It took me two years to read this book, because I just wasn’t getting much out of it. But one of the appendices did much to assuage my guilt, from Thomas himself: “read the poems you like reading. Don’t bother whether they’re ‘important’, or if they’ll live.” Sadly those lines touched me almost more than anything here - I just don’t have enough of a classical education, religious inclination, or rural background to appreciate so much of what’s happening here.

According to Wikipedia Thomas was interested in the "unity of all life", and the portrayal of the cycle of birth, death and life itself all at once. I would say he succeeded.

DT was a great poet, no question. The spectacular way he put words together is, IMO, largely unmatched in English language poetry. But he is, to my mind, often just as spectacularly opaque in the meaning of his verse. I find this frustrating. I believe the main purpose of poetry should be to communicate, not to impress. Communicate, that is, not just to aesthetes and academics and others who tend toward literary snobbery, but to normal, relatively intelligent human beings. This is why I find muc...

On A Wedding Anniversary The sky is torn across This ragged anniversary of two Who moved for three years in tune Down the long walks of their vows. Now their love lies a loss And Love and his patients roar on a chain; From every tune or crater Carrying cloud, Death strikes their house. Too late in the wrong rain They come together whom their love parted: The windows pour into their heart And the doors burn in their brain.

I credit this book as my Poetry Lover origin story. When I was 17 I picked up a copy of this from a used bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Dawn Treader for those who know it. The copy was previously owned by someone who took EXTENSIVE notes in the margins and had likely taught Thomas as each metaphor was explained and there were entire paragraphs written about the meaning of the poems. It was like stumbling across my own mini Dylan Thomas college course and really unlocked how to read poetry...

I'll admit that in the past I've been quite put off by poetry in general. However, in my attempts to find some poetry I can connect with, I have discovered Dylan Thomas. This collection of his poems is absolutely beautiful. Thomas writes of love, life, death, youth, old age, nature and countless other things that create a body of work that is exquisite and rich. My favorite poems include "Since, On a Quiet Night", "There's Plenty in the World", "Youth Calls to Age", "Let it be Known" and "Light,...

This is a really nice collection of Dylan Thomas's poetry and includes several of his most famous such as 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'Thomas's poetry isn't always the most accessible but it is none the less worth persevering with. The guidance notes at the back of the book which provide some background behind each poem are a particularly good feature.Thomas had an obsession with death which often shows up in his poetry.

The fact that Daniel Jones edited and notated this volume is significant, as he was Thomas' collaborator and lifelong friend. It is shocking to realize that the majority of his 200 or so poems were written before age 21. Recently, I resumed a high school project to memorize his poems. I'm not optimistic, but his poems do sound wonderful out loud.

Waking alone in a multitude of loves when morning's lightSurprised in the opening of her nightlong eyesHis golden yesterday asleep upon the irisAnd this day's sun leapt up the sky out of her thighsWas miraculous virginity old as loaves and fishes,Though the moment of a miracle is unending lightningAnd the shipyards of Galilee's footprints hide a navy of doves.No longer will the vibrations of the sun desire onHer deepsea pillow where once she married alone,Her heart all ears and eyes, lips catchi...

Dylan Thomas makes my top-10 poet list, though his position shifts, depending on the season and my temper. And, I'm afraid my edition of this book predates the CD, though I'd like to hear him read his work. In any edition, I admire the way Thomas puts together words:"The voices of all the drowned swam on the wind...""At the point of love, forsaken and afraid ...""In the sun that is young once only,time let me play and begolden in the mercy of his means ...""In my craft or sullen artexercised in

Dylan Thomas has an awesome grasp on the craft of poetry. I was very hesitant to read this after my less-than-understanding of Sylvia Plath, but Mr. Thomas was born to write. The book had a lot of steam in the beginning and lost me in his metaphors towards the end, but otherwise this collection of poetry is worth a solid three stars. Thomas, much like Dorothy Parker, has a penchant for writing about death (Do Not Go Gently, anyone?). These are his best poems: the ones where he (or his protagonis...

I read a different edition, but I loved this collection. Definitely need to read more Dylan Thomas

Grief Thief Of TimeGrief thief of time crawls off,The moon-drawn grave, with the seafaring years,The knave of pain steals offThe sea-halved faith that blew time to his knees,The old forget the cries,Lean time on tide and times the wind stood rough,Call back the castawaysRiding the sea light on a sunken path,The old forget the grief,Hack of the cough, the hanging albatross,Cast back the bone of youthAnd salt-eyed stumble bedward where she liesWho tossed the high tide in a time of storiesAnd timel...

His style is out of style. Modern poets laugh at his "turgid" verses. What do they know? I feel that what poets offer to us is the ability to channel their emotions directly into words. Style is actually just a matter of personal choice, and is relatively irrelevant. One story: After a visit to his dying father in a hospital, he went back to his hotel room, and wrote "The force that through the green fuse."

Studied these poems at university and am in awe at Dylan's genius. I can't begin to claim I understand all of the poems in this work, but all of the ones I have looked at in depth are quite amazing as pieces of English that touch a nerve and stir your soul.

" Till every beast blared down in swerve , till every turtle crushed from his shell , till every bone in the rushing grave rose and crowd and fill "

Do I need to actually write a review of Dylan Thomas’ work? Read this poem. It says more than I ever could: Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.Though wise men at their end know dark is right,Because their words had forked no lightning theyDo not go gentle into that good night.Good men, the last wave by, crying how brightTheir frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,Rage, rage against the dying of the l...

Favorites:'Fern Hill''I have longed to move away''And death shall have no dominion''Here in this spring''Ears in the turrets hear'and the timeless 'Do not go gentle into that good night'.

I've been going back and forth on how to rate this one. I mean what can you do with two hundred poems. It's like this: Some cut deep, are dead on, all punch and polish; then there are those, maybe half, that are just words on paper, bounce off you like the local newscast. I've just realized...It seems I've forgotten my stupid notes. Which means that I'm left with my stupid memory. I heard this discussion on NPR, someone said that poetry should be approached as music, where you gather its essence...

I think I love Dylan Thomas's poems mostly for their intriguing and ever-inviting titles. They tempt you into their world and then you are totally captivated. Like..."Time enough to rot", "We have the fairy tales by heart", "We who are young are old"...He enchants us with his perfect poetry. He turns ordinary moments into word magic. This particular edition (which the pages are mysteriously repeated around page 226?)is great as it includes a preface written by Thomas himself. He explains his rea...