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READ THIS
It's the poet's 30th birthday. It's autumn in Wales. He takes a walk in the early morning, climbing high
onto a hill overlooking his beautiful Welsh village. He looks down with great joy onto the brightly coloured
autumn world, listening to the sounds of the birds and remembering a similar walk he did while he was
still a young boy.
ABOUT THE POET
Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea (Wales) in October 1914. His father was a schoolmaster, his mother
a seamstress.
The poet spent much of his youth in Swansea where he often visited his aunt's dairy farm. It was these
visits which inspired much of his poetry. "Poem in October" records memories of those happy days.
Thomas was always a sickly child who tended to keep to himself. He was educated initially at a private
school which he referred to as Mrs. Hole's "Dame School". Later he would attend the Swansea Grammar
School where he published his first poem in the school's magazine.
He loved literature but ignored most of his other subjects, eventually dropping out of school at the age of
16, thereupon becoming a reporter for a local newspaper. Later he would continue to work as a freelance
journalist.
Most of his poems and short stories were written at his home at Cwmdonkin in Wales.
When World War II erupted, Thomas was essentially not fit to fight. Instead he worked for the Ministry
of Information, producing propaganda movies. It was during this time, however, that he began to drink
heavily.
He would later become famous for his poetry readings where his Welsh accent captivated audiences.
He was particularly involved with the BBC and is now most remembered for his play-for-voices called
Under Milk Wood. Most of his poetry was similarly renowned for its play on sounds and words, and
for its quaint imagery and word order.
Thomas married a dancer, Caitlin MacNamara, and maintained a stormy relationship where rumours of
affairs on both sides were rife. They would have three children. He would die in New York in 1953 from
an overindulgence in alcohol . He was then just 39 years of age.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Most of Dylan Thomas's poetry was renowned for its play on sounds and words, and for its quaint
imagery and word order."
- With this in mind, comment on this poem while using examples to illustrate your
point. (10)
[Need help?]
To answer this question, you would need to examine several features of Dylan Thomas's poetry.
You need to analyse his lyrical style of writing. Thomas was a Welshman who spoke and wrote with the
Welsh lyrical style. This is aided by his use of run-on lines, so that one line leads directly to the next
without pause or hesitation. Notice the almost complete lack of punctuation which aids this, although he
does nevertheless keep to convention of beginning each new line with an upper-case word.
You need also to examine his creative way of using words. An example is his "neighbour wood" instead
of "neighbourhood". Another is his descriptive "heron priested shore" and the "water praying". How many
other examples can you find? The questions below might help you further.
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"It was my thirtieth year to heaven
Woke to my hearing from harbour and neighbour wood
And the mussel pooled and the heron
Priested shore
The morning beckon
With water praying and call of seagull and rook
And the knock of sailing boats on the net webbed wall
Myself to set foot
That second
In the still sleeping town and set forth."
- Comment on the poet's description, "It was my thirtieth year to heaven". (4)
[Need help?]
A very creative description indeed. The poet could simply have said, "It was my thirtieth birthday". By
using the expression, "thirtieth year to heaven", he places his whole life as a spiritual journey from birth
to death and therefore (as a Christian) to everlasting life in heaven.
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- Examine the descriptions, "neighbour wood", "mussel pooled" and "heron priested
shore". (6)
[Need help?]
Dylan Thomas is renowned for his playing with words, creating words which sound similar but are different
(is this punning or is he using malapropisms?) and for his quaint descriptions. "Neighbourhood" becomes
"neighbour wood". Pools of water in which mussels are found become "mussel pooled" and the shoreline
which has herons walking along it becomes "heron priested".
Why "heron priested"? Herons are mainly white birds with decorative plumage. Do they remind the poet
of certain types of priests (Catholic Dominican priests with their white habits?) or because of the white
vestments that priests often use when celebrating mass?
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- It's early morning and a time for morning prayer. Explain how the poet deals in this verse with this
idea. (4)
[Need help?]
The poet mentions prayer or religion three times in this verse. The poet's life is a religious journey
("thirtieth year to heaven"). The herons are out on the shoreline as priests up to celebrate morning mass
("the heron priested shore"). The whole world is at prayer with the birds acting as choirs ("water praying
and call of seagull and rook").
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- Examine the use of onomatopoeia, assonance and alliteration in the line "the knock of sailing boats
on the net webbed wall". (6)
[Need help?]
The purpose of ONOMATOPOEIA is to reproduce the sound which is being described. In this line, the
poet wishes to reproduce the sound of the sailing boats as they gently hit against the harbour walls while
bobbing on the little waves. The word "knock" reproduces that sound.
ASSONANCE, on the other hand, is a playful, lyrical aid in poetry. It uses a rhyming sound to create a
musical quality. The words "net" and "webbed" do this.
ALLITERATION uses the sound of repeated consonants to create a lyrical or musical quality. In this case
it is the repeated "w" in "webbed wall".
The three together provide a marvellously lyrical effect.
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"Birds and the birds of the winged trees flying my name
Above the farms and the white horses."
- One of Dylan Thomas's delightful ways of creating lyrical, fun poetry is his use of TRANSFERRED
EPITHETS. What is a transferred epithet? Explain the use of one in these lines. (4)
[Need help?]
TRANSFERRED EPITHETS happen when an adjective (epithet) is transferred from one word to another.
In this case, the birds have wings and are therefore "winged birds". Trees do not have wings. But, when
these winged birds sit in the trees, the poet speaks about the "winged trees".
Once again this is used for lyrical effect.
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- Comment on the poet's description of the "white horses". (4)
[Need help?]
The birds are flying above the farms and it is therefore quite logical that there could be white horses on
the farms. But the poet is also walking along the coast - or climbing a hill above the coast - with the waves
which could possibly have white caps, metaphorically called "white horses". So the poet is achieving two
descriptions in one.
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- Why would the birds be "flying my name"? (4)
[Need help?]
The whole world is celebrating the poet's 30th birthday. He sees even the birds celebrating with him,
decorating the sky as if they were flying his name and singing to him.
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"And I rose
In rainy autumn
And walked abroad in a shower of all my days."
- What does the poet mean by "in a shower of all my days"? (4)
[Need help?]
It's raining, of course. It usually is. Perhaps the poet is commenting that it's always raining? But is it a
heavy shower or just a light one? Whichever way it is, it appears that the poet is enjoying it.
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"And the gates
Of the town closed as the town awoke."
- Comment on the poet's playing with the word "closed". (4)
[Need help?]
The word could be interpreted in two ways. The poet could be joking because, although the town is
awaking, the gates are being closed. Or the gates are still closed despite the town awaking.
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