th
.
,
next
,
o . e
part of the hypothesis is not easily supp rted Th first sonnet ends
, ,
so o . e
with a speech made b y the assumed Christ figure —

:
I am the long w rld s gentleman he said o

’
, ,
And share my bed with Capricorn and Cancer

T here are no q uotati n mar k s at the beginnin g or at the end of this speech
.
T here are indeed no quotati n mar k s in the S nnets at all

o -
.
, ,
o o .
Now a maj r problem in the poem relates to identifying the pronouns

o .
In the se ond sonn t some ne says to someone You rung the ve ticals “
of Adam Who says it and to whom In the third someone says I t ok

c e ,
o ,
r
“
.
? o
, ,
my marr w ladle ; in the fourth My camel s eyes will needle through

,
” “ ’
o -
the shrowd ; in the fifth R ose my B yzantine Adam in the sixth T ill
,
” “
, ,
tallow I blew ; in the seventh T ime is the tune my ladies lend their
” “
heartbrea k in the eighth I unsex the s keleton ; in the ninth rivers of

,
“ ”
the dead around my ne k ; in the tenth the globe I balan e

,
” “
Th q uestion that arises in my mind is this what st ands in the w y of

c ,
c .
c nsidering the fi st twelv lines of the pening s nnet as an intr du tion

e : a
third pers n omniscient written by Thomas and the rest f the se quence
o r e o o o c ,
as a first person exp siti n delivered b y Ch ist ( and the ef r lly omni
-
o , ,
o
-
o o r r o e rea
s ient ) p oviding T homas ( as Mi hael pr vided Adam in P di L )

c ,
r c o ara se o st
with an eagle s y iew of the history and meaning f Christianity?

’
This device would ma k e the poem an inte esting se q uel to

—
e e V o
B efore I
“
Kn ked and perhaps This B read I B rea k ; it would give the exposition
r
” ”
oc ,
a seeming authenti ity it w uld not therwise have ; it would add b th a

,
dramati quality and the f i of immedia y

c o o o
A quick sk im of the poem at on e eveals seve al stumbling blo k s

c r ss o n c .
c r r c :
the eleventh line of S nnet II ; the o tave f IV ; the seventh line of VIII ;
o c o
222
the tenth f IX ; and the conclusion of X Can they be removed? In this
o .
instance there can be recourse to context ; the nly means of validating

,
no o
the hypothesis is t explicate the poem o .
But perhaps before w start an overture some mood music will not e , ,
-
,
be out of place An evangelical sentence on the subject f i Sin

. o s n:
“
o iginated with Satan ( Isa 1 4 1 2

r entered the world through Adam .
,
(R m 5
o . w and is universal Christ excepted ( R m 3 2 3 ;
as , , ,
o .
,
1 Pet 2 incurs the penalties f spiritual and physical death ( G 2

,
,
o en .
,
and has remedy but in the

.
17 3 19 ; E k 1 8 4 20 ; R m 6 z .
,
o .
, no
sacrificial death of Christ ( Heb 9 2 6 ; Acts 4 1 2 ) availed f by faith

, , ,
.
, ,
o
( Acts 1 3 3 8 , ,
A passage from P di L ara se o st :
But to the Cross he nails thy Enemies ,
T h Law that is against thee and the sins

ONever
f all mankind with him there ifi d
e
hurt them more wh rightly trust to

,
,
o
c ruc
’
In this his satisfaction ; so he d ies ,
But oon revives s
And a stanz a from a sick and praying Donne :
We h i k that P di and C l i t n e a ra se a v ar e ,
Christs Crosse and Adams tree stood in , , o ne
L k Lord and find both Adams met in me ;

oo e ,
As the first A d m sweat surrounds my face a s ,
May the last A d m blood my soule embrace a s .
I
A present sacrifice and the Host to J esus gentle man in the - -
b e, th e
, ,
prime of His l fe as man in the world af icted toward ni e of the sunless

i ,
fl ,
n
hour by the bitter furies f complexity ( an Intricate Image above all

,
“
o
”
other intricate images ) approached his death .
He was wounded for T ransgressions he w bruised f our

iniquities hanging from the nails He died the worm f death beneath
o ur ,
as or
Man s nail w s otched the th eat of Sheol remov ed from Adam man ;
: as, , ,
o
’
as c ,
r -
Him G d ( the reality among the m yths creator and destroyer f the
o o
world the flesh the devil ) beh lding f om His prospect high wherein past
,
, ,
o r ,
present future he beholds freed from His man animality having not for
,
saken Him
-
, , ,
T hen body dead ( the things that are Caesar s rend red unto Caesar )
’
, e ,
the crucified Christ ( with maundy money to bestow ) the sour e of life c ,
saluter f the w day omm n man among men ( He w h was said to

,
o ne ,
c o o
b product
e t of sperm but heavenly inspiration not of tainted but
no f , o
223
imm acul ate egg ) wounds open t the wind ( doubting Thomas s prying ’
hand ) this Christ escaped the sepulchre f time and space ( issu ed fro m
,
o or
the hatch of the heretof re pilotless wind tossed vessel ; broke through th
o
o ,
—
e
confining finite egg ) and ( the ifi image potent His Word collapsing
1 900 years ) cam e to me in my earliest youth as thou gh just descended
, , c ruc x- ,
from the Cross He said behold these hands which span th e Poles and
tune all sp heres at once pi d with these holes ; behol d th at endles s
.
, ,
’
height wh ich is zenith t y and your Antipodes ( O r My gentle influence

, erc
extends from equinox to equinox from North t S outh ; 1 am the equator

o o u, .
,
, o ,
the world s girdler ; I have died with tw thieves I have known lust and
’
ulcer ) .
o ,
Note I have used the quotes fro m Yeats I i h Milton and D nne
because they express what I wa nt t y t because I thi k Thomas h ad
: , sa a , ,
o ,
o sa ,
no n
them in mind though he may have borrowed a thought from the Donne
poem ( Good Friday 1 6 1 3 Riding Westward
.
“
, .
Pr fatory remarks Th ass umption is that Th om as is a new b rn

babe desiring the sincere milk f the Word that he might grow thereby
e : e -
o
and that Christ is at hand t instruct him Th qu stio n uppermost in his

, o ,
o . e e
mind relates to death and he is answered rather riddlingly Death i all “
metaph ors sh ape in h istory Th is has been ta ken by some as the topic
, , , s
”
sentence f despairing po m which proclaim s the universality f death

, o ne .
I thin k this view i in err r If there were no G d and death wa s really

o a e o .
uwere
niversal there would be nothing with which t compare death If Christ
s o . o
God a nd only G d death would t be univer al could not be all

, o .
metaphors But Christ w G d and m an vanquished by and vanquishing

o , no s
death which vanquished and w van quished by Christ N o conceivable

. as o ,
mdeath
etaphoric relatio n is imp sible And in the single h i story f C h i t
h
,
achieved its ultimate s h ape and meaning

os
as
.
,
.
o rs ,
Christ w goes t il lustrate the l ife death complex by describing

as .
the gr wth f child in what seem s t me a very ingenious passage Th

no on o -
pelican is used in Ch istian symbolism to typify the Atonement the

o o a o . e
malready through the d eath f Jesus Christ h a s

—
r
aking at f God and m

“
merely by assuming fl esh come to a literal t m ent with m an

o ne o an o .
I believe that Thomas h i this passage contrived an t one ment

, ,
a -
o ne- .
presenting two histories in a single set of w rds that f the

as, n ,
a - -
f his w
grow h from infancy f Ch ist d that f any child This extends through
o o n, o : o
*
t o r , an o .
‘
Th e fi rst so nn et c an be re a d as d esc rib ing th e Inc arn ati o n as well as th e C ruc ifix io n .
2 24
lines But or th e ther m ay later h ave to be gi ve up Th ch aracter
of the Christ figure has not yet b en established If l at r sonnets how Hi m
. o ne o n . e
or vice versa alterati n s m ay need

-
e . e s
to be anti R esurrectionist and p

to be made I have accordingly weaseled with my d As things s t and
-
ro -se x ,
o
“ ”
th ee forms of immortality vital conti nu ity are here proffered that

. an -
or .
,
through the orth odo x Ch istian means ; that through sexual intercou rse ; and
r or :
that throu gh assimilati on in to the life stuff As Don e said Death and
r
“
conception in m ki d i s one
te - -
. n ,
hollow agent i s m ore often th an not a ssum ed to be D ath or

an n e .
“ ”
Th
Abaddon ; his rem arks are thou gh t to portend quietus B u t ( unless he i
e e
after all the long worl d s gentleman ) there has been no note of h i s
. s,
“ ’ ”
arrival at this meeting Th p hrase h ollow age n t fit him p etty well as

,
“ ”
the angel of the b ttoml ess pit B u t it fits Christ as th Holy Spi it equally
. e s r —
well And what he s ays breathes more f hope than f despair Th at

o . e r
verb thrusting is a powerful word Besides h e speaks ( in h airs f

. o o .
“ ” “
your head ) only f th e fate of the skel eton in th e fl esh doublet ( as

. o
” ”
Beddoes p uts it ) not f the s oul vital s tuff And finally ( with Jacob
o
“
, o or .
the stars echoing i hi mi d ) Death if it were he would do well

f so rows shal l grow
t
o n s n , ,
t to disparage roots f ( as Isaiah says ) a m

“
up before him a tender plant and as a r ot t f dry ground

no an o
,
or r
”
as ,
o ou o .
III
Prefatory rem arks I think it t putting t much in the space between
son ets to imagine Thom as me n tally reviewing what has just been promised
: no oo
vital conti u ity through assimilation and through propagation and

n
quirking a quiz ic al eyebrow as wh would say all this and heaven t ?

— n re- —
Th speaker nods an affi m a tive h ead and explains It happened like this
z o ,
oo
( But before He starts it must be noted th at the first i lines l ike

e r .
th ose f II represent a collapsing f two sto ies into this time that
, s x —
f th Fall and t h at f the Redemption And that the final eight collapse
o —
o r o ne ,
th e Inc a rnation and Resurrection Perh aps Thomas g t an idea from

o e o .
. o
Don e s Upon the A ti ti and Passio )

n
’ “
nnun a on n
”
First there w the innocent obedient Adam lamb in the eternal Spri g
as ,
-
n
f an ascendant earth ( soon to be a grave with four active seasons )

,
that on maturity the ra m in the lamb m oved by th e sexual d ive ( the chief
o so
among the drives and by means castrated ) k ocked down with

, , ,
r
horny head and hoof Which is to y th at Adam made a fool by Satan

no n
m lly and too k her tempestuously and

. sa , ,
w Eve t connubially in a
well m ade bed
sa ca a ,
no
T his made it necessary th at I as La mb R m ( y

-
.
have read your Donne?

0 strong Ramme which h ast b tt d heave n f mee Mild L ambe which
-
a ou
’
,
a er or , ,
22 6
with thy blood hast m k d the path replay Adam s part ( Y are
,
ar
’ ’
. ou
aware f course hat the Annunciation Incarnation Crucifixion and

R esurrection l l too k place in the sign of the R m ) As lamb I w it d
,
o , t , , ,
a a . a e
through th ee dormant decades for My time ; as ram I preached ( for three

r
years t many dead ears ) My Father s word As Paschal lamb I permitted ’
my sacrifi e ( h f d from here to eternity by skull capped J eb u s

o .
might y ) the hill of s kulls ; as ram I harrowed hell for three

c s o are -
,
o ne sa on
dead days and returned to make Gethsemane potential Eden

”
Loo king at it another w y the spiritless spiritual advisers of the mass f

.
Jews blinded by pride killed the Lamb of God H having been taken
a ,
o
, ,
—
e
in Ge thsemane judged ( J h 1 9 1 3 ) in a place that is called th “
Pavement crucified Golgotha at which time the earth did qua ke

,
o n ,
e
” “ ”
, on ,
.
But the dead lamb turned to live ram .
T o accomplish the things I have mentioned I begotten in vaulted , ,
heaven had to des end t earth d p

,
bone ( as deathly as Socrates
c o an
'
ut o n
’
hea t ascending hemlock ) I the harbinger of Spring w born in mid

winter winter the dark time th shoved aside season an old black
r -
.
, ,
as
OWinter
thell o ram f a season tupping the world s whi te ewe f fair weather
-
—
, , e ,
’
and I ran our cou rs took shifting path through se ies

-
o o .
winter from pole to pole and I from birth to death But My

e— o ur a r
f changes
”
o — .
death of course was a second birth ; there were for Me as for the globe
, , , ,
two spri gs n .
A for this second b i rth in the sepulchre I regained from impotence

s :
producing death the conveyer of th molten living t fl renewed My

potency and left the Rip Van Winkle cav e My resurrection signalized
e s u ,
- -
.
( d si gnalizes ) seasonal and spiritual sp ing f om pole to pole Th

an r r . e
spiritual winter which had f rozen the hearts of men s ince Adam s Fall ’
now departed earth with Me on My Ja ob s ladder ascension

,
’
c -
.
Note Th attentive reader will have observed that in my first reading f

the openi ng li nes Adam s wether is not but in the second he is castrated
: e o
“ ’
.
T his is justi fiable since the wether is a mature but not necessarily
castrated male sheep and since instead of tw level allegory requ iring
,
, ,
o-
coincidence w have only typological imil it

,
e s ar v .
IV
Prefato y remarks It must be remembered that th situation is this
Th omas who had been reared a Ch istian cam e at so m e point
r : e
, other r , or
to disbelieve in sig ificant tenets f the faith but his indoctri ation had
n o ,
n
been such that he w not able to abandon his belief altogether In these
Sonnets he is examining the Ch istian story with a view of coming to an
as .
t e- r
inte p retation that satisfies him He is confronting and being confronted

r .
227
by the Word T drama tize th is h e ha s ( according t my hypo thesis ) th
Word assume the figu re f Christ and speak to h im
. o , o
Since Thom as was born into a Christian h ome and heard Christian
o .
talk as soon a s h could hear it m ay be said that C hrist scraped t

,
his cradle as was said in Son et I T ho m as is n o longer p hysically

e , a
in a cradle but h e is undergoing a spiritu al bi th S o Christ scrapes

— n .
at h is cradle a seco n d time But this tim e He meets a s ceptic And sceptics
,
re- r .
k e m ba rass ing questions

. .
Now t maintain th e sequence a s a monolog I need only presum e

as r .
th e Christ fig re t be repeating the question s th at Th om as h as ( betwee n

—
o ,
sonnets ) asked and read the line My s h ape f a ge nagging th e wounde d

-
u o
“
whisper as for example Wh at the sects have sh aped Me into over the
,
o
”
centuries provokes th ese painfu l questions

, ,
For consistency s s ake perh ap s I should But I th ink it onl y fair ( and
.
a good deal more dramatic ) to permit Th omas a few words if only to

.
ensure th at both figures in this confrontati n be made isible In th is

so nnet then Th o m a s is characteriz ed He lives up to his name h e cannot
o V .
believe wh at h e h as j ust he ard Th is doubt is perh aps d ue to the scepticis m

, ,
. :
natural to the young and precocious It is more significantly du e to the

.
influences f a n euhemeristic age Th sim ilarity f his shade with ou t

.
shape? the shape f Phara oh s ech o? t Eliot s shape withou t fo m

o . e o
’ ” ’ “
shade without col our suggest s an eye upon Th H ll w M F th e

o o r ,
mmeaenninin Eliot hollow as b a mboo wh ose whisper s together are qu iet and
en
e o o . or
rats feet ver broken glass the church ritual h as dwindle d

, ,
gless
“ ’ ”
t c h ildren s ga m e F T homas th e h isto y f t h e Incarnation like th e

as o ,
’
sdeliberations
tory f Eden has dwindle d t a ch apter in Frazer So a th ousand s mall
o . or , r o ,
b come the tenants f Thomas s ho u se and he asks h is as h e

o o ,
.
,
” ’
thinks unanswerable questions But the Ch rist fig suppl ies th e answer

e o , ,
, .
-
ure .
3k
I ( Tho m as ) immature s ceptical born i n a tim e when th e multifol iate

rose h as withered asked m y wounded interlocutor some embarrassing
, , ,
qu estions These di ti f pride and lack f faith m ay be th ough t

evid nces f a deform ity f m in d and spi it yet they de ive d fro m a certain
.
,
1n ca ve o o ,
an gu ish Th i mp lications of the questions were these You h ave been

e o o r ,
r
glib with your parad oxes f G d in m an and l ife in death is it not

. e :
just a s absurd to imagine reconciliation f su ch incompatibles as to imagine

o o —
a rhythmically organized dictionary a measurable beginning gender in the

o
spasm definable shades i n a color which is all pervasive and undissociated

, ,
-
, ,
or th shape f the echo of a dead man s voice ? ’
T h ese were f course double barreled questions not q uite as foolish

e o
aLsogostheybesouquantitatively
nded since th ey hinted at such prob lems as these Can the
o -
, , ,
analyzed? Can the Holy Spirit have a p hysical

, :
22 8
In plain words G d s ai d I wil l destroy man whom I h ave created
fro m th e face f th e earth B ut b fore y cry out despai ingly A
, o ,
” “
G d a God thei severance ru l d ! thi nk How fresh 0 l rd h w sweet

o .
,
e ou r ,
”
and l / A th y retu rns ! F you wil l observe please imbedded in

o , r e ,
o , o
”
that m etap h or ( al m ost as u nnoticeab l e a s on the waters of the fl ood was

c ean re or , ,
No ah s ark ) th e Mercy that balances th e Justice An as you know i

, ,
a su stai ed lum ino u s glow sometim es h aving th e appearance of a b w

. are, , s
“ ”
And G d did t His bow in th cloud as a token f His covenant

n ,
o .
o se e o .
le
a
Note Th synta x of th e final quatrai is difli lt O n first publication

the 1 1th line read Love s refl ection but the article w dropped and
: e n cu .
,
“ ’ ”
a ,
as
has never been restored S whether the subject is L fl i and

wheth er we have a sentence a fragment remains a puzzle Since O lson s
. o, o ve o r re ec t o n
’
reading discovers none f th e hope th t I have suggested to be in the

or .
passage it need s to be quot d as a majority minority report

o a
, e , or :
Ow ncenearthe and
as
wh ole heaven was a bread sided field of m anna O ce it
familiar near and friendly any wall f pictures f
-
as o
. n
”
o
,
friends and relatives in one s home ’
N w it is remote as if th e images on the fil m s were thrown by

.
powerful arc l amps upon a distant screen Th screen is the cutting

o
f space ; and the a s pect of th e stars w s een in their motions

. e
fl ood
”
not stills but movi g pictures is no longer f miliar and smiling b ut

o , no ,
menaci g and m ad
n ,
a
n .
If O lson is right then f course ll m y im agined answers to the q uestion s

join the film the cutting roo m fl oor Such answer s are implicit in th e
, o a
questions but th ey can be mad e o l y if Love does prevail I think it does

on -
.
working on the assumption that Thomas m eant it when h e said two poem s
, n .
,
earlier Though lovers be lost l ve shall not

,
“ ”
,
o .
V
Prefatory remark s Significant differences separate this sonnet fro m its
:
predecess rs ( 1) Th Christ fig does not w act but is acted upon

compelled to undergo the most strenuous vicissitudes (2) Because f th is
o . e -
ure no ,
. o
and because He is gulled by an absurdly caparisoned haracter He now

h as none of the dignity with which despite Th mas s familiar address and
-
c ,
’
, o
punning allusions He has b i d ( 3 ) Th action instead of being

localized tak es place ver vast areas of space and time (4) Th images
een nv este
'
, . e ,
, o . e ,
constituting a series and not revolving about a specific point of reference

, ,
do not easily coales e (5 ) In themselves the images tend to imply sever

c .
,
a ces (Th final image is of a uniting but it appears to be a most uneasy

u . e ,
230
one ) (6) Obscurer and more action packed th sonnet doe s not th e
others have done provide a subject i nsti ll a mo d for meditation
.
-
, e , as
Th reason for their d ifferences is that T homa s a latt er day Baptist

, , or o , .
e ,
-
,
is in this and the following sonnet prepari g the w y for his statement of a
as himself a faith which can be expressed i
n a
faith valid for such a

the familiar and archetypal images f the C hristian story and which is
o ne n
not divorced from the essential Christian ethic as he sees it but which is
o
sha ply differentiated from th mi t hi g f th post Christ interpreters

T homas lik e Blake and Lawrence is a newfangled puritan but like
r e s eac n s o e -
.
them with a red nose rather than a blue B ut since the earlier sonnets
, , ,
could very easily b e inte preted i o th odox Ch is tian ter ms it is necessa y

.
,
shock the reader to a recognition th at an unorth odoxy is about to be

r n r r , r
t
perpetrated Therefore th e disti ct shift in po int of view and tone
o
As I see it h function of th is sonnet is to show how after the death

. n .
f Ch rist told and told in I II and III the true good tidings came to
, t e ,
o , re- , , ,
be misappropriated misconstrued misrepresented and misapplied It fol

lows with a particular logic the q uestions of the pre eding sonnet with
.
, , ,
their implied criticism f th e abstrusely p aradoxical nature of the Christian

c
mangry
etaphysic and f th e bleak concept f the sinner in the hand f an
o
o
o o
G d
Th Ch ist fig has answered the questions with the word Love
o .
But He sees words like Inqu isition and Reformation forming i the
e r -
ure o ne .
questioner s mind He is pe fectly aware th at o ffi cials in the churches

n
’
founded in His name might dee m His answer heretical So He tak es up

. r
His narrative where He had left off in order to explain h w this came to b
Again there is a collapsing of sto ies the tribulations f Old Testament m en
o e .
paralleling th ose f the dissemi ated Word

r ,
o
o n .
After My d eath th e responsibil ity f teaching and enforcing the New

Law fell upon the Apostles Y may visualize the m as sheriffs in a desert
,
o
town each as a Gabriel announcing a birth and sounding the tr mp

. ou
of doom Perhaps if you have an antipathy toward Paulinis m y will

,
or u
tak e some pleasure in seeing in w gunned Gabriel two named Paul

.
, , ou
“
Oandr Gabriel as the new chur h with its tw big guns f doctrine Petrine
,
t o- ,
-
.
c ,
o o ,
Pauline or its spiritual and temporal powers ; as Catholicism and

Protestantism (O r even Gabriel annunciator of the birth f Christ and
, or
.
, , ,
o
transmitter of the Koran to Mohammed )

In any case th ey (the apostles) slipped out of the sleeve f My seamless
.
, , o
garment a card which I had not put there They fabricated a Holy T rinity
and separated Mary from ll other women by equivocatingly ma k ing her
.
,
divine Th ey turned God into a h llfi and damn ation Puritan fanatic
a
warring with an imaginary ulcer tongued Satan they themselves havi ng

. e re- -
,
-
, ,
become as men full new w ne when hat sound f om heaven brought of i t
th e cloven tongues like as upon h e m
,
r
“
of fire t
In short My Word fell upon h ard ti e s Wh at hey tau h t was h is
.
m t t
an Adam so led with original sin an Eve wit a he art m xed up and cut g
.
,
i h i
f om God a God black visaged and drun with power a C ain and Abel
;
k
the m at le ast an ar mor plate d des royer h at i s in addition
r ;
-
; ,
o ne o f t T to
supernatu ralizing the natural Me a man th ey M an a species
-
.
,
myth ified
in nature
, , ,
As th e O ld estament Jews governed by their concept God

.
T of h ad
th eir various ups and downs My teaching now experien e d m arch and
, ,
counter march I a natural m an becam e a thi g as if in a concocted

,
c
ph i osophy by a Yeats Greek rthodox and Roman C tholic quibbled

-
.
, , n
l O
over My nature Severed from Abrah a m s bosom so speak My Word
. a
)
’
(
was cast under one of the shrubs in the wilderness C all Me Ishmael
. to ,
( )
milky breast close to n ature
.
Near ead of thirst it rev ved at

d i th e (
the earth s sweet owing breast to b e nearly drowned in O rientalism
,
—
at
“ ”
fl )
’
thy second deluge S aved from drowning

,
in Donne says “
He resie
”
whal e it su ered its dark ages l ike ash tego fell

or as , , .
as if by J
,
ff T
’
onah s
in to the sperm wh a e s head C to b e rescued by

, ; or, ,
hap l
’
( Mo b y D i c k
Queequeg b ldly striking with one h and and with the oth er clutching
.
,
the long hair the Indian How m any as Melville say s of unluc ier
o o ut ,
” “ ”
of ( k
ones have l kewis e fallen into Pl ato s honey head and sw etly pe ished
.
,
“ ’
i
hen it the living W
, , e r
T ord ( and sav orful ) w as petrified— p aulifi ed

attached as I h ad be n to th e Cross the ch illing m onastic
,
firmly ( )
concept of Poverty Obedience and Ch a tity a destroying th ree h eaded
—
e to
(
concept like Dante s S atan enclose d in ice white wh al e
, , s -
’
the ) Th e ( not
right wh al e destro ed Eu rope icy dogm a whelped
.
,
) Pe qu o d- U rsinuses
and Ursulas catech isms and contin ence
y ;
falsi ed Word turned Th e fi
htuuman Vir il into prophetic Wh ite M a ici an had D nte u nder Vir il s
—
.
IX teaching A ba d conscience th e Furies and

g g ; a g
telage see f
,
“
( In ) ( )
te obduracy which tu rns the heart stone Medusa are impediments
erno , :
m ( )
th at b stru ct the path every sinner intent salvation Reason Virgil
s to
o of ( )
do mu ch to obviate these ev l in uences But Divine aid is necessary
on .
may i fl
dissipate them altogether Life rejecting doctrine Half women wh o
;
”
(
covered their with feathers ex te d the barren straw virginity and
to —
a -
.
-
) al of
for luri ng the living to their destruction O r brie y

sex
W ere b eatifie d ( fl
Adam was enchained by m h
.
, ,
yt .
)
i
Note T en sure that his Furies Medus a passage in Canto IX would be

rightly read Dante exclaimed editorially O ye wh h ave s an intel ects
: o -
mverarkses theDiddoctrine
. he
which conceals itself bene th th veil f the strange
,
wonders consider th e possibility that the s ne intell ect

o ne
,
:
a
,
o
e o
e
a
,
, ,
232
Kl ein man assumes an Annu n ciation Since inte pretation the
Sonnets in a Master s hesis has been widely ci culated a summar T
. hi s r of
(
’
) no t r y
wil not place As Kleinman sees it Gabriel propelled by the
,
l be o ut o f
west wind the wi n d fe tility and death according Freudian psycho

.
, ,
( of
analysts tel s Mary s fo tune wi h a pack cards which h e pu ls fro m

r , to
’
) , l r t of l
J esus sle ve Jesus is a witness the Annunciation
’
( king spots of ) Th e of
and the jacks are th e male genitalia the queen repre sents the female
s e .
genitalia deck is clearly stacked against Jesus because the king is

Th e
Death and it is the trump card O n this level of interpretation the
.
,
sheathed deck jacks are the womb en losed babies Jack Baptist and
.
, ,
“ ”
Jack Christ and th e queen is Mary whose sacred heart will be pierced
— -
c ,
by her son s agony ese jacks merge to becom e the Byzantine Adam
, ,
’
Th tw o
as John retires to the wilde ness black tongued and God
.
wh o ( ) r ,
- -
into xi
to seek salvation and as Jesus becomes the
c ated , of it was , ( ) o ne wh o m -
said ( M h w 1 1 a tt e Behold a man gluttonous and a wine bibber

, ,
“
-
T his Byzantine Adam now describes his night journey by water the
,
symbolic quest for rebirth From the 8 th line the development f the
,
. o n, o
foetus is narrated in geographical terms And tw sexual acts are balanced . o :
first God with Mary Gabriel acting as g between ; econd Adam with a
, ,
o- s ,
black medusa Satan ( the frozen angel ) acting as go between In the first
, .
the R edemption ; in the second the Fall ,

.
Kleinman takes the climbing sea as the amniotic fl uid ; the mushrooms “ ”
as ( 1 ) Mary s breasts and ( 2 ) m i m i th e toadstool know

’
as the destroying angel ; the white bear as b ute force ele mental
,
a an ta usoar a, n
”
r or
power ; the irens as no longer singers of their previous destr tive songs
but of the M g ifi ; the sea straw as our lady s bed straw cross
s uc
“ ” ’
a n c at - - —
a
shaped flower used as one of th cradle herbs

O ne remembers that wh en th e sperm whale w chained to the P q d
starboard the ship leaned steeply in that direction ; lashing the later caught
e
as
.
-
uo
’
s
ight whale to the larboard side permitted her to regain her even keel Has
the ddition of Kl i m interpretati n mine produc d a lik e result?
r .
One also rem mbers the a alogy that Melville drew from the situation to
a e n an s o e
e n
So when one side you hoist in Loc k e s head you go o ver that ’
way ; but now on the other side hoist in Kant s and you come back
,
on ,
’
again ; but in very poor plight T hus some minds for ever keep trim
, , ,
ming boat Oh ye foolish ! Throw all thos thunder heads o v erboard

.
,
-
.
, e ,
and then y will fl oat light and right ou .
VI
Prefatory remarks In Sonnet V Th omas has refe red t my B yzantine
: ,
r o
Adam and to salt Adam There I read the w phrases as equating with
“ ”
Christ s nat re and with His Word Th B yzantine Adam is simultaneously

, .
t o
’
u . e
234
the misconstrued figu re f the Savior and the misconstrued teaching Th
salt Adam is the true Christ d the true teaching which however is
o . e
again misconstru ed
an , , ,
But Christian man m ay also be refe red to as Adam and he m ay

.
r ,
b according t how he is tau ght ither Byzantine or salt T hat is

when Christ d His Word salt man is ( can be ) salt Unfortunately
e— o —
e .
,
an are , or .
,
Sonnet V ends like a cliffhanger with our tripartite hero in the direst
, ,
of straits In Sonnet VI the Christ fig shows how salt Adam ( specified

.
,
-
ure
as Man ) with His assistance escapes

, , .
Salt Adam ( vigorous life full man that evolutionary development t ,

- —
ou
f the sea s holl ow ) thus turned by the Christian conceptualizers into a

’
caricat re in broad blac k s and whites ( the Black Adam of him consigned
o
Hell s bu nin g crater ) countered this de humanizing f h im f h is

u
’
t
o r -
o or
destruction by illumi ating the dark ess ab ut him He read and under
stood the book f Nature came t an understanding f the beginnings f
n n o .
o , o o o
the ear h and f himself recreated to speak the Creati n and with the
of h is words destroyed the mysteries which give rise myth
t o —
, so ,
o ,
fi
Th boo k of myth said If mine eye o ffend thee with its petrifying power
re to .
pluck it o t ; cut out the tongue that supplies myth and f ble instead of
e , ,
truth And I ( the power of lov e and the hop for continuin g life in Adam )
u a
hhoneycomb
.
avi g done so and thus melted out of the f eezi g spell emoved from
n
man ( the salt life strong in Me ) the dark ening unctuousness

e
r n , r
,
f religiosity
Salt Adam T ime s trick taking card solved with his compass card ( and
o .
’
-
, ,
true understanding of Stella Maris ) the mysteries of the sea ( and with
this tru e understanding came to te ms with the sea animal within him )
,
expurged their evil ; th e siren voices of Sargasso s sea bottom departed

,
r -
’
-
with the fl owing blood of the wound which the Whole Man su ffered ( and
infl icted ) in achieving his wholeness ; the erstwhile nuns lost chastity
earned breast s
,
Notes Kleinman takes th is sonnet as a working f G i and J h

: re- o e nes s o n
to describe the original creation ( It will have been noted that I associate .
it rather more with I i h For him the w leading characters are

sa a , ,
t o
Yahweh the ld volcanic deity and Medusa sexuality and sin d the
,
o , , an
principle of the eternal feminine coe istent with G d God unites with
Medusa t beget Adam and Adam u ites with the witch f cardboard
x o .
“ ”
o , n o
to b get demons Since the procreative power of God is in His eye ( light )
“
and in Hi tongu e ( the Word ) th e two organs of creation must be pluc ked
e .
s ,
and lopped t create a third substance man

Th us creati on im pli es destru cti n from the first moment of genesis
o —
.
,
o .
35
Sinceall thehomas
ete n al fe m inine is part every livin g species and is destructive
says Kleinman sees in sexua ity death and ev l not
r of
“
of T l i
any moral th eological sense but in a psycholog cal sense
, , , , 11]
i
Olson having found i n V h at Life is m ore th an a nigh tmare dream
or , .
eath now nds in VI that both m an and sun are l ike burning
, t no
of d fi
candles M an is wounded with the birth wound time wi l see th at h e
,
bleeds death that wound P

: ;
-
to of (
best d efense my m ore sangu ine less sangu inary interpretation
. .
Th e of
destru ctiveness
,
is to be found in the succe ding sonnet ime will Th e of T

described there but that de s tructiveness is neither bl oody nor a cause
e .
be ,
for despair
Further wh ere a n ew understanding f th Lord s Prayer follow s
.
lappear
ogically from th e rebirth wh ich occu s in my reading f VI it doe s t
,
to me to follow l ogicall y or chronol ogi cally from Kl i m th ough

r
o e
o ,
’
no
I must confess that Olson m akes it fo llow as trologically from h is B ut

e n an s ,
Olittlelsonconfidence
s readi g of th e pre s ent s onnet is s o strained th at I c an put very
’
i n it
n
.
I l ack co fidence in my w re ad ing f th e l ast two lines First I

.
am not sure preci sel y what th e bagpipe breasted l adies are As iren s
n o n o .
,
“ ”
they would be m onster s half bird h alf woman wh lure m ariner s t

. s ,
destruction As Gorgons they would be snake h aired m o nsters with

— -
,
- —
o o
pet ifying power In l o s ing their sea eye they are like th e G rgons
-
.
,
“ ” ’
sisters the Graiae from wh om Perseu s stole their s ingle eye enabling h im
r .
-
, o
t surprise th e Gorgo n s At a ll event s th ey are d estructive m onsters

, ,
they were at lea st u ntil th e eye and tongu e were plucked an d l opped Are
o .
,
—
or
they after th at operation n o longer dangerous? Is that why from now

.
, ,
the emph asis is placed up n their musical bre as ts instead f u pon their
, , on
deadly singing an d stinging? ( In th e ne x t sonnet allu sion s to th em are

o o
t u sympathetic ; they are described a s my l adies with th e teats f

,
“
no
music wh lend their heartbre k )

n
”
o
“
a
”
o
Beyond th at th ere i the qu estion f identifying the wound from which

th e blood gauze is bl own t Th Ch ist fig of course is a gentle
, s o
“ ” “
mhavean i wounds ou ure ,

-
. e r ,
; but the erstwhile monsters having lost eye and t n gue

”
t escape d u nscath ed
o , ,
o ,
no
Further blood gauze m ay mean eith er film f b l d b l d

.
“ ”
b d g ; a nd bl ew out eith er d p
o oo or oo y
d f m
,
w y In my
“ ”
p fi d
phrase the Whol e Man suffered ( and inflicted ) in achieving h i Whole
an a e e arte ro or u e a a .
nthesse monsters
, I h ave had it both ways Jesus suffe ing H is wound had destroyed
”
In the subsequent fal se reinterpretation f His Word they

.
,
r ,
s
had been revi ved Now A d m with th e Word s a ssista nce discovers the
. o ,
'
T ru th and destroys deprives of their m onstrou s power the monsters

. a , , t e-
again Th omas s attitude toward monstrosity is best e xpressed in Unluck

,
or ,
’ “
.
23 6
harmony makers ; human bei gs-
stripp d f th eir scales ; ascended n e o
( mounted ) by lovers husbands ; and measured perhaps b y their or —
fecundity )
Th ese ladies gi ve th heart beat that will eventually break the h eart
.
e -
that i they give life in time to children wh may ( as I did Mary s ) ’
break their hearts From heaven ( the pavilion f heaven is bare

s, —
o
“ ”
Shelley ) to ea th ( ev en to Bethlehem the house of b ead ) T ime pur

. o
r —
r ,
sues and shapes the history f man and cloud ( bread eater and heaven
) ru ns rose a n d icicle through their series of changes plants
o -
fl o ater ,
on
everything his encircling hand

,
Notes Th is sonnet is interesting in three resp cts First in its rather

: e .
,
peculiar constr ction ; second in its emphasis for the first time in the
u , ,
sequence upon motherhood ; third in its being i the octave

,
state ,
—
n — a re-
ment of the theme f Sonnet II

dd thing about its constru ction is that its ffi m ti
o .
Th e o rather a r a o n— o r, ,
i t negation of negaters should appear in the sixth line t be followed by

eight lines d scribing the apparent omnipotence of T ime Th point is
s —
,
o
e . e
however that that omnipotence is only apparent T ime puts an end to a

,
given entity but it annot break the continuity of the cycle Th cloud goes
,
,
c . e
through its Shelleyan chang s ; the icicle tu ns to water evaporates is e r ,
sucked up is precipitated is solidified again ; the bush supplies a rose

,
where blooms h rose no more ; a song in brief is ended but the

,
t at , , ,
celestial melody lingers on Th last line then different in its tone from . e , so ,
Death lays his icy hand on kings is very far fr m being negative
,
“
sa y ,
o
from being an out ry against the ho ror of a T ime chained life Life
, ,
itself is a wind turned statement and it is to b fli m d T his is why

—
c r .
Th omas has emphasized reproductivity that is motherhood and w h y h e

-
,
e a r e .
has recalled Stanza II with its thesis sentence You J a ob to the stars
, , ,
“ ”
the developm ent which will lead ultimately ( in VIII )

c .
Interesting t ,
oo 1s
to God s Mary the long w und s woman

’
o
’
.
”
In V w encounte d sirens singing from lady s sea s traw whom

,
“ ’
I interpreted as reproduction deniers In VI love pluc ked out the stinging

e re o ur -
,
-
.
,
siren s eye and the touch me not s tong e and we find them next as
’ ”
- -
’
u ,
“
bagpipe breasted ladies in the throes f childbirth In VII they have
-
”
o .
b come mothers to be compassionated ; in VIII all mothers are epitomized

in Mary in that in giving their children life th ey are starting them the
e ,
, ,
on
road to death
If one were morbid one would think th is a develop ment from a bad
.
to a worse state And Th omas seems to have attracted morbid mm

. co en
I d not think Thomas was himself morbid Nor was he the

other hand senti mental Th development above delineated seems to m e
t t
a o rs . o . on
. e
23 8
to have be n intended an exaltation f motherhood but one which
does not deny th at the process of becoming a mother is a bloody messy
e as o ,
business And with the life that the process produces Th m w

,
. so . e an ax
burns at both ends ; it also sheds a lovely light

Salt Adam has now b en given a means f m ai taining right relations
.
e o n
with his Creator But he must beyond this be taught the t ue meaning f
th crucifix ion and the resurrection a meaning cleansed f m y tholo gical
.
, ,
r o
accretions Th th ee concluding sonnets undertak e this teaching

e , o
. e r .
VIII
Prefatory remark s I said at the beginning of this Christian voyage that
Sonnet VIII might prove a stumbling stone to interpreting the sequen e
:
as a monologue spok en by Ch ist Tw problems present themselve s the

-
c
r . o :
phrase in the third line the bright thorns I wept ; and the direct address
“ ”
in the seventh T his w the s ky J ack Christ

,
“
Assuming Thomas to be careful in detail he must have kn wn that

—
as ,
,
o
Christ is not reported to have wept during the Crucifixion though the
women wh followed h im to the Cr ss bewailed and lamented him As
,
o o .
for the direct address there seems no good reason for Him unexpectedly
,
and this one time to speak to Himself Th speech is out f character . e o .
Both objections can be gotten around As Kleinman n tes T homas may . o
have had in mi nd C h w witty couplet about weeping i Sancta

,
’ “
ras a s n
Maria D l m
,
”
o oru :
While with a faithful mutual fl ood

,
Her eyes bleed tears His wounds weep blood

, ,
.
,
And th e te m f direct address J ack Ch ist might be taken as referring

to Thomas Th latter might have found the following illustrative quotation
r o ,
r ,
from Shak espeare in the unabridged dictionary

. e
Sin every J ac k became a gentleman

Th ere s many a gentle person mad e a J a k
ce
’
c
and revised t someth ing like this

o
Every J ac k s become a gentl eman

’
Sin e I the gentle man b came a Jack

c , ,
e .
Another possibil ity i to consider J ack Christ as being in apposition

s
with ky Th ough this may seem a desperate conje tural e ff ort Thomas
”
was later to write in Unl u k ily f a Death

s . c ,
“ ”
c or ,
Nor walk in the cool f your mortal garden

With immortality at my side like Christ the ky
o
s .
239
Th e pos sibility e xi sts
In short with only a m odicum f inge nuity the poem can be made to
.
fit into the general fra m ework of a monologu e spoken by C h rist T hat

, o ,
hpossibilities
owever the proble m shoul d a ise opens avenues of exploration into th e
,
of Thomas s ingenuity Earlier sonnets have successfully bo ne ’

r
.
,
the burden f simultaneous double narrative Is it not l ikely that Thomas

. r
would load this sonnet deali ng as it does with the transcendent event
o .
of Ch istian history with all the traffic will bear Such an event should be
, , ,
seen from more than a single point of view And t compress m ore than
r ,
into the allotted fourteen lines would be an artistic t iumph

. o
I believe that the poem can be read successfully in each f the

o ne r .
foll owin g w ays

o
1 I C hrist wa s crucified
2 I T h o m as learned fro m th e story of the cru cifixion t h e m eaning
. .
, ,
.
, ,
f love o
I M a y wh o in the Nativity was crucified

.
3 It w as r
4 I M ary discovered t h e Crucifixion to be implicit in the Nativity

.
, , .
.
, , .
a poet
O f these only th e third is particularly bizarre Yet who can argue tha
conceives th e idea of devoting the reater part a po m to a
wh o
, . t
of
foetu s Christ Before I K ocked is incapable of conc iving a crucified

g e
“ ”
( )
Mary In the earlier p em it will be remembered her womb
-
n e
? ( ouble w as
“
d
crossed
llifeove Itundergo u nderlying idea would be th is It is wo m en wh o
. Th e
intense agony and even death to ensure the continu y
o ,
:
,
, o ut o f
it of
is they too wh o th ough they suf er say su er the little children to

, , ,
f ff
co me unto me ive them their daily bread keep the m from
.
, ,
wh o g tempta
t on forgive th em their trespa s ses and all too ofte n have to exclaim
, ,
i
hast thou forsaken m e
, , ,
Father wh y
Such a poem could be read like this

.
,
T his was th e su fering of the pregnan t body th e area of the m ount

f in
of Venus a mount of Piety the mother the transmitter of l ife into t me
—
( i )
tu ning the wine to vinegar the angu is h of birth ing the ch ld as great as
, ;
i
die at wh ich breaks my esh and gives me pain
r ;
that watching of Him Th fl
is the new world I h ave created Mary in h er travail is creative God in
.
giving birth I have th e heavy responsib lity giving life the knowledge
; ;
i of
good and evil and ultim ate death it is with any woman but I in
,
of
particular Mother th e Christ b nt with this respon s ibility from my

, ; so ,
of (
teat s wood notes n ot a ba pipe drone emanating am th e wom n wh o
, , e
)
knows how extended th e pain m otherh ood can be Nature s dynamism
— a
g
- —
,
’
of
the force fro m th e green se collected from the four im agined co er s

.
( fu ) m of
the ea th to drive into Your body

r nail and hang nail till the tim e finger-
”
,
24 0
I give sustenance through My life and death to a close to n ture childlike - -
a ,
faith .
Th ere is no need to interpret the poem in term s of th e other two possi

bili ti And it seems best to focus attention upon these two bringi ng th e
pain of birth and the pain of death int one context And in addition to
es .
,
o .
that and even more important giving the woman ( as woman w White
G oddess ) a responsibility for the salvation of man k ind equivalent to th a t
, ,
a s
of the man Th result promised by scripture is everlastin g life but th

promise is made totally in terms of a Him Thomas as it seems to me h
. e , e
wor ked carefully through V VI and VII to a culminating VIII to ensure

.
, ,
as
, , ,
that so one sided an idea should come nd r question If V w as w

-
u e . as, as
suggested a sonnet of severances VIII is a sonnet of conjunctions male

, ,
:
and female mountain and sky birth and death sun and son spirit and
December s th orn ( is ) screwed
, , ,
fl esh past and future and so on I sum

,
’
i n a brow of holly
, , . n ,
With its thorns and wounds blood tears nipples and heartbeats th is
.
, , ,
is a painfully ph ysical poem T h emphasis throughout is placed upon the

, ,
. e
body Granting that the poem is as much about a bi th as about a death

. r ,
and that bi th implies sex is it possible to inf r that Thomas is here doing
his w version in h is w w y of Lawrence s Th M Wh D i d Is his
r ,
e
o n o n a
’
e an o e ?
point of view that of Lady Chatterley wh saw the resurrection in this wise ,
o ?
T h hum an body is only just coming to real life With the G eeks it
gave a lovely flicker then Plato and Aristotle killed it and J esus
e . r
, ,
finished it ff But w the body is coming really to life it is really

o . no ,
rising from the tomb And it will be a lovely lovely life in the lovely
.
,
universe the life of the human body

,
.
Whether such a point of view can be said to underlie and be the cause
of V III emphasis upon the physical and account f r the collapsing ( if
’
s o
I have made a case ) of Nativity and Cru ifixion will depend upon the c
next sonnet which purports to deal with the ( or ) resu rection If the
,
a r .
resu rection turns out to be the traditi nal Christian one then f course
r o , , o ,
So nnett VIII will need to be interpreted What then w the r sur re- .
, ,
as
“
e
rection i the desert ? n

”
IX
Prefatory remarks O lson finds in this sonnet a Christless pagan world
Th circuits of the stars are meaningless ; there i no res u rection and no
: ,
e s r ,
escape from death and time ( P Kleinman discovers a resurrection

but f O siri s rather than of Jesus
. .
,
24 2
Since Thomas bserves an archetypal pattern rather than a chrono
logic l one h describes O siris burial instead of Christ s deposition
o
’ ’
from the Cross T hi m the god is always the same onl y th e nam e is
a , e
. o ,
different With the ni nth sonnet the n rrative of the Nativity and
passio n ends and wi th the tenth a prophecy begins
. a
.
, ,
Horni ck thi nking Kl einm an errs in m aking an exclusively Christian

inte pretation of the work argues that the pagan analogy is intr duced
,
” “
r ,
o
to universalize the death resurrection theme and to di ect our attention

to that eclectic network of correspondence and nalogy which the C hristian
-
,
r
imagery partially obs ures ( P ”
T h single point of ag ee m ent among the three is th at th world f this

c . .
e r e o
sonnet is pagan and that the previous Christian theme if it persists is , ,
undergoing de emphasis This is the poi t with which I least agr e It is

tru e that the imagery of this sonnet is Egyptian perhaps borrowed from
-
. n e .
E A W Budge s Th M mmy that the esurrection efe red to is ’
Egyptian ; that th e resurrectional dea was Egypti n long before it w

u r
:
. . . e r r
Christi n and that other religious groups had had analogous ideas ; and
i a as
a , ,
finally that where in every precedi g sonnet there has been some clear
, ,
n
allusion to the Ch istian story in this there is none save in the use of the
r ,
word resurrection “ ”
Th ninth so n et is unique among the ten It is the only

.
e n to exploit . o ne
Egyptian source material and the only one to avoid the Christian Yet
it is not detachable from the se quence because it is tightly laced to its
-
.
,
predecessors in three ways its theme that of bu ial and esurrection : , r r ,
follows logically the crucifixion theme of VIII ; its l ading character is e
that of the earlier sonnets the gentleman of wounds ; its mi or characters

— k ing queen priest prophet are under light dis guise the playing card
characters f V
, , ,
,
—
, ,
n
—
o .
G ranting the integration of this sonnet in the sequence how is the ,
sudden shift in locale and imagery to be accounted for Very simply With ? .
Christ dead ( or apparently dead ) and p lt d both He in one sense

and the frightened Apostles in another are undergoing what can q uite
ense u ure , , ,
, ,
reaso bly be called an Egyptian captivity Christ is in the power of T ime

na .
which Th omas has elsewhere imaged as the quiet gentleman / Whose beard
,
“
wags in Egyptian wind ; and the Ap stles distraught and leaderless lik e ”
children of Israel hav e nothing to look forward to but lives bitter

o , ,
“
th e
with hard bondage

,
”
.
Th at is to say instead of describing the deposition and entombment

T homas has re li ed it by analogy Any Ch istian ( and Christ Himse lf )
, ,
could with feeling have said during those th ree dark days My world is
a z . r
“
py amid
,
B ut th e cardinal fact f the situ ation was not the burial bu t the resur
r .
43
rection Ag i n Th om a s could have described this as h e had described the
cru cifixion Again he found the Egyptian references pe tinent with ou t
. a , ,
being trite A d I think tha t he is making an important point Far from

.
,
r
. n .
universalizing the death resurrection theme ( he is not writing Th

gh ) he is showing that t h ough the idea had been cur nt for
-
re- e
G ldo enB ou , , r
e
thousands f years it had not really been f historical moment until Christ
a nd His followers made it so By showing the fib king and the queen
o , o
“ ” “
in splints as o nly playing card figures in books Thom as puts their attempts
. re-
”
to a chieve im mortality on the level of ch ild s play Th resurrection i n the

-
,
desert is as m eaningless and historically unimportant as the works f

. e
Ozymandias Th pharaohs were as de lu ded as the characters of Son n et V

Now this question arise s is Thomas in showing th e Egyptian resur
. e
o
: ,
rection to be a fake by implication denying the Christian? Perhaps the

exp lication will give an answer
,
It is thro gh ancient docu m n ts in storage vaults that we know them

the prophets and kings redu ced to paper and ink ; the midnight oil burning
u e -
:
copyist ( not poet ) wh redu ced them ; th e broken bandage d qu een We

- -
have their ames and their bodies (only the skin and bones the flesh having
o ,
.
been steeped and dissolved in natron ) ; th eir l ives coll apsed th eir e mptied
n ,
bodies are like empty gloves a nd co nfined like hands in gl oves i

,
hprint
ieroglyphic inscribed mu m my cloth ( as their names are mu mmified in
n
,
are , ,
) their o l y hal o m ade of hair dye th eir gl ory the go ld en death m ask
- -
It is th e death mask of sch olarship that bomb astically d eclaims This

, n -
,
-
.
was the resurrection death mu st be infe red from the bandage And the
-
:
”
mdeadortuary spirit f scientific sch olarship draws its analogy and kills Me as
— r .
as the ineffectually O siris emulating E gyptians ; b uries that m ortal

o
-
wound My mortal body in the infertile pyramided dese t ; weights it dow

with the pyramid s stones ( those h opeful stepping stones to h eaven ) ; and
, , ,
r n
’
necklaces it not with the lively a m s f th e bride in the weddin g bed but
-
with all th dead bon s of al l th e mo t als of all time past wh h ad failed

r o
to cross th at l ast of rivers

e e r ,
o
Note My interpretation of this sonnet as an ironic thrust aimed at

anthropol ogists and others wh reduce Christ to simply another h anged god
:
and Christianity to a J ewish version of a fertility rite is ultim ately based

o
pon Thomas s having ch os n the verb rants with its egative con
-
’ “
u e ,
n
notations If the mask of scholars “

what is said must be held to be ”
suspect Th parallel of the mask i the linen Spirit It seems only l ogical
. ran ts ,
“ ”
to give it a parallel m eaning a n d to regard it actions with a parallel

. e s .
distrust
A syntactical crux occu rs with th e verb bed Th is m ay be taken as
.
2 44
with happy absorption in skill is imbued with the g d f strength and o o
honour and b eauty undeniable Happy intense abso ption in any

work which is to be brought as near to perfection as possible this
,
.
, r
, ,
is a state of being with God and the men wh have not known it
have missed life itself
,
o
I should think this a very accurate description of the Christ fig f

the sonnets the fi gure wh ose teaching ( wh atever the poet m ay h ve thought
-
ure o
of its contemporary dissemination ) came to have such compulsion upon

,
a
T homas If as Pound says literature is news that stays news the gospel
of this god filled craftsman f Thomas good news that stays good news
.
, , ,
is or ,
regardless of Freuds Darwins M and Frazers

, Aquinas Calvin
, arxes, —
or ,
and Luther
Neve theless if the teaching has its essential t uth its effi cacy h as been
.
ddogma r ,
iminished by the accretion of myth and misinterpretation hardened into

In drawing attention to the absurdity of the fabulous elements the
r ,
mmayuckrakers
.
,
have served a useful purpose Th danger is that their attack

destroy the truth along with the fable
. e
What Tho m as is doing then in these sonnets is to take h is stand

.
between the reductionist and the dogmatist to defend against both what h e
, ,
co nceives to be th at irreducible truth which can permit a believer to be

“
at cloud qua k i g peace Sonnet X stipulates the stance to be taken
n . .
Since Mine w not a fabulous O siris jou ney but the r al l ife story f
as -
r e -
o
a real man ( whose gli ttering eye has held you during its retelling ) and
archetypally the story of Man let My teaching which relate s to the pro ess
,
, , ,
c
of time rather than to the stasis of eternity be removed from the church ,
ship s sick bay where it has been stretched contorted d perverted ( there
’
are few to y wi th Thomas Fuller Grant that I may never k a

, , ,
an
Sasc have
ipture simile b eyond the tru e intent
sa ,
rac
let it be held by such

their feet fi mly planted on the earth ( and globes f their h eads
r
spole
upported by the atlas vertebra ) th e earth for which I am from pole to
r
the axis ; l et it be held half way between th e turbulent sea a nd th e

,
o
fi ctitiou s h eaven haven Th u s s h all th e a s piring beings ( those cock s f th

-
rock ) in th e life q h arbor s see as with eagle eyes the wind tu rned s ta te
-
. o e
ment ; these aspi ing but b d beings ( I Myself typify the sea the
- -
sitoumrceay ofbe lisaid

fe an d pl ace of death the natural cycle ; d f My teaching
r sea- o un ,
th e e art h shall be filled with the kn wledge f the

—
an o
F
H b k k k 2 1 4 ) sh all
: or o o
glory of the Lord as the waters cover the ”
descry an en d imm i it i n every be ginn ing and a be gin i n g in every end

sea, a a u , ,
deathLet asthatnatfiusralhertom anlifeofasfishthe andtho nf tomenthe that

c
evergre n winter b rrying h oll y

r
key man and first holder f

o
e ,
n
-
e
o
.
24 6
the k eys witness of the sufferings of Ch ist and partaker f the glory
that shall be re v eale d ( I P
, r ,
o
that dow to earth and down to the e te r, n- - - —
seas lover and deni er of the truth ( a non composer of such books -
as
R l i ) let him ( s fe on the ra iled landing place of the N w

Covenant ) as k the fish that came to walk li k e a man ( namely you wh
e v e a t o ns ,
a -
e
after nine months in the womb s sea came to ligh t nder the Christward
, o,
’
u
shelt r ) what purging hidden man of the heart ( I P the

,
”
e 3 4) e ter, ,
—
gender s strip stripped to this tree and w d dusts and furies but still
’
e to ,
needling through the shroud has made th fi h man a Man fi h of whom

it m y be as k ed And wh is he that will harm you if ye be followers
—
e s - -
s
“
a , o ,
of that which is good ? ( I P 3

”
e ter, ,
( T his hidden man is of course Myself no eunu h thou gh a uni que , ,

—
c
man But I have been so misrepresented that I can ot bject if the above
. n o
words are inte preted in the following w y Let the fisherman Peter part
of the natural process of things ask the pontiff Peter remo ved from
r a : ,
, ,
a l l
tar ess but altarwise Galilee to the alt r dominated palace on the Tib r a -
e ,
what bitter man born of Aphrodite woman has altered Aphrodite into
Virgin Mary and put the Garden of Venus in cloud cuck oo land )
-
- -
.
But to pr ceed Let the w concept of Paradise be of an ea thly

o . ne r
paradise f a whole life here and w on this ea th let the twin

—
o
-
no r :
trees of growing life and growing knowledge sink their roots into the
wo m fertilized earth and ascend to sun and s ky till that time when the
canker worm ( Fear not thou worm J acob the worm ) builds for you a
r -
resting place ( the mo tal element in the sp rm havi ng made its final
,
r e
assertion ; the w itten woods stripped to this tree of called death ) a

cross the image f Mine At which time you may as k as a young We l sh
r so - on
poet h as asked
o .
,
which is my genesis ; the grani te fountain world

or the bonfi r maned like a lion in the threshold of the l ast vault? And
, ,
”
you will be answered All s one O voice the n in that even ing travelled
e
’
lineament took on th e sliding moods

, : ne
the light and water waves

from where the gold green sea cantharis dyes the trail f th e octopus
,
o ne ,
o o ne
v nom crawled through foam and from the four map corners
e cherub ,
o ne
in an island shape puffed the clouds to sea .

”
Note I have tak en th e liberty f adding to the sonnet proper the

: o
con ludi g lines f In the Direction of the Be ginning an effusion in

“ ”
A dv
c n o
h S k i T d which has much in common wi th the sonnets

,
i
and must be read i connection with them I have done so be ause th
e n tures n t e n ra e
passage stresses the oneness the reconci liation of opposites which this
n . c e
final so net arrives at

, ,
n .
247
There are other passages in Th omas s pro se which are apposite ’
thi s son et Particul arly the s e tw

n . o:
Mchanltiplyel ingmuand
u ltiply he had said t th worms disturbed in th eir
h ad cut the brown wo ms i half that the
, ,
o e
l
halves m ight breed and spread their life over the garden and go
n , r n so
ou t contami ating i nto th e field s and th bellies f the cattle

, n ,
e o .
( Th Enemie )
“ ”
e s
Where the serpent sets the tree alight d the apple fal like a
sp ark ou t f it skin a tree leaps up ; a sc arecrow shines the
,
an s
gh and by one i the s u n the new trees arise making

o s ,
on
b
an orch ard round the cru cifix ( Th O rch ard )
c ross ou s, , n , ,
“ ”
. e s
3? 3k
I w as n ot sure wh en I sta ted that it could b e done that is th at

the entire s equence ( excluding th 12 line introduction in I an d the
r —
,
octave f IV ) coul d b e read as a m on ol ogue with ou t bending the poe m s

-
e
to fit th e p attern Havin g do ne it I sh ould n ot care t o insist that this is

o
th e way Th om as intended the s on et s t be read b ut only that this

.
,
is as good a way f reading th em a s h a s thus far b e n suggeste d It d oes

n o ,
not claim for the poet an esot ric sch l ars hip for which there i s
o e .
eviden e yet it does not dim in is h h i s achievement in th e poem ; it does n ot

e o no
require hi m to depart from earli er practice ; it does t discover h im

c ,
contradicting his f ndam ent al opin ions a s e xpressed in e arli er and l ater
no
poems ; it does not av id the very real sy ta ctical difficulties n or egregiously

u
throw out the letter whe n it seems uncrackable and supply a melting
o n
symbol in its place ; an d it provides a poem with a begi nn ing a m iddle

a n d an end having th e virtues f unity coh e ence and emp h asis
, ,
In sho t it is t indefen s ible Harder to defend of course is the

,
o , r ,
.
r ading of each son et and f individual sentences within th em Th

r ,
no .
, ,
situation is simply this there can be final reading f the sonnets ;

e n ,
o . e
there can be only successive exp lorati ns Th only j udgment f any

: no o
inte pretation must b e that it has blazed a few trails in the right direction
o . e o
without defacing blazes already m ade

r
We Ly i ng by S easa nd
consensus is that it is two lovers lying there
Th e an ther s best ’
Edith Sitwell wh thin k s the poe m of the greatest beauty both visually
,
o ne o .
and aurally in this at least agrees with Henry Gibson wh finds it

, o ,
”
, ,
o
confusing trite and thoughtlessly dull

However nothing save th e opening words We lying suggest y
.
, ,
,
an
24 8
T here are a few others but these should suffice to indicate why an ,
inference may be draw that at the time of writing T homas was saturated n
with Eliot G ranting the inference i it of any value in determining the

.
, s
directi n of the poem ? I think that it may b

T h si gnificant desire of the poem s speaker i to drown red roc k
o e .
’
e s ,
to fend off rock ar ival Th is proves impossible Nothing can be d ne

sdoes
ave to lie watching yellow until the golden w th / B k
r
this all mean? Assum ng a Eliot full T homas perhaps something

What
.
i n -
ea
.
er rea s .
o
like this :
We not dead but deadened inhabitants of a life which m ay be

, ,
described as death s dream kingdom lying as if in a grave ’
imitating the real dead in the nearby cemetery wh from th eir

, , ane
bones which are already d y mock ( chi ping ) those wh are moved
’
o,
,
r ,
r o
by th blood s flow We lie betw en sea and cemetery between

’
womb tomb and tomb womb In our half deadness a desire for a
e . e ,
- - -
.
richly colored many splendored life is as useless

-
,
prophesying -
as
to the wind
Consideration of the night sky of the moon dead but exerting its
.
, ,
gravitational pull upon the tides of a beached hulk ( shall these ribs
live ) should calm the turbulence of desire ; w are m ade aware f
,
the oneness of things and of the inevitability and u niversality of

o ur e o
endings by the music of dead heavenly spheres and the sound f

wind shifted sand which will bury fertile hill and inhabited home
o
-
,
terminating to ment f desire satis fied or unsatisfied In our quasi

grave ( yell ow gold in color ultimate ruler and remedy for l ife s
r o .
’
-
,
ills ) w wish for past d present ( strata memory and desi

, e an
“
r
e ,
to disappear and the bloody future to be submerged But the morrow

( showing fear in a handful of dust ) will daw We can only lie h alf
.
in love with easeful death till the sun rises like that dove descending
n .
,
”
which brea k s the i / W i h fl ame of incandescent terror

,
“
that a r t
”
so
one might wish to say to the mountains Fall us ; and to the “

on
hills Cover , us .
A pretty interpretation Mr Pope But is it Thomas? It is at least , . .
t out of line either in its assumption of T homas s im itating an earlier

’
no
poet s voice or in its predication f a tragic theme with G S Fraser s

,
’ ’
o ,
. .
general comment :
As k ed wh was the author of the following ! the last ] stanza

an intelligent reader might well name Mr C Day Lewis or Mr W H
o
Auden Th tur and the mood f the last two li nes in particular
. . . . .
suggests that preoccupation of m ost of the poets of the 1 9 3 0 with

. e n o ,
’
s
250
harsh hi storical necessity which Dylan Th om as the whole did ,
on
not share ( C b k. as e oo ,
E Glyn Lewis ag ees with Fraser ( T dl k citing this po m

as showi g that O ccasionally ! Thomas ] feels the inevitabili ty of forces
. r e oc , e
beyond the power f man and his verse is imbued with a sense f tragi c
n ,
o o
contemplation
,
”
On the other hand Edith Sitwell ( T dl k 1 5 0 ) finds that for the

.
m v
,
e oc ,
y oung lovers T i e is
“
no longer te rible to them in their silence of lo e r .
”
And David A i ( Ibid stating the theme of the poem as the “
transformation of process by vision lik e Sitwell sees a happy ending

v az .
,
,
:
Th lovers lie watching ( three t imes repeated ) until yellow becomes

‘ ’
e
gold night becomes day Process is already the sovereign ( golden )

,
.
‘ ’
st ip joini g the water and rock in line thirteen Th transformation

r , n ,
. e
is effected only when in the last tw lines vision sees it as such

, o ,
.
Neith r Sitwell nor A i

e mm the fact that the characters
v az co ents on
’
wishes are not granted which eems to me the poem s crux nor s
’
appears to be much disturbed by the dawn s breaking li ke a heart ’ “

.
”
And of course both have assumed hopeful young lovers as characters

, , .
According to Pascal there are th ee kinds of p pl s

r eO e:
th e wh serv e God hav ing found Him ; those wh are bu y

see king Him not ha ving found Him ; and the rest wh liv e with
os o , o s
, o
out see king Him having found Him Th fi st are intelligent

or . e r
and happy ; the last are foolish and miserable ; those between are
unhappy and intelligent .
As it seems to me Thomas is re fl ecting a frame of mind not u ncommon

,
to those wh as Pascal says lie between

o, , .
”
Co n versa ti o n of P ray er
Almost the fi st question to occur to a reader of this poem conce ns

r r
the possibility f its relation to A h W d d y In each poem the question

o s e nes a .
of th efficacy f prayer engrosses attention ; in each

e o is an operative turn
word ; in each there is a climbing of sta irs
,
In hi as ent toward the higher l ove the speak er of Eliot s poem

, .
mstage
akes ( in Part III ) three turns the stairway each turn representi g a
’
s c ,
on n
in his spiritual development involving a defeat of a temptation Th
,
. e
25 1
lEliot
a s t th ese te mptatio ns is a sensuous pastoralis m which though in
of
it does not characterize a ch ld s the kind environ i

’
wo rld,
'
recall s
,
of
mraent in which th e young ho ma s ran his heedles s ways his wishes

cing through hou se high h ay “
T ,
the
turn reversal which is to occur in h om as s poe m is

.
imagized
’
Th e T
in the circul ar movement the first s entence in which the first becomes
or
of
la st and the l ast fi st In line

,
read 2 , we
the child going to b ed and the man the st a irs
r .
bu t in the order reverses

on ,
th e m a n the stairs and the child by h is bed

:
on
child h i s prayer d evoid of love sympathy

.
Th e fear for other (

safety th an his
, , , or
recites a jingle makes a sound arise but does

o wn )
truly pray man s love fear grief knowledge death wring from
, , no t
’
Th e of
hprecarious
im passion ate entre aty in the behalf so meone el se s omeone whose
.
prayer needing si uation takes h im himself

, , ,
of ,
( ) of Th e
revers al h at o curs is th i s the child s prayer is un answered and h e is
-
t o ut .
brought face to face with the te ror his own death the m an s prayer
t c : ,
of
’
dying bu t al ive and wa m In the fire his

r ;
is answered and he finds “
/ of
care his love i n the high room Apparently the grown m an shall
, no r
”
lead them
.
-
up
does this ironic twist occur ere are several possible answer s
.
Wh y ? Th
First prayer is inefficacious assumed result s are mere coincidences
.
Second only unselfish loving prayer is efficaci us h ird prayer is

, ; .
T
a sort l aw of compe nsation every favor granted
, ,
o .
,
efficacious but by of
demands th e denial some other Fourth the efficacy of prayer is

, , ,
of
in question here th e two kinds of prayer are objective c rrelatives for

.
, not
states th e soul the unph ilosoph ical incapable meeting

: o
two of of
fe a r and th erefore death distressed the other i nu red to both bad dreams
, o ne ,
and the reality of evil and therefore eath defeati g hat is the child
-
, ,
d T
anhaving
d the m an may be hom as young and homas m ature m n
-
.
,
T aturi g T h is
bee n an ascension th at pastoral narrowess described in
, n
o ut o f
And fifth G S Fraser s thought that the idea

n
Wednesday
“
of
’
A sh
the reversibi ity of race is being expounde d h ere
. . .
,
”
l g :
th e idea th at prayers and all good acts operate all the fo r

benefit a ll m en and that God in His inscru table mercy ca n
co-
of
give th e i nocent th e privilege of suffering some th e tribulations

, , ,
of
which have been i curred by redeemable sinners

n
prayers Th e
as it were cros s in the air the ma n is granted his wish for nigh t
n ,
at le a st th e sick wom an i s happy and well again but th e sleeping

, , , o ne
b oy
hdiscover
as to endure all th e m an s nightmare climbing up the stairs to
the loved one dead
’
of
,
.
( C aseb o o k 5 ,
25 2
and the same whether not they ( or h e ) actually pray and whether
, or
an actual woman or an abstract Love is near death all these become as

,
irrelevant as the question f what specifically w Thom s s attitude o , ,

as a
’
toward prayer What we have left is a p m psychologically sound vividly

. oe
imaged subtly and ing niously rhymed and rhythmed perhaps the
,
, e
least marred expression in Thomas of the felt thought

-
.
V isi on an d Prayer
Th e vision that is vouchsafed Thomas is ho rific rather than beatific r .
T hat is th reason for the prayer which follows in which T homas begs
that the potent figu with i the vision give up be deprived f h is
e ,
re n or o
power ( I say within the vision But final interpretation of the poem
. .
will depend upon whether th fig re is construed as having an objective e u
as well as a subj ctive reality ) e .
Th major persons f the drama are the speaker

e o presumably
T homas ; the mother ; the child ; and the sun Th mother wh appears . e , o
only in the vision and serves only to produce the child is described as
a splashed mothering m aiden Th sun has only a walk role in the
,
“ ”
vfinding e ou
-
.
ision but in the prayer plays a crucial part It is referred to as th

,
.
“
e
one and is described as spinning crimson sudden and loud

,
”
, , , .
T h child ( also referred to as the finding one is wild and turbulent ; “
hdazzles
as a torrid crown ; dispels dark from h is loin ; has a dawn f yi g stream ;
e
heaven ; has a bonfire in his mouth ; kisses boilingly ; is winged ;

-
ur n
is wounded ; has a blazing breast ; puts his fl ame i n every grain f dust ; o
is spoken of as the adored infant light and the dazzling prison

“ ”
and has briared h ands

,
Thomas is a lost so ul
.
Th action is follows Th omas silently listens as the m ther gives

birth to th child He says that when th e d awn breaks after th e child s
e as . o
’
birth he ( Th omas ) will ru n vainly crying from the previously darkened

e .
room i to the sun He will d so becau se h e was lost His effort to

-
, , ,
escape from th child will not however be suc ssful sin e the latter
n . o .
e , ,
ce ,
c
is winged ; T homas s cries are stilled when he sees the child s wound and
’ ’
,
he falls asleep against the child s breast Th en h awakens to see a vision ’
f the J udgment Day and of the whole panorama of the world s develop
. e
’
ment Having witnessed the total pain of universal h istory he dies

o
.
,
.
( I what sense is not explained )

Next he deli vers three prayers Th first made in th e name f believers
n .
. e , o
in total annihilation ( with whose belief he says he is only pa tially in , ,

r
25 4
accord ) requests that th child be returned to the womb b efore he learns
to speak Th second m ade in the name of all pagans requests th at
e
the child refuse the dead an awakening h owever much they desire it
. e , ,
since death is comforti gly und rstandable and homely T h thi d m ade
, ,
in the name of the unbegotten requests that th e sun make the child s
n e . e r ,
’
martyrdom a natural not a mysterious At this point the sun that he

,
has be n praying to takes drastic action

,
o ne .
,
e .
I tu rn the corner f prayer and burn o
In a bles sing of the sudden

SunI would
In the name of the damned
.
turn back and run

T th e h idden l an d o
But the lou d sun

Christens down
Th sky e .
T his is h cru cial point and most ambigu ous event in the poem
t e .
Th question which arises is this Does the sun act on its w and
affi mativ ely answer the prayer O r is it the child s surrogate and
e : o n
’
r ?
act to deny the prayer ?
Th ambi gu ous pronominal reference of the concluding lines m ilitates

e
against a certain answer :
0 let him
S ald me and drown c
Me in his wo ld s woun d r
’
.
His lightning an s wers m y

C y My voice bu ns in his hand
r . r .
Now I am lost in the blindin g

One Th sun roars at the prayer s end
. e
’
,
.
Has Th omas been saved from the agony f being the child s m an ’
and become a sun worshiper O r does the b w to the hild s g eater

o
’
? sun o c r
authority and deliver Thomas to the latter s charg ? Proponents of ’
the first theory will argu e that since the child is not mentioned in the
e
final stanza the pronouns must refer to the sun Proponents of the
second will answer that throughout the poem h im and h i have regularly
.
,
referred to the child and not t the sun and that therefore no ambigu ity
s
ex sts
i .
Th proponents of the first theory may be said to define Th omas s

’
e
55
p s iti n as a kind f p antheis m th e proponents f th s econd a s a kind
f tran s cendent al is m And th e latter g o u p m ay be divided into th ose who
o o o , o e
see Th mas as a Ch ristian a nd those wh do n ot Opinion h ere turns

o . r
initi ally upon the interp etation f Th om a s s second prayer

o o .
’
r o :
Th at he let th e dead lie t h o u gh t h ey m oan

For hi s briared hands t h oist them
T the sh ine of h is world s wou n d ;
o
’
o r
and next upon wh at answer is thought t be m ade t th third prayer

, ,
o o e
May the crimson

Sun spin a grave grey
And th e colou r f clay
Stream upon his m ar ty rd o m
o
In the i t p eted evening

And the known dark of the earth amen
n er r
Th e pro Christian faction will argue that only Christ can h oist the
dane atidChto ishtian
is shrine and that the sun denies th e following prayer Th
-
contingent Will argu e th a t th e dead wh are to be h oisted

, . e
are t a ctu ally dead bu t only d ead to l ove th at to be h isted m eans

-
r o
only to learn to love ; and th at the sun s affir min g reduction f th e

no - -
, o
’
Crucifi ion to a natu ral event does not deny a transcendent spiritual
o
principle
Briefl y th ese th e m ain al te n atives
.
, are r
1 Th po m dram tizes Th omas s discovery f the self s u fficient

’
. e e a o -
divinity f the cosmos

It dramatizes Ch rist s being reborn t Thomas and T homas s
o .
’ ’
2
dying an d being reborn i n Christ
o
”
3 It dramatizes Th o m as s submission to the L ife Force which

.
may be called God f Love thr ugh

.
,
d to the concept
“ ”
sac ifice wh ich may

an o o
‘
r —
b called Christ no t e .
In th e first and third the figure f the child is m ere personification ; in

the second h e h as both subjective and objective reality
, o
f th e
,
.
I do not think that a final case may be made for any

alternatives O nly the desire f the reader will find the divine figure
o ne o
of this poem wh lly imm anent wholly transcendent simultaneou sly

. o
o , or , or
transcendent and immanent or t substantially but only metaphorically no
present at all
,
3k
Th e read er wh h as t been found or does not want to be

been but thinks it bad taste to discuss the matter publicly m ay very
o no , , or
h as ,
25 6
cause f the poe m is suffi cient to produce the e ffect d the langu age
o , o
and imagery with their potential of burst and the compressing effect of
, ,
the shaped stanzas combine to pr duce a controlled explosi n f greatest

possible impact? O r are the constituents so meagerly explosive that in
o o o
the mid t of sound and fury the earth remains unsha k en ? T put it less
fancifully did Thomas really have the vision he describes mak e
s o
, , or o ne
p to fit the occasion Is the experience of being found uniquely and

?
rge tly his or is it his but not so u rge tly as he would like it t b
u
( for poetical p rp ses ) therefore re q uiri g the as ist nce of Franc s

u n ,
n o e
Tho m pson and others ? It is one thing to borrow h words to describe

u o ,
n s a i
t e
an indescribable emotional experience ; it is an ther t b rrow the emotion
itself to piece ou t your w
o o o
Still despite the dissatisfaction one may feel with this poem it
o n .
cannot be gainsaid that the poet h as underg ne a shattering experience

, ,
o .
He may have tried to m k m re of it tha w there ( This mbition a e o n as .

“
a
of s rpri i g a reader is h tr e nat r l ca f ll f ti bombast

in p try i d P pe f Crashaw ) O r he m y h b
u s n ,
t e u u a u se o a us an , o r
o
e
sa o ble to o . a av e e en un a
mm i ate what r ally w the e d t d to d p t p ti l

,
w l
co un c e as r an re so r e es er a e oe ca
meas re R egardles the p m mai

u s . T m s m t p s, oe re ns as ho as
’
os o en av o a
of his submission to to what t let y d ea fb l Gd — ? o, u s sa , r, a u ous o .
A Winter s Ta le ’
a simple st ry T homas has to tell by the fire in his cottage

It i s o :
on a wintry nigh t lonely man close to death prays f death to come

, a or ,
d it d e By p r ifyi g death d the man s de ire however and ’

an o s e so n n an s , ,
exte ali i g the m s emotional exp rie ce T homas has produced an

,
’
rn z n an e n ,
illu i f physi al tivity d t rne d wh t might have been a psycho

s on o c ac an u a
logi l tudy into a na tive po m

ca s rra e .
What he has d e here he had already d in p ose in the short

on o ne r ,
story Th Visitor There Peter at th point of de th lies bed ri dden

“ ”
atte ded by his wife Rh ianon Death u nder the me of Callaghan

e .
, , e a ,
-
comes to tak e him for a naked piggy back ride cross the Wel h l dscape
n , .
,
na ,
-
a s an
du i g whi h Pete sees the natural succession in nature of life life s

r n c r ,
’
cessation and its resurgence

,
:
Peter in his gh t ried out with joy There w life in the naked
,
os ,
c . as
valley life in his nakedness He saw the streams and the beating
,
.
wat r h w the flowers shot out f the dead and the blades and
e ,
o o ,
roots were doubled in th ir power under the stride of the spilt blood e .
And the streams stopped Dust f the dead blew over the spring . o ,
25 8
and the mouth w cho ked Dust l ay over the waters like a dark ice
as . .
Light that had been all eyed and moving froze in the beams f
,
-
, o
the moon
Life in this nakedness mocked Callaghan at his side and Peter
.
, ,
knew that he w pointing with the ghost of a finger down the

dead streams But as he spok e and the shap that Peter s heart
as , , on
’
had taken in the time f tangible flesh w aware of the k nock s of

.
, e
o as
terr r a life burst out f the pebbles l ike the thousand lives wrapped
o , o ,
in a boy s body out of the womb Th streams again went their

’
,
. e on
w ayand the light of the moon in a w splendour shone on the

, ,
ne ,
valley and magnified the shadows of the valley and pulled the moles
and the badgers out of their winter into the deathless midnight season
of the world .
He has f course died in his bed but of this he is unaware Th

, o , , . e
whole story is built toward the surp ise ending r :
R hianon with a sweet naked throat stepped into the room

, , , .
R hianon he said hold my hand R hianon

, , .
She did not hear him but stood over his bed and fixed h im with
,
nbreak able sorrow

,
an u .
Hold my hand he said And then Why y putti g the sheet

,
. : are ou n
over my face ?
Th e story is therefore the poem s best commentary at least its ’
, on
most elementary level But the g ater compression of the poem ; its
. re
more ambiguous allusiveness ; its temp ra y settin g; its deletion of n o n- c o n o r
the non mythic fig re of Rhianon which help the reader of the story
keep his bearings u
-
s
; the substitution of an exotic h bird for the com

,
s e-
i ly domesticated C ll h ; and the c m pletely ndomestic con

all these giv e the poem a dimensi and a brea dth of p ssi
parat v e a aO an o u
l i
c us o n on o
b ili i that the story does not possess I h a result b en interpreted

as an allegory of sacred love a wish fulfillment pha tasy ( the h bird
t es . t as , as , e
-
n s e-
equalling love instead of death ) a myth f h re generation of h t ibal

,
hero d as a rewo k ing of a leg nd de yed from mid winter cere

, o t e t e r
“
,
an r e ca a -
mony of the birth of the year ( of the earth of m )

O re-
f these the last seems to fi best Sac ed love at lea t i the usual
se e of the phrase is alien to Thomas s cheme f things ; the poem s
ns
,
t .
’
r
,
,
an
o
.
s n
’
s
co clu ion is too powerf l to epresent a man dre m world and the
,
’
n s u r s a ,
analogy f the poem with the st ry render doub tful the she bird s
o o s —
’
symbolizing a ything less th n d h ; the m is too clearly y m

n a e at an an an
to be reg rded as a tribal hero A I see it Th mas is d scribing th

a s ,
o e e
suffering and the delusions f a dying man the essation of his life
.
o ,
c
25 9
in its hu ma mani festation th e continu ing function of h i dynamic stuff
in the material universe Hi death is a sleep and a begetti g At
n , s
with the process he has pervasive eff ct from th earth s center t the
. s n . o ne
’
far side f heaven s crystalline perip hery i Th heavens the heaven

, e e o
’
th e g ave the bu ning font l ying in but ham mering out f

o —
n e , ,
”
r , r , o
th e whirl
Pool at the wanting cent e in the folds
Of paradise in the spun bud of the world
,
r ,
of Keats s Eve of St Ag es are sufficiently numerous

’
narrative to suggest his rece nt reading For ex ample

. n
. :
Th w l for all h i feathers was

e o ld
, s ,
a- c o
And silent was the fl k in wooly f ld oc o :
Numb were the beadsman s fingers while he ld ’

to
his frosty b h reat
Thomas Th pale b h
And the stars falling ld
: e rea t
co
and th far wl
Warning among the f ld and the frozen h old
e o
o s,
F l k d with the sheep white smoke of the farm house cowl

oc e
In the river wended vales where the tale w ld as to
T here are others of course as well as non verbal similarities burning

Porphyr sinks into Madeline s pillow ; Madeline compares herself to a
, ,
-
:
’ ‘
bird ; the beadsman sits in ashes and Thomas s m an by the spit and black
o
’
pot each kneeling praying doing harsh penance

,
questi n which must arise is do s a comparison of the Eve

, , ,
.
Th
aI ndthinkthe it Tnotale imreveal a debt beyond th e merely verbal and imagistic?
e o : e
“ ”
probable thou gh at first gl an e the poems may seem

mthatore tdifferent
h than alike Both of cou rse are laid in the past b u t beyond
,
ey do not ostensibly compare Keats s poe m is a love legend f

.
, ,
’
c
the Romeo Juliet Lochi nvar persu asion ; the characters thou gh romantic
, .
-
o
are real ; the hero and h eroine are young beau tiful and aristocratic ;
- -
,
the background is s ocial ; the m ajor scene takes place i n a bedroom amid
, ,
a wealth f sensuous detail ; the result f the poems action i to relieve

the anguish of adolescent love in defiance of the strictures f filial piety
o o s
moral b eh avior ;
o .
Neither Po phyro nor Madeline wins high marks f

each accedes to th e demands of the fl es h ; neither ( though Madeline is
r or
at least superstitious ) evidences any depth f religious feeling the

beadsman s itting in his ashes t akes care of thei souls
o
r .
2 60
th e L now is the bread of life ; Peter s cock crow ; the chim ey
a mb :
s
’
s n
i lik a cowl crolls of fire re ll bo h Mo e and th day f

j dgment ; h pit d blac k p t s u ggest th l n e d the gr ail ; the
p ot s ; e s ca t s s e o
she bi d d her fi re hav e pent cost l affi i ti es Th story i tself t

u t e s an o e a c an
in a time when the world t rn d ld/ O a st f faith con rn s an

-
r an e a n . e , se
“ ”
agony in a wintry gard n ( It is wo hwhil e to r a d M h w 2 6 in

u e o n ar o , ce
co ection wi h th is po m )
e . rt e att e , ,
ne of thi s Christi i es ei her the poet or the po m ; rather

nn t e .
B
it finds natural pr cess sacred but without discoverin g a deity immanent
ut no an z t e ,
to i d m i an an g ish of spiri u al n ed fi ding his relief yet

o ,
t, an a an n u t e n ,
m i Chri but in h d y mi m of dea h s decay

’
u n st t e na s t .
Th p e m w w rit en i the wi ter of 1 944 4 5 when Thomas liv d

t f r of the rock ets Terror ngu ish loneli ness guilt death
e o as t n n -
, e
i c
r lly hi m nt l t aveli g comp i ons Furth r as he w ote
n o ns ant ea .
,
a , , ,
wer
the let er enclosi g this po m he w on erned with
e n atu a s e a r n an . e , r
to W ki i
at rs n t n e , as c c
hi f th er s health Th at h m i the po m b ears a re emblan e to

’
s a . t e an n e s c
hi f th r as well as to him elf e ms undeni able

s a e s s e .
I h let er T homas co mm ents

n t e t ,
:
I m e di g y
’
some w p m Th long one doesn t I think ’
c m ff b t I like it ll in spite of that It isn t re ally one piece

s n n ou ne oe s . e , ,
’
th gh G d I tried to make it one d have been worki g it

o e o ,
u a .
ou , o , an n on
for m h s ont .
It i s ie because of the tw enty six s ta zas there

pie
l ig i fi e f whi ch is not m ade fully clear Th
n ot qu t o ne ce -
n
are si x th e f iun c t o na s n canc o e
e b o tli ned as fo ll ows

.
po m mav e u :
1 2 D s ription of the locale e c
3 6 Intro d i on of the man u ct
7 1 1 Hi prayers
-
s
1 2 1 3 A mi r culo s
- -
ral awak e ing a u n at u n
1 4 Th a riv al of the she bird

-
e r -
1 5 1 6 Continuation of h
- -
miracul ous awakening t e
1 7 2 1 Th
-
man s death e
’
2 3 2 4 Th mi raculous awa k eni ng ended

-
e
2 5 2 6 Th
-
assimi lati on of man i to bird
-
e n
difficulty li es in s anzas
Th e 1 2 - 1 3 , 1 5 - 1 6, tho e
w ith the m iracl
t and 23 2 4 , s
e .
2 62
Li sten Th mi n trels sing . e s
In h departed vill ages Th ni ghti g le

D us in h buri d w d fli es h grain f her wing
t e . e n a ,
An d p lls h wi d of the d ad his wi ter s ale

t t e e oo ,
on t e s o s
’
Th voic of the d u t of water from the withered p i

s e on t e n s e n t .
e e s s rn
Is telling Th wi en d
Stream with be l and bayi ng water bo n ds Th d w ri g
. e z e
OPan thh ofgsnow n s

s u . e e
i d leaves and the long g ne gli ni g

arv d m h in h ro k are wi n d swept st i
e r ste o st e n
i
rs Th . e c e ont s t e c r n gs .
T ime si g th ough h i n i cately de d snow drop L i ten

n s r t e tr a . s .
L ok A d h da c rs move
o . n t e n e
O the departed snow b h l gre n wanton i m li h t

As a dust of pigeons E l i the gr v e h
n ,
us et e ,
n oo n g
’
. x u t tg ,
a oo v ec
Horses centaur d ad r and t ead the d enche d w hi te

Padd k s i the fa m of b irds Th dead oak w lk f l v e
, e , tu n r r
oc n r s . e a s or o .
carved limbs i the roc k

Th e
L ap as to trump s C lligr phy of the old
n
L aves i dancin Lin s of g on the st n s weav e i a fl o k

e ,
et . a a
An d the harp shaped v oice of the water s du t pl ks in a fold

e s g e a e o e n c .
Of fi elds For love the long g h b ird ri es L k

.
,
a o s e s
s
. oo
uc
d nci ng peri h s
Th e
OThn thesingwhite
e
no longer growi g green d mi rel dead
n
a
i g brea k s i the n w sh ed il lages of wi h es

,
n s
s e
o o
, an
v
,
ns t
That once cut the fi g es of bi ds on the deep brea d

A d o v er the gl zed l kes s k ate d the sh pes of fi hes
ur r
n a a a s
Flyi g Th rite i shorn n . e s
Of nighti gale and c n aur dead hor e Th sp i gs wi h r

Back Lines of leep on h stones till ump ti g d awn
n e t s . e rn t e
Exultation lies dow Time buries the spri g weath r

. av e s t e tr e n .
n . n e
T hat belled d b nded wi h the fos il

an d h d w reb n
ou t s an t e e or .
In hi de c i pti on of h m pr yi Thom s h wrought hi

to a very hi gh pit h p rhaps h i h There is somewhat mu h
s s r t e an a ng a as s
of
,
howling b u ni g rushing hu li g g lfi it i the mel drama

c — e too g too c
of
.
Blak e not h drama f L H w then to b i g h h bi d s

r n r n en u n v s o
'
, , , .
,
t e o e ar . o rn t e s e- r on ta g e
wi h ut a en e f anti cli max T hom s s s lution of hi problem is
, ,
?
’
cle v er A di ect call to the reader a swift di e tin g f hi at en ion fr

t o s s o -
a o s
m
the k neeli g i di vidu l in agony to a g ner l a en dancy f lif e
. r , r c o s t t o
n n a e a sc o in
2 63
varied forms and then a focus again upon a gradually revealed i dividu al
figu re of ama in g appearance ; spotlight dissolve and general il lumination
, n
z , ,
dimmi g and expanding spotlight upon a new fig T echnic ll y it

work s ; thematically it produces questions
n , ure . a ,
Are th dead really ( if onl y tempora i ly ) resu rected? Doe s the m an

.
,
have a vision or is Thom as merely evoking in his readers a sharper

e r r
power f historical im agi ation? That is did the miracle o cur did it
o n , c
occur o l y in the man s mind is it supposed to o cur only in the reader s

,
’ ’
mindTh? last can be ruled out at once Th rite is sho n homas

n , c
T
s ays because f what occurs in the final stanzas
,
e
o
. e
:
r ,
For the bird lay bedded

In a choi of wings as though she slept died
r , or
And the wi gs glided wid and he w hymned and wedded

,
An d through the thighs f the eng lfing bride

n e as ,
o u
Th woman breasted and the heaven headed
,
Bird he w brought low ,

as ,
Burning in the bride bed of love in the whirl

Pool at the wanting centre i the folds
,
OAndf paradise i the spun bud of the world

h rose with him fl owe ing in h er melting snow
s e
,
n
,
r
n
Then d minstrels sing and danc rs move h orses tread oaks walk and
,
o e , ,
fossils come to life? And having ome to life why do they perish again?
,
Why above all do these things l at our hero s pli ght?

, c ,
’
, , ex u t
What occurs i the four stanzas is both visionary and real because
it is a vision f reality Like Peter in Thomas s story the man death
n
’
o .
upon him rises to a higher level of perception and sees the natural
, ,
process at work in its mi utest particulars and i its fullest scope as

if watching a fl ower unfold in a slow motion film He h as the armed
n n
-
.
vision But whereas what Peter w is presented naturalistically

.
, sa
with real sheep fl ies rats weasels fl eas worms beetles moles dying
su k ing growing de aying what is se n in the poem is tu ned into
, , , , , , , ,
c , ,
c e r
myth centaur dead horses Philomela like Keatsian nightingales dru

idi l oaks maypole dancers Th experience is the sam e ; the order f its
- -
, ,
telling h been raised to a higher power Th mi acle is visionary ; when

ca , . e o
rite i shorn/ Of nightingale and centaur

as . e r
the man dies it ends Th

dead horse Th vision ends ; the wedding rite b twe n man and death
, e s
”
. e e e
is concluded and the reality f the m rriage state

, attritional but o a
fecundating decomposition succeeds Th earth exults to receive . e
its h nored guest as the man had exulted ( projecti g his emotion into
the figu res of his vision ) in the answer to h is prayer
o n
2 64
Th e opening i mage will provoke his scorn Th flower he will . e ,
say is the explosion Agreed? And the stem is the fuse and the force
, .
,
i the combustible in the fuse that produces the explosion Now

s according .
—
to the poem the force is greater than the fl ower and it is supposed to
, ,
continue its operations after the destruction of the flower But ( and he .
gestures emphatically ) the combustible in the fuse is never as powerful

as the explosiv e charge it ignites T hat is the force is less th the rose an
And b th the combustible and the fuse destroyed b f the explosion

. .
,
o are e o re
occurs Is this the case with Th omas s for e and stem? It is

. Ergo ’
c no t .
,
the metaphor is absurd .
N will he stop there A condescending toleran e will move him

or . c
to pass the imp e ision of the metaphor B he will transfer his s orn
r c . ut c
to the second of the po m s basic themes T the first he has no objectione

’
. o :
that that ( whatever it is ) which creates life and compels its maturation ,
ultimately destroys it Well and good A platitude of course ; but after all
. .
, ,
is there anything whereof it m y be said this is new? B wh y

should Thomas want to go about discussing the m atter with roses a teries
a , see , ut
and the winds ? If people wh talk to themselves are susp ct what about
, r ,
those wh talk to their blood vessels Who would not thin k them dumb
o e ,
“ ”
o ?
in the vulgar sense of the word ?
If thrown off balance by this attack y mutter something about

, , ou
powerful emotion exp ssed in vivid images and given compulsive power
,
re
by dynamic verbs and tightly packed into paralleling stanzas structured

,
to offer statement counter statement and refrain h will catch you

upEmotion e
- —
, ,
short
? he will query gently and musingly Integrity of e m otion
.
?
, , ,
And decisively No No poet wh plays with w rds as Thomas does

feels intensely He is too busy think ing all the time too much engaged
, , . o o
with his dictionary Consider and he opens the book the triple play
,
.
,
on mouth in the se ond stanza Th triple entendre is puerile and

,
”
c . e -
it has an ugly sound He is more clever when life waning he has the .
, ,
blood w but cleverness cancels passion out

ax , .
But that third stanza carrying the sucking mouth f the second
stanza through whirlpo l and q uicksand and lime pit to the lee hing lips
: o
of the fourth ; playing the li ve sand that suffocates against the dead cl y
o -
c
that burns ; concatenating whirl lasso shroud rop ; bliquely

a
e o
relating sails to the lime that whitens them as it whitens the bones ,
of the man wh had sailed windless through space ; relating h shroud

o t e
sail both to the leech ( the edge of a sail ) and to the last stanza s
, ,
’
sheet T his man is not merely three sheets but three shrouds and
.
three leeches to the wind

And he shifts attack to the fourth stanza With a qui t reasonableness
.
There has been he will start no indication that the force in this poe m
. e .
, ,
27 0
is time If you were philosophical you might think f it as a generalized
. o
i l if you were religious it would b God ( Here though he is

’
l
a professed free thinker he shows ff by quoting some possible parallel
e an v ta ; , e .
,
passages from Book s 10 1 2 1 4 2 3 2 4 and 2 8 of J b ) B t he resumes

-
, o
notice that T ime in leeching to the fountain head is the e quivalent of the
, , , , ,
o . u , ,
mouth that sucks the mountain stream However T ime is not a force ;
it is that within which the force work s merely the period during which a
.
,
process continues No one ever says that G d is T ime though Yeat s

,
thin king as muddily as Thomas when h e wrote

. o
w as
Th stallion Eternity
Mounted the m are f Tim e
e
G the foal of the world

’
at .
But a g eat many people do y that God is Love Yet here what
r sa .
do w find? that Love is blood blood collected in a pool as in a

blac k eye the pressure of which is eased by the suction f T ime This
e , ,
, o .
blood is of course at the fountain head which must be the heart

, ,
“ ”
.
But if it is there and not under a contusion can it be said to drip and
,
, ,
gather? And h w can blood fallen from the heart calm her sores
o
”
?
Except in death But to this point death has been the de troyer ; now
in relieving the pain f love it be omes the healer There s an i
.
,
s
’
o c . nc o n
sisten y h re c e .
And then Hi d m di i li becomes an arachnid ( order A did )

the blood sucking ti k and then a clock with a heart like audible
ru o e c na s c ar a
beat N w h w about that heaven that gets ticked around the stars?
-
-
c ,
. o o
Are w considering man s small place in the well integrated clockwork “ ’
univ rse O r the ecstas y of love tick ing a heaven round the
e -
,
” “ ‘
?
T h poet says T ime does the ti k ing Common sense says that man hating
e
time has imagined the idea of et r ity th in a w y ticking ff time And

e c .
,
e n ,
us a o .
perhaps this is what T homas me t ; b in his clevern ss he didn t say so

,
’
But you know he says rele ting Thomas i clever Y remember

an ut e .
n s . ou
vour muttering about stat m t and unter statement Do you realize

, , ,
e en co -
.
that the whole poem is h ou ter statement to its counter statement ?
like this I ea h of the fi st th ee stanzas the statement is that the

t e c n - -
’ “
I t s : n c r r
force generates life ; the cou t r st tement is that the same force destroys
”
n e -
a .
N w sin e the refrain refers a lways to a h elplessness increasi g the

e ffect of the negative counter s atement the pervasiv e tone of the poe m
o c , n
is negative And the conclusion scarcely seem s a happy one

—
t ,
. :
And I am dumb to tell the lover s tomb ’
How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm .
But it really is because this particular crooked worm at the sheet

,
27 1
b ars ime defeating sp rm We have been subtly led from compassi n
T
( for the h anging Christ fi g re ) t love to that go d jo k e on T ime that
e -
e . o
because of Death m an has created an anti Time ( heart beat q uelling

-
u , o , o ,
cloc k tick ) and finally to th idea f the i fi ite conti nuation f life
- -
cycles Th p em itself is a perfect circle

-
, e o n n o
. e o k d in the l st line , c roo e a
linking with k d in the first And as f the poet s being dumb the ’
poem i his w refutation A really beautiful job !

c ro o e . or
s o n .
And is dumb t tell the determined rationalist now reading the

one o
poem aloud a la T homas that in poetry absurdities don t matter when

,
’
the words fall right

,
A Proc ss In e The Weath er Of The Hea rt

There is a tendency among Thomas s comm entators to exaggerate ’
h i fearful awareness f death Th ph y siological vividness f his imagery

s o . e o
leads I think to over vivid critical writing to such phrases as death

, ,
—
,
“
lurks just the other side of appearance eating away the heart of life ;
.
“
incipient ruin spread through the whole universe ; Birth is an event ” “
ti ged with ho ror because it places a new creatu re squarely in the

n r
corrupting and fatal stream of time ( Mills A p

T his w iter quoting from the present poe m th e opening lines
. c c ent, .
f the
,
r ,
o
last stanza ,
A process in the weather of the world

T urns ghost to ghost ; each m othered child
Sits in thei double shade r
comments dramatically Th act of procreation m lds a victim to be ,

e o
hurled out to his death ( Ib id p T his is no a co re t explication

,
”
. .
, . r c
o f the sense of these lines but ev n if it were that it would still in its , e , ,
fals ification f the tone misrepresent the passage

o , .
Not that Thomas is not preoccupied with death He is B t not at . . u
all to the x lusi n of a vigorous awareness of life He is t morbid but

e c o . no
realistic Th trouble is that as one remembers Hell and forgets Heaven

. e
in P di L one remembers the images of death and de ay in

ara se o s t, c
T homas and forgets their contraries But they are there T hough Man
“
in his maggot s barren the poles are k i sing as they cr ss ; though

. .
’ ” “ ”
bags f blood let out their fl ies worlds hang on th e trees

, s o
“ ” “ ”
o ,
.
T homas maintains his balance better than his critics and perhaps ,
never better than in this completely morbid poem a poem pre no n- ,
serving balance in emotion and balance in style ,

.
27 2
And in the seco nd stanza brought t it by th at single word we are
re minded that living is a draini g f th e reser oir f l ife
, o ,
Th third an d fou th stan zas quite s renely accept the s itu ation Light
n o v o .
abecome
s I have sai d without darkness is d fi bl ; the totally known m ay
e r
the totally dull ; every fa mer k ows that some seeds fail t ge i
,
e
un e na e
.
,
nate ; every orchardist expects and makes allowances f windfalls Life and
, r n o nu
death are t pponents but a tea m a s are sun and r a in

or .
Life and death a re lik e lovers in separable And it i only in the inter
no o , .
course between them that further life ( or death ) can succee d And though
, , . s
the poe m end s with a death it does s o t d espairi gly b u t logically Th

.
poe m had begu n with an unfreezing of a tomb ; it is only a step from the
, no n . e
death of the last stanza to the new life f the first

Th last stanza m akes a characteristic Th m i jum p from the indi
o .
vidual t the universal Th proces s f the heart accords with the process f
e o as an
the world Th ann ihilation of th m oon i s only quantitativ ly different

o . e o o
from the death f a man And every time a man dies the m oon and the
. e e e
are fro m his point of view destr yed

o .
,
sun , ,
o .
There is something f Gaskell in the conceit A process

o / Pulls , .
down the shabby curtains f the skin At least three pictorial images ”
spring to mind closing th e curtains in the front parlor where the corpse
o .
is laid t; closing the eyelids f the dead ; skinning a dead rabb it It i

:
the first I think which prevails and it has a t unpleasant savor f

ou o . s
Victorian domesticity an d th e Victorian sense f the rightness f things

, , , no . o
Taken in conjunctio n wit h the heart gives up its dead it recalls the
o o .
“ ”
widows such those in C f d wh heartbroken and impoverished

,
nevertheless tou ghly live

as ran or o, ,
I d n ot th ink that th e poem ends any more than it began a morbid

on .
death obsessed despairing note N or does it leap to the other e xtreme

o , , on ,
It m erely state s with equability the fact f life s ambitendency

or -
, or . .
, ,
o .
L ig ht Br ea ks Wh ere N o Sun Sh in es
Where does light break without a sun and heart water m ove without “
a ? In the third and second verses of G i And the Spirit of God

-
moved upon the face of the waters ; And God said Let there be light
sea enes s:
” “
and there w light At the tim e ( strictly non tim e ) the earth wa s
, :
” “
without form and void neither h

as .
,
-
,
ad be n created
Under what circumstances in a m a n s life does a n analogous situation
, sun no r sea e .
obtain th at i when is he without form and void but possessed f light

and touched by the spirit? In the womb and in the tomb What th is poe m
: s, , ,
o
i s the continuous effi cacy f the life spirit whether planted at

.
p l i
roc a rn s o -
conceptio in fl esh or disunited from flesh at death In the beginning is the
smile f ligh t; t the end ( which is t a n end but a change ) th e blood
n ,
.
o ~
a no , ,
forks t a sun
In my opinion the poem is st uctured as to provide two p aralle l
o .
l pm t Th first half f each stanza ( s m etim es tw sometime s

, so r
d
three lines ) describes a stage in a m an s development from conception
ev e o en s . . e o o o,
’
to death Th second half describes an analogous stage ( although the

,
changes are not so pronounced ) in th e physical processes which occur

. e
after death Th two developments can be diag amed follows

. e r as :
Life ( Conception )
B Death ( the body begi ns to decay )
.
A Life ( Puberty )
B Death ( th e life stuff ascends into the atmosphere )
.
-
.
A Lif ( M aturity )
B Death ( the life stuff descends as rain )
. e
-
.
A Life ( Old Age )

.
B Death ( the rain ends winter )

.
A Life ( Death )
B Death ( Life the spring plants nou ished from above and below
.
sprout ; the gives to and takes from the plants )

. : , r ,
sun
This outline will surprise some Th mas stu dents becau se the most widely
circulated explication of the poe m ( Marshall St
o -
) limits the poem to

’
a descri ption f the state f existence the theme is the process f living
earns s
“ ”
o o : o .
So, in the first stanza where ,
broken ghosts with glow worms in the ir head s -

,
Th things f light
File th rough th e fl esh where flesh decks the bone s
e o
no ,
he discovers a description of those intimations f consciousnes s fore

knowledge as they present themselves to the child in the womb ( T dl k
o or
”
e oc
p B ernard Krieger ( E p li 1 5 ) thinks that Stearns goes wrong

.
,
. x c a to r,
in this crucial passage and therefore fails t present a unified reading of “
the po m Krieger gives two readings assu ming in the first that where
o
”
no fl esh dec k s the bones refers to the eyes and in the second to the
e .
,
vagina Th poem is either about the acquisition of knowledge and its

, , ,
“
. e
effect , a description f sexual intercourse

”
or o .
27 5
Hornick assumes a cadaver in the first stanza ; a projection of human and
sexual qualities upon the cosmos in the second ; and in the third and
fourth an image of the Cosmic Man These two stanzas present u s with
,
“
an image of the universe in the form of man Dawn break s from his eyes
,
:
the sea is hi blood ( windy b cause fertile ) the rod and gushers f the
.
,
s e , o
ky are his sexual organs and the alternation of day and night is
involved in the processes of his body ( Ho nic k p
s
. r ,
.
R alph Mills ( A XX 1 2 3 ) does not explicate ; but he too appar

c c ent, ,
ently reads the stanzas as being undivided As he sees it the poem ties the .
physiology of man to an exte nal material reality r ,

”
Domination by time by biological necessity and an inherited alliance

with the unswerving course f nature m ak e the inner life f a person
, ,
o o
the re flection f a pr cess o Th body is a mi rocosm ; all it parts

o e c s
obey the same dictates display the same behavior as the elements f
,
o
the external world in which it is located In a very real sense the body
i nature for the two are inseparable O nly consciousness spirit the
.
,
s , .
, ,
mind call it what you will hangs above the operations of matter
meditating on resurgence and decay
— —
,
According to my bifurcated stanza theory the poem reads as follows -

,
:
1 Dynamic consciousness the same life energy that informs the sun
.
,
-
,
has its inception in the darkness of the womb ; the ebb and fl w f blood
has its outer counterpart in the tidal movements f the
o o
At death ( when boneless wo ms like miners tunnel through the cadaver

o sea .
and when the fl esh falls ff the bones ) that life energy break s away from
r , , ,
escapes from files through ) the body and is transferred to earth

o -
,
”
or
feeds the earth aerating worms

-
.
2 At puberty the possibility f a triumph over mortality through

procreation is m ade evident ( the fl ower of the seed of age is death ; f
.
, o
the seed of sex is life ) .
From the sexless tomb the l ife energy ascends to the ; m

consider it a gathering f fig from thistles and a setting of two bas kets
, ight -
sun o ne
of them before the te mple as a gesture of contempt for death ; though the
o s ,
mortal body burns away its wick of energy remains and capillarity con
tin es as before
, ,
n .
3 Behold in his maturity the man of wisdom and strength ; he is a

.
, ,
microcosm f the world but only metaphorically

o , .
Behold now no differentiation of man from nature no fencing ff In

nature s unimpeded cycle the clouds miraculously brought to a rich
—
o .
, ,
27 6
distincti ve featu res th e tower is m asculi ne i n ch aracter a pl ace from
which arm d troops i ssu e t attack ; th e house i s fem inine domestic a
: ,
pl ace in which to give the long suck a place f a dorable windows Th

e o , ,
tower bespeaks death the house l ve B ut ( and th is is a major point f

, o . e
the poem ) whe n the warriors from the tower attack the house it is the
, ,
o . o
tower that fall s and th e warriors in th e h ou se contribute t life not death

,
Th most irritating ambigu ity of the poe m is in the conjunction

, o , .
“ ”
in th e first stanz a Assuming that Everym an is qu stioning the Force wh at

e no r
is the pu rport f his question?

. e ,
D you not fath er m e nor th e erected ar m

F
o
or my tall tower s sake cast in her stone? ’

,
Th se n tence is open to two interpretation s

e
D y Force t father me and d y e mbody my portio n

f your vital essence in nature s physical s tu ff?
o ou , , no , o o u no t
’
Do y not father me and y embody

o
ou et no t
T here is stil l a third possibil ity if we t ake f h as a hyphenated

,
construction ( f h ) in which case the sen s e would run Do y fail

no t at er
B u t the last altern ative is absurd and the

no t- at er , ,
ou
t father and fail to cast

sPerecond
o
only tenable if a special definition f erected arm i s supplie d

haps something like this :
o
“ ”
,
D y t father m e and yet fail to s upp l y the m asc u line vigor

the erectile tissu e neces s ary for my m at ration?
o ou no , ,
Th rest of the poem however does not develop such a th e s is I prefer

consider erected arm as a synecdoche for the physical b dy as a
e , , .
“ ”
whole These pe plexities cleared away the poem reads like this
t
o o
. r ,
1
D o you not urge p h allus to vagina ; do you not supply life to the
vigorous sp m towards m ak ing me mortal fl esh f my mother s fl esh?
er o
’
Do you t compel surrender to the invading phallu s ; do you not

,
supply life t the egg that meets the foreign spe m ; and when sp rm
no
o r , e
and egg have met to produce the new entity Me do y t partici

pate with me in the urge to grow towards procreativeness?
, , o u no
D y o t working within m e i n your perso n a (

ou no , the upper pl an on
f consciousness ) as affectionate sister and as Christian Sister

define lust leading to death as love leading to life by sublim ation
o , re
e a sing my burden f gu ilt?

,
D y t as with m e y in crease and intellectual ize your vigor

focu s attention upon the full scene f summer life ignoring
o ou no , ou ,
conceali ng the wintry death to come?

o , or
27 8
2
Am I t microcosm t your macrocosm lu sty precocious m othered
libidinous p rceptive? Do I t take re sponsibility f my sin and
no o , , , ,
fi d my w sal vati on? A m I not with bird and shell and with ll
, e no or
life the shore subject t the gove nance that rules the sea?
n
on
o n
o
o ne
r
a
3
Y ou are all th e se said the life love death sex comple x And all the
forms f life ( numberless as the sands f the shore devoted to me
- - -
.
,
indulgent and roughly cutting ) said th ey we e mine I am my Babel

o o , ,
tower s story ended ( its death bell tolled ) cut down by death ( itself
r .
,
t s ubject t d eath ) ; b u t the wrecker wh raised and razed my tower

-
,
fades t ineffectu al gh ost because from th e m idst of the sea stuff

no o o
w eckage from the land dwelling embodied sea spirit rise like
-
o ,
ghastly spectres the new begette s ( This is a poem f h m g i

- -
r , , ,
; th e e are well d fi d dichotomie s I am you and you are

r . o o o en
ti
I ; spirit is flesh and flesh i spirit ; s ex i s de a th and sex is life There
za on r no -
e ne .
,
appear t b e few bounding lines )

, s , .
o .
4
Do yo u primal ooze beget m e compel me to the earth
th at will destroy me ( I f those nu mberl ess a s th e s nds coming
no t, , o u— or —
to be numbered among them ) ? Yes say s sea bottom obliquely y

, o ne o a ,
the father f your sisters you are the m other and all the l ittle
,
-
: ou
dears who forgetful f their origins decorously play gentleman

are o , ,
and lady Can I Everym an inquires despite those whiteners f

, o sea- ,
sepulchres the winds f change despite the busy preachy plasterers

.
, , o
and whitewashers despite propriety s turnin g all things contrariwise

,
o , or ,
’
( widder shins ) can I still be th e house f love ? Father mother sister

,
brother and all the rest chorus the answer Both l ov and death are
-
o , , ,
heedless of and beyond the control of human myth that i eater

, : e
: s n-
that beggar wh for a fee and a drink at a funeral symbolically de

,
the sins f the deceased affects neither love nor death

o, ,
v ours o , .
A weird poem ( if the poem is t my explication is ) But it i weird

in its concreteness Put abstractly the life force compels all life to death
o r, no , . s
and t f death educes life ; living things have i n common only this
— -
.
,
compulsion f the life force ; there are categorical imperatives even f

ou o
the higher forms f life it i down t Darwi ian earth enough

o -
no or
“
Nothing I think p ti ly distinguishes the poem It lac ks the

o —
s o n .
'
vividness the in vitability f statement f Th Force the gu sto f

, , ar cu ar .
“ ”
How Shall My Anim al the initial shock effect and succeeding capability
, e o o e o
,
”
It h a s nothing in p ti
-
,
f arousing compassion f B efore I Knocked

“
ular t recommend it intricacy f rhyme rhythm memorable

o o . ar c
o : no o or ,
no
279
figumuch
res speech no titillating compressions It
of
fathered as contrived
not
, might in er . w as , o ne f ,
so
f and if it is so
.
It may however be read as an ingenious de

read p rhaps w ll rise in the reader estimation Points similarity suggest
, , to ur o rc e,
i of
’
that homas is writing the second in Donne s se quence sonnets

e s .
of
’
T re -
known as L C the one entitled Annunciation

a o ro na,
“ ”
:
Salvation to all that will is nigh ;

That All which lw y is All every where
,
a a e s, ,
Which cannot sinne and yet all sinnes must beare , ,
Wh ich cannot die yet cannot chuse but die

Loe faithfull Virgin y ld him lf to lye
, ,
ee s se e
In prison in thy wombe ; and though h e there

, ,
Can take no sinne nor thou give yet h will weare e

’
T aken from thence fl esh which deaths force m ay trie

, ,
.
, ,
Ere by the spheares time was created thou ,
Wast in his minde wh is thy Sonne and Brother ; ,

o ,
Whom thou i t i d ; yea thou art now c o nce v s

’
c o nc e v
’
Th y Ma k ers m aker and thy Fathers mother ;

,
h t light in dar k e ; and h

,
t in little roome
’
Th ou as s uts ,
Immensity l y t d in thy deare wombe c o s er .
aking the poem as an address b y Christ to his sire and

T d am gives it
another dimension and perhaps enhances its value .
Wh e e On ce r The Wa ters Of Y ou r Fa ce
Poe s imp f the perverse seems to have found a l cal habitation in
’
o o
T homas s brain In des ibing a dry river bed he humanizes it en ugh to

’
make it a p em about a girl Does he intend a river bed lik e a girl a

. cr -
o
gi l like a riv r bed? It reads perfectly well either w y Elder Olson

o .
-
,
or
r e -
a .
apparently reads it as the former It seems t me a more inte esting poem . o r
and the successful i ti of a more diffi cult artistic problem if theso u on
river bed is s en simultaneously as a feminine unterpart of a boy f

summer Th point is that out of simple langu age and an apparently simple
-
e co o
,
. e
subject Thomas has achieved an unexpected complexity in this particular

,
poem a controlled complexity in which heter geneities are effectively yoked

,
o .
It is illuminating to contrast T homas s poem with Frost s sonnet Th ’ ’ “

e
Silken T ent
,
”
.
280
aanbodugirl
t a river bed but about the co smic cycle which repe ats it el
h is can missed
T
-
,
be
s f in r iv re
In the st stanza e xa mple

. .
fir , fo r :
Where once the waters your face of
Spun my screws you r dry gh ost bl ows

to , ,
dead tu ns up its eye

Th e
Where nce the mermen through your ice
r ;
ushed their hair the dry wind steers

o
P up ,
hrough salt and root and roe

T .
Th force of t h e two ope n ing lines is such th at attentio n is diverted fro m

the oddity f finding Th dead turns up its eye instead f the e xp cted
e
“ ”
turn up their eyes And mermen in the parallel structured Wh ere

o e o e
” “ ” “
once the me me n seems merely a superficial play f fan cy B u t the

-
.
reference to a Polyp hemu s lik e corpse has a significance and the all usion
r o .
to mermen is not a p fi i lity Th two taken together lead through th

-
,
middle stanz as ( though g een unraveller means li terally

su er c a . e e
”
ll f
it recalls the supernatural power f the Green Knigh t ;
r unrav e er o
the d lph i d sea recalls Venu s as well as the strange events f Yeats s
y o urg reenness, o
“ ” ’
i m ) t the tomb that did not stay latched upon the dea d m an
o ne o
By
to covenants between ma n and God to th e Eden story i short to
zan t u o ,
articles of faith that c nfi rm the continu ation of life in the despite f all
,
—
n ,
natural accidents T h victory over death is neatly epitomized in the

o o
aform
llusion to the coral since it is the skeletons of the coral colonies th at
. e
the reefs their death is t a loss but a constru ction Wh at Th omas

:
is getting at is th e miraculou sness f natural pro ess f birth f growth

,
no .
f metamo phosis a n d rebirth through apparent death Th evidence f

o c —
o , o ,
Christ s natu re defying miracles has been used over the centu ies to
o r . e o
’
strengthen Christian faith ; Th m sea faith is validated by the wonder

-
r
’ “ ”
f natu re working natu rally

o as s -
o .
Foster The L ig ht
immediate problem f this poe m which is either a prayer an
Th e
exhortation i t dete mine wh m the poet is addressing In the th ird
o , or
stanz it is a High lord esquire

, s o r o .
“ ”
a :
OHigh
f mortal voices t the ninnies choir
lord esquire speak up the singing clou d
o
’
And pluck a mandrake music from the m w t

,
arro ro o .
In the fourth the seas ,
282
Rol unma ly over this tu ning tu ft n r
O ring f se as so r w as I shift
,
o nor r o
From all my mortal lovers with a starboard smile ;

,
the fifth it is a colorer a haper a gl ory

, , s ,
Wh ga ve th ese seas th eir colou r in a sh ape

o
Shaped my l yf ll w and the heaven s ark

,
’
c a e o
In tim e at fl d filled with h is coloured d oubles ;

,
oo
0 wh is glory in the shapeless m ap s

o
Now make the world of me as I have m ade

,
A m erry m h p f your walking circle ans a e o .
O ne possibi ity that the p m constitutes a le address to

l is
an anthropomorphized life force A satisfactory interpretation can be
oe sing — Go d ,
devised i n these terms the only d culty arising from the spec fic addre s s
-
.
iffi i
i n the fourth stanza to the ring seas problem h owever is a
,
“ ”
of Th e
mis ithenor world theislandlife which
o ne ; force can easily be con ceived a with in which
in tu rn contains a man i sland Ph ineas Fletcher
-
.
as sea,
, ,
did as much in
- -
.
,
The P urp le Island

O r the po m can be read as three addresses the poet to h imse f i n the
first three sta zas to the
e
in the four h and in conclusion the

.
: l ,
labsife force
-
.his T m akes a satisfactory poem and since appe als
n
too
;
ract forces interest me less than self exhortation a more attractive

sea, t ;
,
,
,
, to
to
Fundamentally one i nterpretation very nearly equates with th e o her

t -
, o ne .
because the po m seems to be written th e basis th e th centu ry s

, t
of
’
17
microcosm m acrocosm theory according to wh ich man is both an epitom e
e on -
th e earth and a copy God

-
,
of of
*
:
For wh at had all th s All which Man i n i

Did un te th e earth aire water
, o ne
i fire ,
Life sense a nd spirit nay the throne
no t ; , , ,
po wrefufl
OAndf thhise divinest IEssence
,
m
,
did retire
age into c y inspire
,
,
,
o wne la
Sothat this Creature well might called be
OOff thethe great world the small epitome
dead world the live and quick
, ,
, , anato mic .
In either case the dominant figure of the poe m is the circle perfection of
and its burden an exhortation t at th at circle not be broken I sha l read

,
h
the poem in the second
l
two ways indica ed above
.
of th e t .
*
I s h all b o rro w freel y from Marj ori e N ic ol son
’
s Th e B rea ki ng o f th e C irc le in th e fo ll o wing
p aragrap h s .
283
person being e xhorted is t foster both th e bright light f day and
Th e
th e pale reflected light of the moon ( an b lik e a m an s head that like
o o
’
a man s senses says D ne undergoes E lyp sodaine obfuscations

, or ,
’ “
and d k i g perhaps i n recognition of what T h mas Browne noted

,
on , c se s, ,
that Light that m akes all things seen makes som e things invisible Th
ar n n s o ,
“
greatest mystery f religion is expressed by adumbration An expe iential

, . e
”
understanding of the way in which inner and ou ter world inte penetrate
o . r
is advised No part f experience however dark and shadowy i to be

ignored and experience is t t b dispassionately rationalized and
. o , , s
abstracted into cold and useful formulae instead f welcomed in its lively
, no o e
leafiness .
Rather a man is to become wise in the ways of vegetable growth and

careful to observe that there is a time to plant and a tim e to pluck up
,
th at which is planted O ne W h organic nature he will welcome spring and

new life ( whether natural miraculou s ) ; he will not endeavor to retard
. 1t ,
or
a season nor alienate himself from any f the four ; in winter he will
, o
prepare for summer and in autumn for winter ; he will rejoice in his youth
,
and in the morni ng w h i seed remembering th e days of darkness for

,
they shall be m any

so s , ,
Th specific allusions of the third stanza escape m e b u t from desperate

.
e ,
conjectures based on echoes I can o ffer a general reading that accords

with the sense of the preceding stanzas And pluc k a mandrak e m usic “
fro m the m w t recalls Donne which recalls Eliot s dictum that

.
Donne was a whole man ( an unbro ken circle f a poet ) as neither Milton
arro ro o ,
nor Dryden was which recalls Yeats s condemnati n of intellig nt m en

o
’
as having brains that suck up the blood from their hearts all f which
,
o e
,
o ,
mi ed we ll leads to this Th exhorted person is to be all fathering

mak ing no distinctions between lower and higher loins heart head ;
—
x ,
: e ,
among hell ( which is a ircle within the earth ) earth and heaven He
—
, ,
or
is encompassing all experience to protect the heart from the brain s

c , ,
.
imp rialistic ing essions And from this isthmus f a middle state ( the
, ,
mortal circle of the ea th ) he is to se ve as intermedia y between earth

o
‘
e r .
r , r r
and heaven effecting the reconciliation in realistic terms of life and death
being Wh o knoweth th spirit of man that goeth upward and the
o ne
“
,
spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth This he is peculiarly
e ,
,
equipped to do for as Th omas Browne said

.
, ,
:
For first we are a rude mass and in the rank f creatures which only ,
o
are and have a dull kind of being not yet privileged with life
, , ,
or
preferred to sense reason ; next we live the life f Plants the life f
Animals the lif of Men and at last the life f Spirits running in
or o , o
e o , on
mysterious nature those five kinds f existences which compre

, ,
hend the creatures t onely of the World but f the Universe

o ne
, no
o
, o
,
2 84
Man is all ymm t i
li mbe t another
s e r c,
Full f proportions
And all t all the world besides
o , o ne o ,
EF chhead
pa t m ay call the f thest brother
with foot hath private amitie
a r
o
ur ,
:
And both with m oons and tide s

or ,
T be u niversalized in death would be to enter the natu ral cycle

Th last stanz a does not ne d t be read as state m ent foll owed by direct
o .
address Th address can be assumed t begin with th e fi t line and t

e e o
be repeated at the fourth after a deep breath at the sem i colon for the
. e o rs o
final forward s u rge S ince Thom as speaks f hi coloured doubles rather

-
,
than of you he probably did not intend su ch a re ading But it has its
. o s
“ ”
virtue
.
,
Less immediately comprehensible less quickly emotion stirring th an

.
Th Force that T h rough the G this poem has not h a d the lat
-
,
'
F
ter s success with th e anthologists It seems to me in i variety to have a
e reen use ,
’
largesse that the other lacks within at least equivalent control T homas
. ts
“ ”
ringing his changes his circle figure ( sun m oon bone egg fig planet
.
, ,
heart ring f seas world m an God made h is poe m as God

on , , , , , ,
l ) h
according to Donne made the world In such a concinnity of pa ts
, o , , , , et a . as ,
that it w an instrument p rfectly in tune

, , r as
”
as , e .
The S d ee -
A t -Z
e ro
Ho w seriously to regard a poem consciously contrived so clever in so ,
its incremental repetition bouncy in its rhythm ( with overtones of Th , so

“
e
Raven and of Hiawatha ) is a question Th omas clearly had the fun

” “ ”
in com posing it that y Swinburne had in composing a roundel and

.
it may be that he intended no more than that the heart f the hearer migh t
, sa , ,
smile since to pleasure his ear the poem w wrought Still a green inch
o
, as .
,
as
may bear the hero seed d i may have its significant thought ’
T h poe m has b en subject to interp tation

-
,
v ers e so c e te .
e e re .
Unfortunately the two interpretations which I have seen are widely

,
divergent and as so often is the case they are because there i disag ee
ment over the identity of the poem s title character For Stanford th e
, , , s r
’
-
.
seed zero represents man with his vital for s spent ; man in o ther
-
at -
“
ce
words in a condition of death ( Stanford p T herefore man s

,
“ ’
goal is not ultimately the womb of woman bu t the womb f the universe
, .
, .
Elder Olson on the other hand sees the military imagery of the first tw
, , o .
stanzas as a metaphor for conception ( the seed storming the

, , o
“
286
(P Th seed t zero is not a term inal nullity but a soldier ready at
the zero h ou r t attack
-
. e a -
Both are right sinc the poe m d o s t stand still but m oves forward
o .
stating th conditions f birth pleading for the possibility f growth a nd

, e e no ,
indicating th e status f man in death Z ro at first the point of departure

e o , o ,
for an ascent later becomes the lowest point th e point of no departure

o . e ,
Th po m i s organized in four p irs f s tanz as the second s tanza f eac h

.
, ,
pair by shifting adjectives nouns and verbs ch anging adding to the

e e a o , o
meaning of th e fi st Thus i the first pair womb becomes

, , , , or
“ ”
dd
and where in the first s tanz a the g d i hero
r .
,
n ,
tro en
m w g d womb
“
an
O ver the m w gi g line i n the second he l p O ver the

o n-
-
a e , ,
“ ”
mbl
In the first two pairs f st nzas the variants d t
s tu es an a n , ,
ea s
w b i g line
ar ear n . o a , o no
greatly h the meaning but in the latter two they are f significance
I take S d
enc anc e , o .
to represent potential life in general animal and

ee -
a t- zero ,
vegetable and the dd w mb any place where fertilization may cur

.
, tro en o oc
the womb specifically the earth and various bodies f water ( Th

epithet dd may be a recollection of Hop kins Generations have trod
—
, , o . e
’ “
tro en
in Th World is Charged ) Th emphasis in the first pair of stanzas is

“
e
”
e
upon the human seed ; in the second pair upon vegetable ; the third brings ,
the tw together green inch and village green ; and the fourth
o —
“ ” “ ”
,
putti g the man i seed in the seed zero concludes with all attention
n -
n— —a - t
focused upon the human
,
begin Begin ing life

.
T h opening stanzas describe how life will

shall not li ke an Achilles storming a city assail either awkwardly and
e no t . n
by chance ( stumbling or with pu pose and agility the

,
“
r
man assaulted man assaulting man bearing man killing womb

It shall rather like the gentle rain from heaven be mysteriously sifted
- - - -
.
, , ,
from the starry sk ies to nou ish miraculously the heavy sounding quaking
, , ,
r -
,
earth and to impregnate the sea whose surface it breaks Quietly i i t

, .
, rres s
ib ly it will p netrate the surfaces of earth and

, e and seize the stronghold sea
of virginity f its own or .
T hat is the origin of life is as natural ( and as mysterious ) as sunlight

,
and rain Anthropocentric deities shall not be said to thump the clouds
. .
T h initiating process described T homas turns to the ensuing dangers

e
to g owth Microcosm ( humble village green inch ) and macrocosm

,
r .
,
( humble planet hi gh sphere ) have united produce life Is a non

, to .
indulgent hemisphere continent village green to be p rmitted a denial , or e
f this life ? Th en let the seed escape from earth s M Grundys and seek
,
’
o rs
the protection f boisterous broad minded life ffi m

.
o ,
- -
a r ers .
T here are suggestions here that the hero seed emanating from a high
sphere born in a humble village denied by a continent and inv lved with
,
sailors represents the truth th e way and the life as T homas sees it that
, , ,
o
—
, , ,
2 87
i s,such a T ruth about life as would be taught by Blake s Jesus L aw ’
or
renee s Man Who Died a Dionysus Christ

’
: -
Whether Thomas intended such a meaning is conjectural But the final

.
p i r of sta z as do s not disallow such a meaning F here we a rive at

.
statement f what occurs to man at the tim e f his death And again as
a n e . or r a
in the first stanz as w discover what the seed will not d

o o .
,
e o
Man i seed in seed t zero seems to me a phrase capable f

.
,
“ ”
-
n- ,
-
a -
o
describing man at any time of his life at the beginning when he is

no m ore than a potenti al ; at his high noon when he is full of seed and
zeroing in upon a location f that seed ; at the end when he has gone or
-
:
,
,
to seed At no time of his life or after will he sto m heaven any

more than in the beginning he stormed earth This is a denial f the
. r ,
. o
conventional Christian concept f resurrection ( and if Christ has actually o ,
b en menti ned of Th R esurrection ) T the contrary he will go violently

e o , e . o ,
i to the earth whence he will not ascend in human form

n re-
Th at is though both heaven s height and earth s depth have contributed

.
,
’ ’
to making man human each becomes for this i betwe n dweller a

,
, , n- e
foreign place Home for the human being is the earth s surface After
,
’
he has died lost h i hu m an ness he is done as a m an wi th all three

. .
s -
, , .
Th laws f human life ( the canons f his kingd m ) do not prevail

e o o o
in the g ave r .
Since in this poem every Nay opposes a negative defeatist point or
of view it states q lifi dly though gaily T homas s Everlasting Yea ’
In its back ground are Hamlet s meditations self slaughter ; Donne s

, u n ua e .
’ ’
And new philosophy calls all in doubt and Th

on -
i lost and the

“ ” “
e su n s ,
earth and Yeats s Things fall apart ; the centre cannot hold ; ’ ”
none of which are mottoes for sundials Donne has at some length
discoursed how dry cinder th is world is and accordingly man upon
.
it But Th om as refuses to cry woe and has his y about those wh o

on a ,
man h e th inks can quench his thirst can rediscover

. sa
d oHyd p iq
. ro t ue , ,
the ceremony f in ocence if he but lower his sights from systematized

,
views f life an d redeem h i time by transmuting m d h t

o n ,
W
is the operative word f th e poem
o s e an t ee o us . e
o .
Ve non Watkins tried to persuade Thomas to leave this po m ( and

r e
How Soon the Servant Sun ) out of Tw y F i P m presenti g ”

ent ve oe s as n
28 8
4 Suppose th at the touch of cold philosophy unweaves a rai nbow
th at scientists as Do ne said rein the stars and freely confes s
.
” “
that this world s spent and have impaled

,
n ,
T h free born
’ ”
hetheave solved mystery f that which traveling th rough the postulated

e sun,
-
,
th
arrives at and leaps fl owers and vitalizes the m while fl ying
e o ,
o ff A
.
r,
w h ave said Nay t other attitu des toward death ( and by
s e
inference life ) we must y Nay to that organized system of analysis

on
which murders to dissect invents an instrument to measure spring

, , sa
with but constructs no theory of death at all

—
—
.
5 Finally w
. will contemptuously deny such presumed mysteries
, e
the Dies Irae transmigration or metamo phosis ( any theories

as to the condition f life after death ) In our loving union I am a s
as , ,
r or
mysterious as the life susta ining air the doubly p l d blood the
o .
,
seed blessed phallus and the Shelleyan cloud

-
, co r usc e
-
,
-
.
,
How So on The Servant Sun

Geoffrey Grigson not the least vehement of Thomas s detractors ’
says and then quotes a stanza of this poem his poetry near
,
aseldom ,
as
s may be is the poetry f a child volcanic and unreasoning who has

read and little cared f the poets f his own langu age and
o , , ,
allowed them little power over h is own manipulation

, o r, o ,
rather auto — or
mati sm ( C ase b o o k
Mr Grigson is of course as wrong as may be on every count No
.
,
. .
, ,
child could put this poem together ; it did t erupt it was carpentered
like a piece f furniture ; its Obscu rities did not occur but were reasoned
no ,
i to it ; and they were reasoned into it because poets wh om Thomas

o ,
read and cared f ( B lake Yeats Empson for ex ample ) followed

n
su ch a course
or , , ,
Yet a session with the poem evokes more than a li ttle sympathy with
.
Grigson s irritation and can drive one to the simplicities f Alfred

’
o
Noyes For this is certainly one of the most difficult f Thomas s poems
. o
’
to interp t It may be this instead of Now f which Thomas said that

far he knew it h ad no meaning at all R ecognizing this possibility
re . o
“
so as .
says with Eliot Th ere may be much more in a poem than the author
,
o ne ,
was aware of and plunges temerariously on
Th poe m divi des into three parts in the fir st two stanzas the I is
, .
“ ”
concerned with the length f tim e to extend befor he is bo n ; in th third

e : ,
he i born ( and perh aps h dies ) ; in th e fourth and fifth h e wonders

o e r e ,
s — —
e ,
2 90
about his rebirth Th question f his birth i s answered that f h is
. e o , o
rebir h i apparently t But in reality it is th reply having been

tucked away in the parentheses runni ng concurrently with the questioning
t s no .
, e
That is the poe m has this second vertical division the non parenthetical
.
sentences spoken by the poem s 1 parallel the parenthetical sentences

, ,
: -
’ “ ”
spoken by an omniscient observer

T h non pa enthetical sections of the first two stanzas run someth ing
.
li ke this
e -
r
T ime ( of all dd things a titled male nurse who has overseen the
o ,
growth f great things vegetable and mineral ) will tell the head
and heart of me as I his servant to b extravagantly feed myself
o
-
, ,
-
e, ,
how soon the sun ( also his servant ) can fix the date for putting a
bone ( developing the foetus s skeletal s tructure ) in Mother Hubbard s
’ ’
cupboard ( womb ) how soon the sun ( as the draper ) can supply
,
the stuff to cover my nakedness so that I recently an egg can

assume human form and d epart on my Columbus adventure
, so ,
-
.
I d t know that my masters are heart and head ; they are in

When Like a Running Grave and their being so here mak es s ome
o no
”
,
sense There is a s trange insistence upon social hierarchy in this poem

,
. .
Sir morrow has his title ; the sun is his servant ; I s rve the sun ; I “ ” “ ”
also have you and you ( heart and head as I have read it ) as masters
e
“ ”
, ,
and the I is referred to as man morrow as opposed to Sir mo row

“ ” “ ”
r .
”
T hus in these first two stanzas the 1 appears to b l w man the “ ”

, , e o on
totem pole B in the last tw stanzas the I has an inward sir

. ut o ,
“ ” “ ”
is simultaneously mister and master This is perhaps the spirit

,
wh o .
whi h is master to the I and mister to Lord Morrow

,
“ ”
Elder Olson s interpr tation of these tw stanzas ( he does not g

c , .
to the others ) is quite different d deserves to be noticed

e o o
on an :
Sir morrow ( the child of tomorrow as yet unborn ) will be ,
waited upon by the servant sun which brings him to light and
“ ”
unfastens the cupboard of nature to furnish the ak ed egg of the n
seed with fl esh so that it may stand erect in the human form ; the
,
gristle will have a gown of bone ; moisture as yet in the fog will
“ ”
turn the bones of death into living bone clothed with fl esh ( P . .
I do not have sufficient assurance in my own reading to quarrel with

Mr Olson Suffice it to quote Eliot again A poem may appear to “
mean very different things t different readers and all of these meanings
. .
—
mtoaythebethird
different from what the author thought he meant and push
stanza .
o ,
”
—
on
29 1
Th e I speak s I awakening my soul and stretching every nerve
“ ”
t pay m y d evoirs t th e
:
seek a means ( a cat s claw ) to dig t ’
f m y barrow ; I b u il d m y skeletal fra m ework ( the long tailed

o o sun, ou
“
smtone ) and adorn it with flesh and organs regardless f h w m y

-
o
”
other bearer ( the soil ) complains ( like a cat clawed mouse )

,
o o
“ ”
f m y injuring her and reg ardless f th e fact that in dislodging the

- -
stone ( bu ildi g my separate identity ) I am discovering death

o ,
o
Death it appears i what is the mind of the spirit within the

n .
body Death f the body that is which means release rebirth for
, , s on
. o , , ,
the spirit
T h spirit in the body just k l t li d m aster f this b dy but
.
at th e same time enslaved by bei g combined with it wants to know

e s e e a ze —
o o
whe n my soon t b horiz ontally placed dead level body will raise
n —
spirit lamp climb a cloud shift ( the bubble moving in the

-
o- e- -
,
-
tsi -
, ,
spirit level ) from dead horizontal to live vertical grow spirit legs
the shrouded body perh aps by ascending as vital force through
- -
,
the roots of trees Blind in the womb it asks the question ; and hell
on , , ,
deaf ti me either answers with a G abriel blast or merely echoe s

.
,
the spirit s question ( Blasts back th e trump t

as ,
-
’
If it merely
“
echoes we have got nowhere in the poem If it trumpets an answer

e
.
, ,
w arrive at a positive conclusion T his latter I think was intended

and is expressed i n th e parenthetical state ment s The se c an be
e .
put together as follows

.
Sir morrow m ark

F g h as a bone o
He ll trumpet into meat ’

.
Th wound records ! that ]

e
Fog by his spring

Soaks up the sewing tides .
Sir morrow stamps

T w heels f water th e fl oor f se d
o o on o e .
This poem with i n a poe m is a n ab b reviated version f S helley s Th ’
Cwater
lou d Consider the futur T oday s fog is tomo row s rain Th lowered
”
level f the bay ( the wound ) atte s ts th at yesterday s water

:
“
e .
’
”
r
’
o
’
e
e
i s today s fog Yesterday s se a water ( today s fog ) will tomorrow irrigate

-
o sea-
’ ’ ’
.
-
th fl oor f se d
“
What the spirit learns th en is th at though incarnation is behovely all

e o e .
shall be well .
, , , ,
2 92
Here In Th is Spring
A c rtain cleverness di stingu ishes thi s otherwise incons eque tial poem
Th the m e i s th e well worn the effect that summer autumn and
e n .
winter are i mplicit in spring that living is a dying Th cleve ness i s

e t -
o ne o , ,
recognizable in the way in which Tho m as brings h i s opp ites toge ther
,
. e r
In the first line the affi mati on f sprin g and s tars is engulfed
os .
“ ” “ ”
by the powerful last word void a word t only operative he but

, r o
“ ”
preparing for the las t words f the poem the world wears away
, ,
no re
”
o .
Th next tw lines are equally Janus faced

e o -
:
Here in this ornamental winter

Down pelts the naked weather .
Th e pu ni ng use of down and pelts permits rapid description f

all the seasons rain and wind make of this early blossom ing spring
n o
-
:
( or vivid autumn ) a winter ; white snow covers with downy goose

s kin the bare earth and finally in summer the noon f life the spring
, , ,
o ,
bird dies .
T h passive voice f symbols are selected and the failure to specify

the selector give the second stanz the objective t uth of a scie ntific
e o
generalization All symbols relate to th e passage f th seas ns O r

a r
perhaps it is philosophy rather than science wh ich is invoked a philosophy

: o e o .
ld in Pyth agoras s time and t k ing account f the m a gic that u nderl ies
,
’
the natural Th slow rounding f four seasons coasts reminds

o , a o
’ ”
f the periplu s
. e o o ne
the coasting voyage of Hanno and the marvels th t dis

coverer saw Th last line And four birds notes is an obvious imitation
o —
a
“ ’ ”
M i an d a
. e ,
f Keats s And no birds sing in L B ll D m S

’ ”
minder f the kisses four which the knight gave the supernatural lady
o a e e a e ans erc te
“ ”
Briefl y magic religion philosophy and science are suggested a s

o .
, , , ,
agreeing the lesson needful to be taught

It is a lesson that can be learned i n any season If th e tree by its foliage
on .
sp aks of summer the worm predicts its end ; if th e cuckoo s wandering

.
voice says Make it new the slug im ages the attrition soon to come And
e ,
, .
the observer cannot state the alternative preferred give reasons for hi , s
choice He must learn the double lesson

Worm time or slug tim e showing as clock tim e and calendar time
. .
( which are abstractions ) do not organic decay exe mplifying t h e gnawing

- - - -
, ,
at tissue of time s tooth is true time Question if within th e natural

, ,
’
experience the easons passage ca ies all living things to their e nd

, . : ,
’
, s rr ,
can o nei fer that there is that beyond the natural which will make an
n
end of seasons and f time?

Th poem is a good ex m ple f the ki nd that m oved Julian Sym ons
o
e a o
2 94
to say What i s said i n Mr Th om as s po try is th at th e seasons ch ange ; ’
that we decrease in vigour as we grow older ; that life has no obviou s

,
. e
mpoems
eaning ; that love dies and to add the judgment th at His
mean no more than that Th ey m ean too little ”
T homas had o th er s u bjects of disco u r s e ;

. .
Th m t is not tru
it is b side th e point the question is whether what is said in the poetry
e ce en e—
is well said ; it is rather silly these are subjects th at lend themselves and
—
e
have done f some millen ia to meanin gfu l exercise f the intellect

- —
,
If Th omas h t explored the relativity f time in depth in this particular

so or n ,
o .
poem h e h as elsewhere
as no o
O n the other hand it is also true that Th om as repeats himself and th at

,
.
this fondnes s for the sound f his own words does give an impression
,
o f narrowness of theme and paucity of i nvention However if there is .

,
not in the body of his work G d s plenty there is still enough to belie ’
such a com ment as Symons

o ,
’
.
Hold Hard Th ese A n c i ent Minutes

Th e sense may not be Lear s but the words apply R ipeness is all is ’
the wisdom f this poem spring is a steeplechase a fox hunt ; summ er

.
,
o : , ,
the goal the brush to be w

Th tim e is late April ( the cuckoo s month ) ; the p l ace Glamorgan ;
, on .
the sp ak er unspecified it may be Thomas a farmer a u niversal vital

e
G d th e husbandman ; the adjuration survive T h

e —
, ,
spirit setting
] a n d suc kle here ) and the tone positive ( the doo m
, or o ,
. e
is pastoral ( no c an
”
in the bulb is under stressed ) Yet if the traditional pastoral connotes

”
an t one ment of figu res with landscape an idyllic easiness where love
-
.
,
dies li k e a fl ower and no one loses a singing match this is by n o m eans

- -
a ,
a pastoral poem It is active noisy with some f the p p l i

,
. f , o ro u s v ene ss o
John Gilpin s Ride and a strong sense f the hang for dear life
,
“ ’ ”
anxiety f the very small ider on a very l arge h orse

o -
o n- - -
pleasure that one takes in the poem as an unanalyzed whole

o r .
Th
mdouble
ay perhaps change to irritation when close examination f the run ing
e
metaphor is attempted Th elements of the metaphors ( the steeple

-
. e
o n
chase the fox hunt ) d not click with well machined ease into place
In the first stanza for example T ime is likened to a horsy county s quire
,
-
o -
.
, ,
and he is said to drive forth my men my children from the hanging

,
“
south One s first thought is f Tim e the hunter beating out the game But
, ,
” ’
the rest f th e poem does not support this reading the children are
. o , , .
t the hu n ted but the hunters growing things see king fruition An
o :
alte native is to ta ke T ime the master of the hunt an organizer of

no —
.
r as ,
2 95
the steeplech ase wh rous ts the child ren t a nd compels them t
the chase R ousts th em t f wh at? Th hangi ng south B u t th e
,
o ou o
“ ”
growi n g thi ngs f Glamorgan are t driven from the south h angin g
. ou o e .
otherwise ; they are in Glam organ a n d there they stay Perhap s

o no —
from the hanging sou th modifies T ime Time b i ging the southe n
or , .
“ ”
warm th which has been through April h anging fire s timulate s the
: , rn r
growing things t come ou t f th eir wintry sedenta iness And they

, , ,
o o r .
are advised to stick close t their expert rider t t lag behind t

to deviate fro m th e course Another possibility is to visu alize the sp in g
o , no o , no
growth having started th e south coast f Wales ( hangi g over the sea? )
. r
and gradually moving north over the ridings Thu s a geographical p

on o n
i coincides with a temporal progression t h e Lank fourth fo l ly

.
“
ro
”
( a steeplechase goal O lson says ) equali n g April And i the g een

gress o n —
,
“
blooms ride upward w have the double s ense f the risi g life in th e
. n r
individual plant and the tide of gre n rising up Glamorgan s hi ll

, e o n
’
second stanza s address to the country side ( which may be

e .
’
Th
summed up as saying You are well t f winter ; forget it and look
-
e
“
forward ) introduces contrasts th e u tilitari n with the religious ( water

ou o
”
tower and steeple ) ; the industrial with the fabulous ( crane and woods
: a
in Lincoln green ) These are sum med up i the image of the leafless
, ,
birdless trees contrasting with the greenwood to which th e bird are

. n ,
retu ning fro m the south But an either statement is not being m ade
s
seedy look ing tree has seed to disseminate ; in th e lush and li vely
r .
-
or .
Th
greenwo d the deer fall dead There is no tim when life does not
-
e
aspire no time when death does not strike This is a fact t a m att r
o ,
. e
for morbid meditation nor for backward looking Th simple im pe ative

, .
, no e
of the stanza as of the po m rem ains unqualified Hold hard

-
. e r
, eto , :
“
the summer s game ’

.
In the third stanza it would seem to be no longer Time wh drives o
the children to the chase but England .
And w the ho ns f England in th sound f shape

no r o e o
Summon your snowy horsemen

, ,
Si ce T ime and England have nothing in common

n might infer that , o ne
Thomas has lost his grip his thematic conceit But perhaps t
Supposing T ime to be the master f hunts in England as well as in
on . no .
Wales w can assume a conjunction of hunting parties as the chase

prog esses as to be literal the fruit t ees in Devon put forth blossom s
, e
( snowy horse men ) and the earth h eaves i the changi g weather
r —
, , r
“ ”
This hird stan a is extraordinary in th is that h silent inte nal

n n .
process f vegetable g owth is depicted i term s f external sound and

z : t e r
fury Since the horns are forces f growth they do emit a hunting
o r n o
. o , no t
2 96
A s a companion pie e t the pi ano favorite Rustle f Sprin g th e
poe m is s atisfactory There is need t i fer an applicati on t hum an
-
c o o ,
endeavor B ut f those wh find Nature devoid f the human ba ren

. no o n o
here is a passage fro m S h aw s T T b G d which as a ki n d f

. or o o r ,
’
parallel to Thom as s poem is worth ruminating

oo rue to e oo , o
’
, :
I am by nature an d destiny a preacher I am the new Ecclesi astes

B u t I have no Bible no creed ; the war has shot both t f my hands
. .
has been a fiery forcing house in which w h ave g own

,
ou o .
Th w e ar e r
with a rush like fl owers in a late sp ing foll wing a ter ible winter r o r .
And with what result? T his that we have outgrown our religion
outgrown our politic l system outgrown
: ,
strength f mind and

character Th fa tal word N O h been miraculously inscribed into
a , o ur o
But wh at next? Is N O enough ? For a boy yes ;

. e as
all our creeds

I must have affi m ations to preach
,
for a man never Th

preacher mu st pre a ch the w y of life O h if I could only find it !
, r e
f g swirls up fro m the b ach to his feet rising and

a —
,
( A white
thickening aroun d h im ) I am ignorant ; I have lost my nerve and
se a o e ,
a m intimidated ; all I know is that I must find the way f life f

.
myself and all of us w shall surely perish , or e

o , or
Over Si r j o hn s Hill ’
Th e them e of thi s poem is justice justi e in th e sens e f confo mity

to natural law t f punishm ent for a wrong doing Th birds in th i s
, c o r
poem like the fl d and gulls f Poe m his Birthday kil l

,
no o . e
“ ”
and are killed without th ought and withou t choice No

, o un ers o on ,
here ave
Tho m as the observer wh m a k es no point of it feels that h e is slaving t
. o ne , s
a crouched eternal end that to morrow weep in a blind cage

, , o , o
“ ” “ ”
, , or -
s .
No save Thomas wh does make a point f this asks that justice

be tempered with mercy ( When he says that the heron grieves he is
o ne , , o o ,
ironically commenting upo n h i own inescapable analogizing homo

.
,
centricity Th heron h owever priest li k e his appearance to human

s ,
eyes is the haw k s counterpart a carnivorous bird )

. e ,
-
poem is a comment upon the w y things are in th nimal

, , .
Th
knoose e
ingdom Th hawk who executes the sparrows and such today h a

. e
about his w neck And the heron below his stiletto beak poised
a e a
as
fish or frog, carries his head stone with him

o n .
,
-
f
poet mak es tw distinctions between himself and the birds h e
or .
Th e o
justly describes He prays God to have mercy upon the song birds
because f their song ; he himself gives them a k ind of life beyond death
so .
-
298
by writing their elegy It i a just recogniti n f a difference in th
outlook and the capabilities f a human being relativ e to a bird
. s o o e
Does the po m in Sh apiro s phrase reveal in Thomas a fatal pessi

o .
mwould e
ism ? N t at all Thomas grieves the birds death f course He

”
,
not be human if he did not But in associating hi grief with

o
“
.
”
,
, o .
th at f the h eron he is showi g h imself to be no sentimentalist

. s
It i t the sentimentalist who will exclaim All praise of the hawk

o ,
n .
fire in hawk eyed dus k be sung A d it is in the sentence f which

s no ,
”
on -
. n o
this line is a part that the essential meaning of the poem is expressed .
I p efer th poem as realistic comment ; it lends itself however

Aesopian and to allegorical treatment If th e poem had come to the
r e , , to
attention f R oger L E t g St Augu stine O igen

.
’
Dante the
Florentine it migh t have been processed in their moralizing mills and
o s ran e , .
, r ,
or
have issued in these variant forms

A Poet took notice th at a Flock of Sp w were so busy wrangli g
among them selves over I
arro s n
that they we e an easy Prey for a nsec ts r
H w k In a nearer View he w a H calmly pursuing his Dinner

as the Sparrows feathers fell about the fishing Bird
a . sa ero n
’
.
Th e Moral
T he Way to a M Heart is through hi Stomach it holds through
’
the whole Scale f the Creation that the Great and the Little h ave
an s s :
need of another and make use f one another for their Stom ach s
o
’
o ne o
sake .
In reading the revelation f St Thomas dearest brethren we have

taken heed and have sought under his bountiful gu idance to explain
o .
, ,
according to analogy ; for the revelation is b stowed upon our ears

,
e .
that h eavenly secrets may be manifest to hearts o ur .
Th h w k fi p ll h m ll b i d He did represent
Christ our Lord Understand the rays of h i eye s as His truth which
e a on re u s t e s a r s .
. s
doth seek us out and draw us t Him Th laws signify that His
,
o . e c
jealousy will never let us escape ; the gallows that w must die in
Him and meet His justice Th fi h i g h ly lki g h H e
e
,
. e s n o s ta n ero n
nam th the heron the Holy Apostolic Church Christ s representative

.
on e rth which doth as a fisherm an of men ( for the fish in the

e ,
a , ac t
sea and the sparrows in the air both are men ) Hi feet in the water . s
his head like a headstone denote the responsibility f the Church

,
which extendeth from baptism t extreme unction I y g A p

f bli g So St Thomas nameth himself ugly and defo med but a
o . o un eso
mak er of beautiful songs in which the t uths of gospel are riddlingly

a n . .
, r
2 99
sobet dience
e
fort a slave till grace ab ound ng
h,
Lord to o ur
freedom i n h is
.
i won h im
=l= it it
Now the things the law signifying th e things the

of o ld of new
i s the allegorical sense thus the h awk fire is the pillar fire of
by which God led th e stiffnecked wrangli g Israelites

: on
Egypt o ut o f
by the heron m eant the heathen h earing not the voice the
, n ;
is wh o , of
Leternal
o rd with unconcern followed their worldly ways ca ry ng their
,
death like a head stone heavy upon their necks

, r i
Th e j us t h ill
he lik eneth to Mt Sinai where Moses r ceived
able the Law Young Aesop by the wear willow river
. m ankind the , e for
.
mindeth
T of
ufrom
-
. re
s of the continuing tribulations those that turn their faces away of
God Aesop is David

For sing th By the rivers of Babylon wh o
down yea we wept when we remembered Zion We
.
, e , ,
there we
hanged our h arps upo n the willows the mid st thereof And he
sat , , , .
in
singeth now when the Lord seemeth hide h imself in times
.
of
trouble the wick ed man in his pride lieth in wait secretly as a l ion
, to
in his den he lieth in wait to catch the poor he doth catch the poor
,
when he draweth him into his net

: : ,
=I=
The allegorical s ense is the one which is hidden beneath the cloak
of the fable being a truth concealed under pretty fiction By this
hawk is meant Love and thus may the figu re be brought b ack to
,
.
Love is a fire in which the lover immolated a hawk

;
the truth F or is
which cruelly seizes the lover and destroys his sel h ood Such is the
.
,
f-
mthataterialistic self seeking nature of those whom Love h as blessed
they stalk about the earth unheeding the plight the true
,
-
of
.
no t
of
lover helpless burning and yet withal joyful in nearness to h is

, , , h is
sun But the Poet dedicated to Venus sings the sweetness
.
, , of
Love and Love s c uelty for all a green willow is its garland and
’
( )
th at sweet soul s
r ,
prays the lover hot as a sparrow prays

fo; ( ) F or
’
sake And for all sparrows souls Set in our bead rolls And h e writes
,
’
-
, .
fo r his epitaph Flos : v ol ucru m formose vale ! ,
I Fellow ed Sleep
R eso luti o n would make an apt title f this p m
and D ep ende nc e or oe .
What is involved i the maturing individual s effort to be himself to

s
’
cut off from h i two parents and achieve his personal vision In the
s .
end however he recognizes that h i very motivation toward that goal

, , s
is his because he i human He aspi es as geologic ag s f forebears

s . r e o
3 00
h ow trivial the sleep called life is how significant the awakening called ,
death
im e i a ladder feet in the earth extending to the ; each hour
.
6 T
. s , ,
sun ,
whether a success ( a love ) a failure is an ascending rung Th

mslowly
onk ey blood of man through trial and error ( the error is non love )
-
makes its climb My forebears in me m onomaniacal spirit

or ,
.
-
e
compel me upward eve n though the is seemingly blotted out

.
, o ne ,
W S Merwi n ( C b k 62 ) sees the poem in a different light

,
sun .
. . as e oo ,
:
‘
I fellowed sleep is a visionary poem about unc eated ghosts the
’
dreams of the world wh ich the world climbs always to create If I

r ,
uthinnderstand
k him correctly these uncreated ghosts have a virtue I
the contrary that they must be blow back to their beds
,
“ ”
.
to ,
n ,
since they are grave gabbers that nothing out of the dead past
,
will inte fere with hearing the voice f the living air O f course
.
, so
“ ”
the past cannot be escaped ; it climbs with the present man But the
r o .
latter m u st not look back but forward and upward

.
to the sun .
He m st however look forward from this present ; and this p sent

u , , re
ought to be enriched with an experience of love Th is is wh y I have

imported a girl into the poem in the k y line I spelt my vision with
.
a hand and hair I h ave admittedly made her up out f whole h air
e ,
But I simply cannot see h ow a vision f a significant future can be

. o .
arrived at with a hand and h air unless the hand is a boy s and the
o
’
hair a girl s ’
.
G n sis
I Dr ea m ed My e e
his poem h as been understood by David

T a s a description A iv az of
the progress the sperm and the gro th of embryo the bi t w of th e ,

”
r h
of the child being their death and by W S Merwin as a description
man s birth through h is death his kn wledge of death in his birth
; . .
“ ’
of ,
o ,
and his passage into the world hat is the protagonist if not the T
speak er exists in his pre natal state
.
, ,
I prefer to think of th e speaker as the mature or m aturing homas

, .
T
asleep and dreaming I see the drea m as being double barreled referring
, ,
to homas as an individual and to omas as a type Man the l ate

-
.
,
T Th of ,
comer in the evolutionary proc ss In brief the poem is a variation e . on
the theme f I Fellowed Sleep

,
“ ”
o
Again Lawrence in his chapter sleep and dreams has sentences

.
, on
that apply
,
3 02
What is the exact relationship between u s and the death realm
of the afterwards w shall never know But this relation is none
-
e .
the less active every moment f our lives There is a pure polarity
between life and death betwe n the living and the dead betwee n
o .
each living individual and the outer cosmos Between each living
, e ,
individual and the earth s center passes a never ceasing circuit of ’
It is this circuit which is busy in all our tissue

-
magnetism
removing arranging the dead body of past day F each
time we lie down to sleep w have within a body f death
or o ur . or
e us o
which d ies with the day that is spent T his earth current actually -
sweeping through us is really the death activity busy in the service -
of life .
(F i pp 2 3 9 a ntas a, .
T hus he continues you must y when y go to sleep Here

dies the man I am and k now myself to be And when you rise Here
, , sa ou ,
”
rises an unknown quantity which is still myself ( Ibid p 2 7 1 And

.
,
. . .
,
Lawrence finds in thi s new self the unit for the next s ciety o .
Thomas t s ffers a death in sleep and arises to a i i / O f

,
oo , u v s on
new man strength Th general outline is the same But Th omas has
complicated m atters because there is a dream of death within the little
. e .
death f sleep and because as I have said there is reason to believe

that th e protagonist is m ore than Thomas T homas
o , , ,
W h at happens i n the first stanza is

”
t quite clear because the
rotating shell is not identifiable It has been conjectured as the sperm .
no
as .
entering the egg ; and as God hatched t f an egg ( in this interpretation ou o
w are said to be witnessing the birth of God and f the universe

as well as of a man ) In both interpretations we are as ked to see the
e o
breaking as a part of the genesis I prefer to see it as a factor in the

.
,
“ ”
dreaming a break ing out from rest icted vision the restricted vision
.
of Blake s Mundane Shell for example Lawrence has said that Th

, r —
’ “
active m ind consciousness of the night is a form of retrospection because

, . e
”
-
it is the blood consciousness the most elemental form f consciousness

and h e contrasts it with vision our highest form f dy am ic upper
-
, o ,
. . o n
consciousness ( P 2 5 6 F i ) He has described it as the first

” “
and last knowledge f the living soul the depths and h as argu ed
. .
,
a n tas a .
”
o : ,
that it cannot Operate purely until the soul has put ff all its manifold
“
o
degrees and forms of upper consciousness .
N w sinc
o , T homas is concer ed here with elementals
e birth n
and death since he stresses blood that elemental substance and ,
sweat one scarcely less so ( thus contrasting the physical quality f

,
, o
his sleep with the romanticized first sweet sleep f Shelley ) I infer “ ”
o
that Thomas is coming to an understanding that daytime reason had

,
not granted .
3 03
Th e p e m the n will read somewhat as follows
o , , :
1 I i n an oppressive sleep exp l odi n g l ike s h rapnel out f th e casing

f upper consciousness ( u nli k e Ham l et he cannot bounde d in a nutshell
.
, , o
count himself a being of infinite space except f his dreams ) boring

o , , ,
through and coming t on the other side f merely sensory apprehension

, or ,
dreamed my beginning
ou o ,
2 I s h uffl ed ff t h e mortal coi l f my flesh departed fro m the

.
worm measu red ( and worm geared ) limbs ( that in their continuing
. o o ,
- -
,
life potential had the worm s measure ) and myself mineral marched
-
,
’
and cut through the mineral grass ( both grass and I mettled ) in this
,
sweating sleep that had m ade me other than day tim e man
sun- ,
-
.
3 I expensive product of millennia of biological experiments which

have ltimately made me ( and my kind ) capable of love explored my
.
,
evolutionary history making slow and arduous jour ey through the

u ,
Dark st Africa of primitive blood conscious man geared to the long

, n
“
e ,
-
,
long African process of purely sensual understanding knowledge in ,
the mystery of dissolution ( W m i L ) . o en n ove .
4 I had died as primitive man and b en reborn as Christian Platonic

love capable man Now in my dream I di d again ( exploded sh rapnel
. e -
-
. e
filing the heart s artery ) participating in the deaths f my fellows

’
mp i g th modern white races to th e Africans described

, o .
( Lawrence , co ar n e
above writes Th white races having the arctic north behind them the
l
vast abstraction f ice and snow would fulfill a mystery of ice destru ctive
,
: e , ,
that i s death through the

—
o ,
knowledge snow abstract annihilation ,

-
”
triumph f science and te chnology Els ewh e re he is m ore specific

,
o .
(F n i p So if death has to be the goal for a great number “

a tas a , .
,
then let it be so If America must invent this poison gas let her Th at
.
-
,
.
”
i primitive man had failed so modern man h failed failed because

We wanted first to have nothing but nice daytime selves awfully nice
s, as ,
as —
and kind and refined But it didn t wor k ( F i f p

,
T h unit
’ ”
for the next society will be Th self which rises naked every m orning
. . a ntas a . e
“
t of the dar k sleep

e
ou f the passionate h lyr lli g blood o ,

o arse ca n
And the polarizing f the passionate blood in the individual towards o
life and towards leader this must be the dynamic of the next civiliza
, ,
tion ( Ibid p ”
5 I heir to the exampl e of Socrates and other m artyrs lifted u p

. . .
,
mine eyes to the hills produ ct of immemorial vegetable and anim al

.
, ,
deaths and saw them join my blood to the living stuff of the earlier
killed compelling my assimilation into and ascension with the sh arp g ass
,
blades that sprang fro m them

,
r
6 T heir life infecte d m with life T hrough m y

.
. suffering f their e . t e- o
3 04
can be safely ig ored and th at a coalescing f Ol son and Ho n ick will
n o r
offer the most precise identification

Thoma s m ay have g t h is conc pt f the child f o m Blake E
.
opens with the se lines

o p e o r . uro e
Th deep f winter came

What time the secret child
e o ,
De s ce n ded thro the orie n t gates f th etern a l day o e .
It h as been c njectured that Blake i s imitati ng ( i lly parodying )

Milton s Hym
’
o
n:
o r 1ro n c a
It wa s the W inter W ilde

born childe
,
While the H ’
All meanly wrapt in the ru de manger lies

eav n- -
athend character
th at therefore Blake s child is Jesus B ut onl y conjectured S ince
’
in Blake is identifiable and since Th om as m ay h ave

. .
borrowed only a phrase not an idea if he borrowed at all source hunting

un- ,
provides no solu tion t the specific problem

-
, , ,
Nevertheless the poe m seems t me a variation a the me by Bl ake

o .
If the ecret chil d in E p is Jesu s it i t the Jesus the h oly

, o on .
Jesus and nothing b t th e Jesus f Scripture in who se name poverty

s uro e , s no ,
obedience and chastity h ave been enjoined u pon m an For eighteen

,
u o , ,
hu ndred years Blake thought th ose wh have conquered in the nam e

.
,
of the Galilean ( and wrought His pallor ) h ave confi ed the i fi ite i n th e
, , o
finite h ave m ummied man i n the to mb f his body till he sees all
n n n
“
things thro narrow chinks of his cavern Those exploited by the priests
,
o
’
aforndsaken
ration alists and imperialists h ave been murde ed on l and and sea
expendable Their Golgothas are everywhere in the north
.
r ,
and south in th e Atlantic in the plains f Asi a And the aso i s that
, .
,
ins tead f recognizing that th e infinite and etern al h ere and w

, , o . re n
and that the loin is glory man has cloven body fro m spirit divorced
o a re no
heaven from hell ( warmth from light ) given in to the de m ralizing

, ,
strictures of Christian m orality

,
o
Love ! Love ! Love ! h appy h appy Love ! free the m ountai wind
.
is the essence f Blake s teaching love ly copulation bliss b liss !

, as n
’ “
Bliss indeed when everyth ing th at lived was h oly before m became
o , , on
“
an angel / Heaven a m igh ty circle turni ng God a tyrant w d an d

,
an
’
before the human race was tol d

, ,
. c ro n ,
that Woman s love is S in ; ’
That an eternal life awaits the wor m f si x ty winters

In an allegorical abode where existence hath never come o ,
306
In brief in m an s self deluded self denial is his death Death s feather
’ ’
is a stammel feather T homas says But mm l is an underg rment

- -
.
,
“ ”
f linsey wo lsey ( usually dyed red ) w

, . s ta e a
o -
o by i Asceticism is o rn asce t c s .
death s agent What color is glo y? It is the red radiance of eternity in

’
the blood of a living m an

. r ,
What shall a m an do to be saved? Cleanse the doors of perception

.
that ev eryth ing would appear

“
as it i infinite ; integrate the s,
”
cloven halves ; let sprout and bloom the corpse planted last year in
the dead house garden ; pe mit the Dionysian p inciple fulfillment instead
of partial furtive recognition In place of fission fusio the fu sion
r r
des ribed in Man has no Body distinct from his Soul

, .
,
n:
“
he does not ”
leave the body lik e a genie from a bottle for a body and soul comprise
c
an acorn which will become an k ; the fu sion where Embraces are

,
mmi gli g f o m the head even to the f t / A d t a pompous High

oa
Priest entering by a Secret Place ; and finally th e fusion implied

co n n s r ee ,
n no
”
in A ll deities reside in the hum an breast

, ,
“
I n ed to say at once that though I h ave commingled Th om as s

.
im agery with B l ake s I have not been explicating Thomas s poem but
e
’ ’
givi g a brief resu mé of themes in Blake which Th omas has w itten

,
hisTvariation
n
get back to Thomas and h i secret child I take it as the life

on r
forc ( what Lawrence calls the life plasm the central g d in

o s ,
“ ” “
9 3 ) w h ich inform s
e or o
the machine of each animate corpus F i

”
the physical child whose birth is described i the poe m s fi st section

, antas a,
’
Th is force infinite eternal creative m an never ease s trying to kill

, n r .
bu t f course it never dies Wh at occurs in th e p m th en i s this force s

—
, ,
—
c ,
’
description of a birth ; the raising f the question of what death and

o . oe , ,
immortality are ; and ( in the second section ) a characterization f the

o
force and an answer t th e questions

o
Th force in taking u p residence in a human body quite righ tly says

, o .
that his world is pyramid cypress and an English valley and that h is
e , ,
grave is everywhere Th base f a pyram id is rectangular ; the child s

, , ,
’
bspiaseit is ffour .
fold body and spirit f the father joined to the body and
th e moth er ( Th triangles rising from th e base we shall come
-
,
e o
to later ) Since the figure f has over the centuries bemused prophets
r o . e
and psychologi sts this simpl e idea could b elaborated Blake s Four
. o ur
’
, e .
Zoas ( reason imagination passion instinct ) ; Lawrence s four centres ; ’
Jung s collective and personal conscious and unconsciou s ; Ezekiel s living

, , ,
’ ’ “
creatures ; Paracelsu s occult elements any all of these could be

” ’
uthatsed aspire
in a discu ssion of the secret child s pyramid So too with the triangles
or
—
fro m th e rectang lar base B ut since Th om as does not one

.
u .
r gretfully desists
,
Th cypress is a kind f vegetable counte rp art f the pyram id

e .
e o o :
3 07
sym metrically triangular in sh ape ; associated with death but mp i
also with death s defeat ; offering refu ge and hop for new life ( its wood
, , se erv rens,
’
was used t build th e ark )

e
In brief the ch ild s world is a tomb and a place of m etamorphos s

o .
is animal vegetable mineral and spiritu al ; is ( in the given instance )

, i
specifically English but supra nationally human and

, , ,
,
-
, so o n .
1
A s w said the first section f the poem describes the creation and
.
evolu tionary development f such a world Th first stanza given in

as ,
o
o . e ,
present tense may be thought to describe coitus

,
.
T h eternal u nborn life stuff f a kind with electrical energy

impels sperm to egg Fro m this union a hu m an body will develop
e -
, o ,
( a salt be precipitated ) which will grow t be an old salt on the o sea
o f life familiar with the salt sweat and tears f post Adamic
,
o -
existence the salt f its origi n in its veins Past and future
( to morrow s diver ; horny m ilk
,
o sea- .
w the sexual secretion

“ ’ ” “ ”
tomorrow th bone strengthening issue of the cornu copia breast )

- — no ,
meet in this explosive present Th us from this fou r square basis

e -
rises a temporal triangle Further it is a triangular new world which

-
.
,
handas been created every cell f which is simultane usly hu man male
fem ale
,
.
o
,
o , ,
T his i a stanza f fusions Man and woman sperm and egg male cell
and female cell past and future unite But heaven ( thunder s bone ) and
s o .
, ,
“ ’ ”
.
,
earth ( sea sucked ) are also brought together and possibly ( Adam
“ ”
mphrase
ind s f one and thunder f the other ) J ehovah and Z n ; and the curious
re
-
o o e s
thunder s bone recalls one of Thomas s favorite paradoxical

’ ” ’
fusions the sound f shape the shape of sound

—
o ,
.
2
second stanza is put in past tense and would seem th erefore to
.
Th e
make a philosophic l comment upon the first stanza s event
, ,
’
a .
Here are a half that eats away from its frozen source and in turn i
frozen and a half that l afs out li k e a shrub it imbib s warm milk
s
,
e as e .
T hat is a predetermined shape ( man s ) and end ( death ) are joined with
’
a possibility of growth ( leafing t ) and f the dissemination of seed

,
ou o .
( E ki l 1 9 10 applies nicely T h y mother is like a vine in thy blood

“
planted by the waters she was f uitful and full f branches b y reason f
ze e , , : ,
: r o o
many water ) Thomas seems t have let the sperm ( male ) equal
s
”
o or
the physical principle and the ovum ( or female ) the vital ( As in Jung s ’
im or Bla k e s Albion J erusalem ) Th

.
an im us an-
a reason may be that ’
-
. e ,
after the ejaculatio ( however motivated b y love it w ) the father h

n as as
no concern with th child to b whereas the mother love and responsi

e - -
e,
’
s
308
Here again there is fus ion th e broken halve s fell owe d an d fission
the cells perform their separate f nctio ns ; and fu sion they produ e a
,
—
ar
e ,
splace
ingle entity Th sea origin of life and the earthly grave its final esti ng
u
— —
c
brought together An d again the triangle appears entoderm

. e , , , r
ect derm an d m esoderm

,
are . : ,
o , .
4
Stanz a fou divi des between past proces s and present a ction but wh at
.
hassumption
as happened an d wh at is happe i g are equally obscu e It is only
r
on my p art that the fetus is brought t th e stage f bi th By

nn r .
,
emphasizing anti th esis

o o r .
an
Th patchwork halves w cl oven

Rotati g halves homi g
e ere
n are n
th fi st four li es can be read a s a repetition of S tan a 1 sperm and

ovum separate infinitesim al specks f slime movi n g th rou gh the dark
e r n z :
forest of the uterine cavity joi ed to form the death poisoned life ( thus
, o
kissed the cyanide is a variation f Bolt f the salt ) except

, n -
“ ” “ ”
th at I ca ot figu re out why th ey should be tho ght to have had and now
on o or —
anow
re losing a te rible Gorg nian a spect However th at may be they are
nn
rotati ng in the womb whi rli ng like a pneum atic drill blowi g lik e
r ,
o .
u
Gabriel th at is g owing th e umbilicus provided food ; readying f

, ,
n
an exit ; heralding the new day f cut umbilicus and opened lungs ; and
—
,
r on -
or
doub t growi g th e devil s h orn buds that Adam s sons are born with
o no
’ ’
Ophr ylogeny
th e li es can be re a d as continui g th th ird stan a s recapitulation
n -
.
th e me Thi s interpretation requires a double readi g f th e

n n e z
f
and h m i g Th badly put together h alves are not cloven
o . n o
words l
from one another but from other form s of life vertebrate and inve tebrate
c o v en o n . e -
Th at i s to y t h at thi s c hil d bor ing sloughs off h uman attributes

, r .
( s uch as th lanu go h air which covers the fetu s and the verm iform
sa a- n no n-
”
appendix ) to become a m an ( This gets rid f th o s e adders ! ) But as a

e or ,
man he can sin b as cloven footed as a pig or a devil As devil h e

. o
develops hor s But as a man he can also be an ang l as ardent a

-
,
—
e .
,
n . e —
horn blower as Gabriel

Again the split man from the anim als an d I think in the l ast two
-
.
li es the chi ld from the womb ; and the fusions f angel and devi l and
—
, , ,
of life ( arterial blo d ) and death ( cyanide ) in the man And again the
n ,
—
o ,
triangle subhuman human superhuman

o .
: , , .
5
Assu mi g now th at the chil d is born and develops reason he is faced
.
with certai particularly significant questions as Given th e fact f death

n ,
wh at is the nature f life?

n , : o
( and by the w y wh what causes

Is it blood red endin g when the heart stops pumpi g? or ever green
,
a , o or ,
o
assimil ated into vegetative nature? or eterni ty white ( halo golden ) n

- -
, ,
-
or -
,
3 10
tr a slated into a hi gher sphere? Unfortunately si ce th questioner s ’
knowledge f the u niverse is of pinpoint si ce hi sight is only that of

n ,
n e
a n edl e s eye peerin g through a pinprick in a thi mble and sin ce wh at he

o a ,
n s
’
see s is totally hom o entric ( thumb h e can supply no n wer s

e ,
And sin e the Ch i st li fe principle stammers and th e Sata n death pri cipl
c a s .
mi sleads h e is left with a dusty answer Th two hal ves f s d i a clou d

, c r - - - -
n e
f u nk nowing are s ep ara ted f o m th e g eat l earni ng s ee ing o l y a s

,
. e , u e n
through a thimble da kly

o ,
r r , n
r .
11
And now the secret c hild whose constant l ot it is to u ndergo such
he has described characterizes himself
,
tw mb m t
”
en o en as , .
1
Mmey world is im aged by an Egyptian tomb
a mum m um er adds salt to th e
mu m y wh ch h as held
dry yel ow m ineral s h arp
m
.
h ot,
Th e m
l
i
smaltumsa ifd i Asg sttuhffis tbody

,
m yn
n
h collapses the s h oud I sque e h ough the

,
at has supersed d bl ood ascending to sunny re ality

. in r
,
,
,
ez t r
, ,
to the p hysical sour e ligh t th at li ke a rib bone sp ans

e ,
( star it
“
l of
the un verse and to that halo l wh ch shows th e

-
c , , ,
i ory i
bl od and bone m aking sun divi e
, or g
o - — -
n .
2
My world is maged by the everg een gravey ar d tree my delicate r ts
.
i (
nanddingby nutriment
fi
a green cold
compressi g m neral e a h I a spiri g h eavenward
in
E yptian vall ey O siris l ke I rise alive w et u n-
n
r
i rt ,
i
n
oo
death where for ex ample the workers are shot down in the rai road
, , g .
-
o ut
of : , , l
yards of Mittel Europa or where in or revolution the sacr ced young w ar ifi
die l ke Christ on Golgotha
; , ,
i .
3
I a m that corpse you planted last year in your garden and have b en
.
honored as C hrist and Balder and Dion sus th oug co rse I l o ge

e
y , h, of u d
in all men s b dies Who look for me dead headpiece lled with straw
,
’
o .
( fi )
in Asia could fin d me ali v by the Atlan tic e .
4
In brief wherever those patchwork halves may live I li v e ; whenever they
.
I leave That is when k illed by h llfi or ( drowned ) eaten by

,
di
shell fi h they are divided fro m life d face death I ascend from their
e, .
, , s e re
graves ( their bodies tu n from mass to e n rgy ) and reassume my unim

-
s , an ,
d immaterial warm th and light My worl d whic h h as been pyramid

r e
d
w beco m es pyre amid
pe e .
, ,
no -
.
5
Wh
and
o then thickens the blood to inani tion? S ince I a nimate th e physical
h physical dies thro u gh livi g the responsibili ty is m in e What di vine
,
t e
,
.
manifestation does color reveal? Th loin ensures the immortali ty f the

n , .
decayin g bloodle ss fl esh ( As E ki l 1 2 7 8 says And upward fro m

e o
, .
ze e , ,
-
:
wh at h ad th e appearance f his loins I saw a s it we e gleam ing bronze
lwikehatthehadappearance f fi enclosed rou nd about ; and d ownward fro m
o
the appearance f his loins I s aw as it were th e appearance f

o re
r ,
fi a nd th ere was brightness rou nd abou t h im Like the app arance f

the b w that is in the cloud on the day of rain so wa s the appearance f
re ,
o
. e
o
the bri ghtness round about Such was the appearance f the likenes f
o , o
th e glory f the I unphysical occult etern al ever young d my

. o s o
work like Di nysus safe i n Zeus s thigh and never damped by the
o , , , , , o
’
vicissitu des f life ( th ou gh I produce it ) lending life to that which will

,
o
”
die bu t will have its immortality th rou gh se x

o ,
I , In My Intricate Im age
What kind f a piece of wor k is a man is the question T ho m as addresses
himself to in this the m ost elab rately worked t poe m of h is early
o
career His answ r is clear in its general term s Created in the image f
,
o ou
hi image of God ma n is himself a reasoning image making comparing

. e . o
bein g capable th rough a n alysis and an alogy f answering su ch a question

-
s , , ,
and comm unicating the answer to others B ut unlike the Go d which h e

,
o
has imaged and to which h e compares himself he is n ot f piece and

.
,
therefore u ntil h e learn s to harmoni e th e contraries f which he is

, o o ne
compounded not at peace Spirit in fl esh death in life hum an in animal

, z o
fe m ale i n male organic in inorganic liqu id in solid it is s u ch entangle

.
, , , ,
—
, ,
ments that make the I ( in appearance like the numeral 1 ) pe plexing

anif dsoulperplexed an organi sm If body has been bru ised to pleasure soul
can misquote Shakespeare t complain
.
o
so so r
or
Most p t fi d core fair with out

Th y goodly ar m our th u s hath cost ! my ] life ;
u re e ,
so ,
th at is if the contraries fail to G ive over the w struggle to “
mrising
ak the great blood s iron single the n there will be no roaring and
e
,
on
“
’
’
heaven s hill E ki l 1 1 19 fu nishes the text And I will give

,
”
r
se a
“
ax
. ze e , , :
them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you ; and I will take the
stony heart out of their fl esh and will give them a heart f fl esh , o .
But if the sense f the whole poem is clear that of the parts is not After
o ,
.
its opening generalizing stanzas th poem shifts into narrative form but a
narrative in which wh when where how why stand and wait and seem
,
e ,
o, , , ,
not to serve It has been said that No concrete central focus f locale
,
“
“
. o
or event emerges but nly the revolving of an incredibly rich accumulation

o
f image and allusion around a central subject ( Hornick A kind ”
f compost pile one might say I a m n ot satis fied with th is T h ere is t

o .
,
o , . . oo
3 12
du rability by b ll wh ich a lso rec all s th e bras sy or ator
dower f natu ral m an is a natu ral end d e ath Man s bo dy
e , .
Th fate
’
i l ike a steep l ed church or even like th e fra m e p ut abou t it by th o s e

or o —
e .
buil ding or repai ing it But a c hu rc h is l y a deterior a ti g b u il ding if

s , , ,
directed spiritu al activity is going with in and it th erefore doe s t

r . on n no
p rform its functio n f connecting past with fu ture T put it ano ther way
on no
the without spiritual faculties the man who h as not re alize d his th
e o . o
dareevilaptwh images
ox
has destroyed hi all are excre mentitious ( Both devil a nd

h ere the former no longer a refl ected i m age f G d
o s—
,
.
,
ox
e
refl ects no mirror im age ; the latter castrated h as no coming ble sse d
: , o o ,
-
, ,
event to cast a shadow before )

My imagin ation furnishe s the evi dence for th is I ex amine trees i ns ide
.
and t from r ot t branch ; along with wood louse and nettle h t

.
house grape snail and fl ower I await a wintry end

ou ,
o o -
, o
Such would appear to be the end for m a n parallel to that f things

, , , .
in nature Th sickly soul the dispi ited body made invalids th ou gh

—
a o
rivalry and thu s not forming a valid m an goi g ti mewise t of tim elessness
. e , r ,
r
find awaiting harbour to sail to B u t this is n ot

n ou
( symboled
“
neces s arily th e end Th two f an equality and f an h onesty are

no .
departing for a coming t though b l own they a re

. e o o ,
“ ”
going to arrive ( I m ay be quite wrong he e th e stanz a m ay be m

-
o sea- ,
the level and

. r : co
pl t ly negative in meaning But the positive force f

“ ”
the conjectural significance f the shift from rival t arrival m ake

e e . o on ,
“ ” ”
credible the idea th at a po s sible reversal f Th fortu ne f m a h ood

o o
“ ”
is being gently impl ied It i s t uncommon f Thomas t understate h i s

o e o n
antithesis A n d th ere sh ould be so me early hint ( since the poem e nds hap
. no or o
pily ) that after many a swan s death comes the summer )

.
’
.
I I
Climbing an exceeding h igh mountain ( seate d upon a pinnacl e f
n ature s h ly the voyagers encounter ap stle wind s and l amb s
o
’ “
white as the Host and dom esticate the wilderness Seeing the thi g f
o o -
nature in a moment f time they see the squi rel stumb le ( as G d

, . n s o
“ ”
sees th e sparrow fall ) the snail i n swiftest motion the seasonal ch ang in
as o , r o
trees Briefly they have an experience of the holiness f life learn compas
, , e
sion apprehend as if under the aspect f eternity

.
,
o ,
Having gone h igh land they dive l w in water ; th ey run th e gamu t

, o .
pride of place perm itted them As they dive the dust f their m ount ai n
on , o ,
no .
, o
j m y is washed ff ( they are washed in the f the fi h ) ; the dead

fl esh ( f the old Adam ) sifts through th e swim ming paths w h ere th e
ou e o sea o s
snatural
ea cre atures totall y naturalized spiritles s pi ti l di thei
o -
“ ”
death s
-
, , , as ra on ess, e r
Now i n this two stanza parenthe s is presum ably spoke n by Th omas

.
-
, ,
3 14
Death ( who does well with fi h ) is insulted by bein g refe d to a
means agency instead f as an end Death you wh o are not the e n d
so s rre as
,
“
f a c rcl e but gu ardian f the point wh ere the a s c n d ing s pir al crosse s
an ,
o .
,
its own li e f a s cent you wh o th ink yourself so powerful ( do m in th e

o i o e
bulb ) ope ning th e child s eye t death i life and th e m an s t u ltim ate
n o ,
o
’ ’
extinction symb olizi g severance i th e rever e s piral navel ( imm ortal

,
o -
h -
o
Adam and Eve had none ) force feeding th e child for a fat en d your seed
,
n n s -
in the breath he breathes i Death assemble your forces pla e a

-
, ,
t h ice denying cock a dunghill to tell Laz aru s the li th at there i s

n— , , c
com ing forth n oth ing to raise him fro m the dus t ( Briefly Death b
r -
on e no
”
t pro u d )
,
.
, , e
lose their egoi sm in their baptis mal ducking a

no
As g
.
d g 1 2
harmonious ru nni ng f th e scales occurs ( the music s burden being h e

e o an e o
’
,
w h wo u ld gain his life m u st lose it ) and fish scale s are sh u cked ff And
o ,
imprisoned in fondled by stru ck by th e water till the non human l ower

o o .
,
they fi d revealed ( R l
-
, ,
extremities are dead ( the t iton “
and them th at had gotten

, r n ev e a
i and the beyond this

the victory over the beast and over his image
t o n, sea se a,
Prosaically the tw
rivals are approachi ng even closer to a corporate hum anity
, ,
o
( Death your natural world is one f scratch es and screeches suc h a s

.
would emanate from a wo n ou t record placed a perpen d icular

,
o ,
spindle and activated by a ne dle capable only f spasmodic a mplifi a tion

r -
on no n-
bias Th pre F all world to be regaine d

e o c .
T his is the post Fall world

perfect circle and the level a world of Be ing rather th an B m
- -
o u- a- . e - —
‘ ’
— a on , ec o
ing stands still and still standing can be regained )

, , ,
”
I II
Th one time war ing couple caught i n th e rocks of a j u tting is l an d
suffer further loss f self hood nibbled at by livi ng water an d tu rtl e
e -
r , ,
thought blinding s kull and feeli ng negating fl h cells dec mp se d

-
o , ,
A d T homas now speaks to th em in the conclusion of this sta nz a and in

- -
es -
o o .
th at fo l ow
n
th tw
You wh like T opsy just growed natu rally till duc ked head over heels
e o
“
in the waters of life your ex cresce nt parts turning turtle th ou gh it

o, ,
‘ ’
seem as diffi cult as growing a trec on the Aran islands let your two eyes
, ,
'
combine into sin gle sight

,
Be agonizingly aware f the need for oneness ; let th e piercing needle

.
provide it a reefer ; on the u nifying spirit s pointed rod ( ferule ) be

o
’
,
or as
the strengthening ring ( ferrule ) as it aims from Charing Cross to heaven ;

unite to erect the phallus that like J acob s the seed shall be as the dust ’ ‘
th e heights and
,
f the earth ; traverse h ill and valley f ex tic dreams

,
’
depth s f experience ; smoke t th e mad and sea ch anged H amlet from

o o o -
‘ ’
his father s dead bone welcome th new and rich and strange ;
o ou -
’
s— e run
3 15
singly ( like th e stea m e ngine T m T humb ) th e d ubl e ra ils illuminating
th e track ahead
o on o ,
Be slashed by visio n t escape your pre se nt vegetative ( in the Blak an

.
sense ) state ; l et th e b u oyant sea halt the downward voyage ( the muscle
o e
f m atu ity weakened ) to th e womb ; t p l over s your qu arrel yo u r

o
mortal struggle ; come to the loving perm ating oneness of a mist fi

r s 0 , , ,
and ascen d fro m mu ck t ou ter air

, e or re
N w the mirac l e takes place T homas having c all ed for a si n glenes s f

o .
spirit and a loving unanimity the single blood resp n d s I wh o was in the
o . o
g i p of the birth death ( and inst ument ) cycle caugh t like a nicked
,
o .
,
“ ”
key in the time l ock and thus cheated my blo d com e to a rich fullness in
r -
sea r ,
th e pumping heart I i n a fiery vision ( see A 2 2 4 ) because at l a s t

-
,
o
I had becom e the truly su cc ssful mage clawe d t f my Adam self th e

, ,
c ts ,
-
e , ou o -
se pent
r
Th m anh oo d f me had be n m erely form i n context and with out

.
substance the scales snout tail f the crocodile l ay ( his teeth picked by
e o e
the crocodile bird ) in the Nile s bulrushes time convu lsing the anim al
: , ,
o
’
sk ull and the m ind that is rightly time defeating ; and as f th e oil f
,
saints ( applied for h ealth f soul and body ) unblessed m an wept for h is
, ,
-
or o
whited sepulchre hollowness h is lack f saintly robes

o ,
S called m anhood had merely concealed th e fact of m y m ortal ity

-
, o .
“ ”
natural man the fact that surface scum directe d my actions th at m y

o- as
super natural spirit was deprived of its super as p ct B u t the serpent

, ,
“ ”
smycotched t of c h aos issued form t f mo tality i mm ortality ; and I in

e
-
.
,
singleness f vision and of will stormed Excelsior heights

,
ou
o
,
,
ou o r
-
.
,
Wh at kind f a piece f work is the m a n Th om as? S ince h e i s n o

longer pieced together he is the paragon f anim al s in action h w like
o o ,
an angel in apprehension how like a god And man delights h im an d

-
, o , o
wom an too
—
.
,
I have read this as a poem about Thoma s the m an But the I need t
.
be Thomas it may be generaliz d t o Everyman or exalted to a deity Both

. no
man and g d ( an d poet t ) need to u ndergo such an e xperience

: e .
Lawrence state s it e mphatically in Th Pl m d S p

o ,
oo .
e u e er ent
Man creates a G d in his w image an d the god s grow ld al ong

with the men that m ade them But sto ms sway in h e aven and th e
o o n , o
g d stu ff sway s h igh and angry over heads Gods die with m e n
. r ,
wh have conceived them But the god s tu ff roars eternally l ike the
o -
o ur .
sea with t vast a sound to be heard Like the se a in storm th at

o .
-
,
beats against th e r ks of living stiffe n d me n sl owly to destroy them

, oo .
,
O r li k e the sea f the glimmering ethereal p lasm f the worl d that

oc , e , .
o o ,
3 16
BIBLI O GRAPHI CAL N OTE
O f the b k s d alin g with T h mas and his p t y I h v m d e m t ex
t nsive referen e the foll wing
oo e o oe r , a e a os
e c to o
B i
Th m
i J
r nn n ,
o
hn M l lm edit A C b k D l Th m N w Y k
Y C well 1960 as
o
. ro
a co
,
,
.
o r, as e oo on y an o a s, e or ,
D l Th m i A m i B t n Little B wn 1 95 5
y an o as n er c a, os o ro
i k L it Th I i Im A S d f D l Th m D t l D i
, , , .
C lumb i U iv ity N Y k 1 95 8
H o rn c , a, e n tr c a te age: tu y o y an o as , o c o ra s
i
se rtat o n , o a n ers , ew or , .
Kl i m Hym f D l M t s Th i
C l m b i U iv ity N Y k 195 0
Th R li i Th m
’
e n an , S an , e ge o us o nn e ts o y an o as , as er es s,
o u a n ers ew or
C hi g U niv
, , .
Ol El d
so n , Th P f D l Th m
er, ity f Chi g
e o e try o y an o as, ca o, ers o ca o
Press, 1 9 5 4
Yk
.
Ro p lh
J A le x an d er, D y la n Th o m as : A B i b li o grap h y , N ew or N ew D i rec
t
, .
,
io ns 1 9 5 6
kD Yk
.
,
S t anfo rd , D e re , y lan T h o mas, N ew or , C it d l P

a e ress, 19 5 4 .
T e dlo c k , E W ed it o r, D y la n Th o m as, th e L egen d an d th e P o e t, L o n do n

i
. .
, ,
He ne mann 1 9 60
v
.
,
it t ittle wn l
Yk v
T h o mas, C a l in , L efto
or G ro e Pr e ss, 1 95 9
er L ife to K i ll B o s
, o n, L , B ro , 1 95 7 ; a so N ew
Yk Yk
.
,
T i d ll
n a , W illi a m or , A R ead er s G u i d e to
'
D y la n Th o mas, N ew or , T he
N o o n day Press 1 9 62 , .
T ree c e , H enry , D y la n Th o mas : D o g A m o ng th e F airi es L o do n n L i nd say

D mm ru o nd , 1949
, ,
W tki J
.
a n s, V ern o n D y la n T h o mas L e tters to V ern o n Wa tk i ns L o ndo n M

D t ,
e
. .
, ,
en and F ab e r F ab r, 1 95 7 .
3 19

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W o rld

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI PRESS

Stro k e o f mec h anic al leshf on mine ,

S q uare in th ese w o rlds th e mo rtal

mission to quote from Th C ll d P m f Dy l Th m ( copyright

1 9 5 2 by J M Dent and Sons Ltd ; copyright 1 9 5 7 by New Directions ) ;

Directions f permission to quote from A d

i g ( copyrights espectively by New Directions

Once Below a Time

Th Hunchback in the Park

Th T ombstone T old when She Died

When All My Five and Country Senses See

It is the Sinner s Dust Tongued Bell

Not from this Anger

I Mak e This in a Warring Absence

I See the Boys f Summer o

When Once the Twilight Locks

From Love s Firs t Fev r ’

Ballad Of the Long Legged Bait —

In the Wh ite Gia t s Thi gh n

Espe ially Wh en the O ctober Wind

T oda y thi s Insect

Should La terns Shi

Bec ause the Pleasure Bird Whistles -

My Hero B a es his Ner es r v

Once it Was the Colour Of Saying

Th e Hand that Sig ed the Paper n

Th ere Was a S vi our a

Shall Gods be Said

T hen Was My Neophyte

Vision and Prayer

Th eForce that through the Green Fu se

D You Not Father Me

Where O nce the Waters Of Your Face

the child who was father f the man

the domesticated fussiness of the Victorian parlor reveling in the slops

pressed by evangelistic Gwilym forsaken by his rich friend J ack

T h child s sense of aloneness in an alien world of adults pervades the

dark alone ; because Of his Uncle s temper h e loses the companionship f

hi religiosity pries O nly Annie s loving warmth welcom s him into a

heart lik e a time bo mb clutching my gra mmar school cap unfamiliar

to myself a snub nosed story teller l st in his own adventu es and

clothes embraced and welcomed standing in the snug centre f my

stories and listening to the clock announcing me .

tyranny of the Uncle ; of a religion whose basic commandment is

f a preacher who insists public confession f the worst thing you ve “ ’

Annie s arms and Annie s kitchen

Th story is built a series f contrasts the Obvious ones of light

the ﬁtti g f domestic and gory in to

h cut bread and butter

Thomas s often re m arked distaste f cleanliness and neatness is antici

pated here I wanted to wear my ld su it to look like a proper farm boy

preoccupation with sex he wanted to a cow have calves and a “

country In this instance they are t affecting a norm al b y and they

accordingly assume an t i the ordi ary signiﬁcance ou -

her Daimler to remove her son to more respectable surroundings Th ere

he did oppose by putting consciously or by almost unconsci usly

warmth and friendlines s Th phony telephony world undid him

shows the observant but unawak ened rebel ; Th F igh

In this story Thomas is w y about his w early pretensions bu t he

w pretentiousness he k new there existed an integrity f purpose he

the diplom atic with a volume f verses on the remainder shelves

T his meant resistance an avoidance f being sucked into co mpromise