Spirituality in the poetry of Dylan Thomas

¶ … Spirituality Influences the Works of Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas has come and gone

Come and gone, come and gone,

Dylan Thomas has come and gone,

His blood turned to words.

Mason Williams, "Classical Gas" CD, 1967

The Poet vs. The Persona

Every poet is, in a sense, two people: the poet and the persona, or presence, that speaks through the poetry. With Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) both poet and persona tend to scintillate into the sublime and the ridiculous. With the aid of what Thomas called Comrade Bottle, they could unleash themselves into the depths of the subterranean and the grotesquely morbid. Some of Thomas'early verses were unintelligible, so in love with words was he; and critics have often disagreed on valid interpretations of Thomas' work (Ferris, 2000, p.95). As well, the disagreements carry over to valid interpretations of the poet's life.

How much of his drunken, often tactless prattle was for the sake of the song, and how much was the poet's gift -- and torture -- of seeing so much and feeling so deeply that it was all he could do to fend off madness? In a 1933 South Wales Evening Post essay, he wrote: "the borderline of insanity is more difficult to trace than the majority of people, comparatively safe within the barriers of their own common-sensibility, can realise" (Bedford-St. Martin's, N.D. 2).

With a 2000 second edition of the 1977 Dylan Thomas: The Biography, Ferris so deftly debunks the myth of the romantic, irresponsible poet that it seems impossible Thomas wrote as brilliantly as he did. In fact Ferris manages to reduce Thomas to little more than a miserable sot. While other critics may wax prolifically on the poet's Wales, his family, his culture, or his American tours; Ferris is not so loyal. He manages, somehow admirably, to reveal every ugly little tidbit he could glean from his cadre of "people who knew Thomas" and still write an excellent critique of the works; however, his effort appears more slanted than it would have

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In the "tell all" 1970's. But spirituality definitely lurks between the lines of Thomas' poetry -- chosen for analysis for its complexity of metaphor -- words Thomas admitted to pouring out without meaning. In 1953, the year of his death, the poet admitted in his Collected Poems: "These poems, with all their crudities, doubts and confusions, are written for the love of man and the praise of God and I'd be a damn fool if they weren't" (Bedford-St. Martin's, p. 1).

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Waste allotments end Thomas' reveries. Why? It could be the beginning of the clattering of the mundane. It could represent the waste, as well, of his time, of his brain, of his life, perhaps. Again, the poem shows contrasts, from the death-like state of sleep, to the first moments of dawn, when everything is still quiet. The poet has had a brief spiritual awakening -- moments of happiness and joy, but the incident, like the path of Thomas' own spirituality, is hard to sustain. How easily the poet's fifteen seconds of faith is shattered.

"All and all the dry worlds lever," tells us that the "dry world" is held up by ice, lava oil (a political allusion). The narrator of the poem addresses a dead man as "my mortal," admonishing him not to "fear the waking world" (v.3, l. 1).

Man of my flesh, the jawbone riven

Know now the flesh's lock and vice,

And the cage for the scythe-eyed raver,

Know, O my bone, the jointed lever

Fear not the screws that turn the voice,

And the face to the driven lover (v. 4, l. 1ff).

The narrator is a God-like figure sending a man of his flesh to the dry world; the Father/Son construct, as with Jesus Christ. Although the exact dates for most of these poems are uncertain or unknown, we do know Ferris has stated the poet used religious mythology without thought or conviction. However, in the final verse, Thomas calls for "flower, flower, the people's fusion"(v. 6, l.1). And that "all and all the dry world's couple" -- a strong peace theme (v. 5, l. 1). This serves to reinforce the Father/Son theme earlier in the poem. It is interesting to note, as well, that the people in the dry worlds are characterized by the Father/God as mechanical, toolbox, like figures (ribs of metal, synthetic blood (v. 4, 5-6) and love associated with violence (the bridal blade, the lover's mauling (v. 3, v. 5-6)). Is it possible they have lost their souls?

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Deaths and Entrances (1946)

This volume reflects Thomas' writing at a later age. According to Ferris, this volume which truly established the poet as a major force in English literature, was not a wellspring of religion:

. . .it seems likely that Thomas was declaring that death was final; he was affirming the present, not in the future. or. . .perhaps he didn't know what to think . .Nothing suggested he was achieving any harmony with his surroundings, physical or otherwise (Ferris, 201).

"Vision and Prayer" is a one-verse poem on the sounds of a birthing, one which is apparently going on between paper-thin walls in a room next to the poet's. This poem is in stark contrast to the first three analyzed. It is in simple language but does not manage to avoid Thomas' alienation theme, as with "In the birth bloody room unknown/to the burn and turn of time" (v. 1 l. 10-11) and "And the heart print of man/Bows no baptism/but dark alone" (v. 1, l. 12-14). The ending, "Blessing on/the wild/Child" (v. 1, l. 15-17) is likely a nod to the innocence of children -- another Thomas theme. "All of his life he hankered after the warm beds and mother-love of his childhood, Ferris wrote (p.22).

The poem impacts one with the proximity of the birth to the poet; he is given a spiritual event to be privy to. It seems as though a good many of Thomas' poems are written essentially about spiritual things: nature; death; love; life. It seems entirely up to the ability and mindset of the reader/critic to mine the poet for spiritual gold.

"This Side of the Truth" was written for the poet's first son, Llewellyn, as an anticipation of loss of innocence. In the first verse, he warns his son that everything is undone; however, he is unaware of it because he is so young. Thomas divides the world into innocence or guilt, good death or bad death, all of which appears to be predestinated:

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And the wicked wish,

Down the beginning of plants

And animals and birds

Water and Light, the earth and sky,

Is cast before you move,

And all your deeds and words

Each truth, each lie,

Die in unjudging love (v. 3, l. 5-12).

It doesn't seem possible that Thomas is merely fatalistic. The phrase "unjudging" strongly brings to mind the antithesis of the wrathful, angry God, but otherwise, everything else seems to be irrevocably under control. In these later poems, he is making definitive religious/spiritual statements; in his 18 Poems, he was approaching spirituality by relying on the dark side, but allowing a few glimmers of light.

In "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London," Thomas concludes the poem with a line, taken at sheer face value, that is a spiritual journey waiting to happen: "After the first death, there is no other." (v. 4, l. 6). The poet refuses to eulogize this death because it is not the first. Whether he means it is not the first death he has experienced, which was much more poignant and memorable, or whether the first death is a metaphor for all children who have died tragically, one is not entirely sure.

He feels, nonetheless, that to unleash a standard-issue eulogy on the paying public would be to "blaspheme" the child down the "stations of the breath" -- stations of the cross, perhaps? (v. 3, l. 4). He also directs what appears to be a nod to publishers and commerce in the second verse, with Jewish allusions:

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And I must enter again the round

Zion of the water bead

The synagogue of the ear of corn

Should I let pray the shadow of a sound

or sow my salt seed

In the least valley of sackcloth to mourn (v. 2, l. 1-6).

This verse is filled with religious imagery; Zion, pray, sackcloth, synagogue -- but in relation to writing a piece of, well, tripe, for the publishers and, no doubt, money-grubbers, who would be the least to mourn this child. Here, spirituality vs. Mammon comes strongly into play.

Perhaps one reason Thomas was usually so dependent on the monetary kindness of friends was that, like many artists, he wouldn't sell out.

The Poet as Spiritual Being

It is likely that Dylan Thomas was an extremely spiritual being, in fact, so much so that his resistance to letting go of his fears could have powered his hedonistic lifestyle. His poetry depicts spiritual concerns: Nature, birth, death, living in the world, time cycles, the Father/Son construct, grief and loss of innocence are all strong themes. He employs metaphor that is religious/spiritual in nature, including Christian, Jewish and Catholic images. His poetry reveals a lifetime engagement in a spiritual battle with himself, where he is incapable of shaking the inscrutable Dark and walking openly in Light.

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Resources

Primary Resources

Thomas, Dylan, Maufrais. 18 Poems. (1934). Selections include "the force that through the green fuse drives the flower," "Light breaks where no sun shines" and "All, all and all."

Retrieved February 12, 2002 from http://www.poets.org/poems.

Thomas, Dylan, Maufrais, Deaths and Entrances (1946). Selections include "Vision and Prayer,

"This Side of the Truth" and "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London. Retrieved February 11, 2002 from http://www.poets.org/poems.

Secondary Sources

Christie, W. (1999, June) the Craft and Sullen Art of Dylan Thomas. Retrieved February 12,

2002 from http://www.users.bigpond.com/dylanthomas/DylanThomas/dtpoet1.html