Dylan Thomas - His Sullen Art
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Many people have been born in Swansea in South Wales, some are obviously more famous than others, but the most famous son of Swansea is Dylan Thomas.
Dylan was born on October 27 1914, and lived in Swansea for many years. The Welsh poet has influenced our society in many ways, from inspiring singer / song writer Bob Dylan who adopted Dylan's name, Catherine Zeta Jones's newest edition to the world, and even former US president Jimmy Carter tried to get Thomas commemorated in "Poets Corner" in Westminster. Swansea featured heavily in Dylan's poetry and prose and remained an essential part of Dylan, even though he once described it as "A graveyard of ambition"
Dylan's literary career also began in Swansea where he worked briefly as a journalist at the South Wales Evening Post in the early thirties, an experience he used in his short story "Old Garbo". After his first poem "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" was published in 1933, Dylan began to vist London regularly, a place he had previously described as "The Font Line.........because no one ever comes back".
After many visits to London he finally moved there in 1934. Dylan had always liked a drink or twelve and had been a common fixture in the pubs throughout Swansea, but it was not until he moved to London that his drinking turned from a fairly serious hobby into something that required full time dedication. His first collection of poetry 18 poems was published in 1934, providing him with an even better excuse for long bouts of public drunkenness. He regaled crowded bars with his banter and drunken antics, it was in a state of advanced liquid refreshment that Dylan met his future wife, Catlin Macnamara. Together they became a force to be reckoned with, as she was just as wild as the Welsh Wordsmith.
" A stranger has come
To share my room in the house not right in the head,
A girl mad as birds"
Love in the Asylum [ Death and Entrances,1946 ]
This would truly be the couples honeymoon period, as their continued drinking and partying would later prove an almighty strain on their relationship. Added to this Dylan's frequent infidelity and the poverty that forced them to steal clothes and alcohol from friends, it was not a recipe for marital bliss.
When life in London became to hectic for the couple moved back to Wales, Dylan insisted that he could only write there. They moved to a village called Laugharne, which became the inspiration for one of Dylan's most well know pieces of work Undermilkwod. This Play For Voices is set in a fictional village called Llareggub, which famously spells Bugger All backwards, an example of Dylan's sense of humor. It was at this time when a personal tragedy struck Dylan, the death of his father in 1952. His fathers death deeply effected him, :-
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at the close of day,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
Though Wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that goodnight."
Do not go gentle into that Goodnight [ In Country Sleep, 1952 ]
This was perhaps Dylan's most well know poem, a testament to his father, who had taught English at the same school Dylan attended as a child.
Dylan's poverty forced him into touring America giving lectures, it was the moment that would make him famous throughout the world. The lectures were a huge success and recordings of Dylan's lectures remain as popular today as they were at their release. In 1953 the first performance of Undermilkwood was given in Cambridge, Massachusetts to wide critical acclaim. The play is often humorous and typifies Dylan's often surreal take on things :-
[Mr Pritchard is a hen pecked husband]
" MR PRITCHARD
I must dust the blinds, and then I must raise them
MRS OGMORE-PRITCHARD
And before you let the sun in, mind it wipes it's shoes."
[ in the dreams of another character ]
"The inspectors of Cruelty fly down into Mrs Butcher Beyons's
dream to persecute Mr Beynon for selling
BUTCHER BEYNON
owl meat, dog's eyes, manchop"
On the 9 November 1953 days after his birthday, Dylan Thomas died in St. Vincent's hospital New York.
His last reported words were :-
"I have just had eighteen double whiskeys in a row. I do believe that's a record"
Dylan was born on October 27 1914, and lived in Swansea for many years. The Welsh poet has influenced our society in many ways, from inspiring singer / song writer Bob Dylan who adopted Dylan's name, Catherine Zeta Jones's newest edition to the world, and even former US president Jimmy Carter tried to get Thomas commemorated in "Poets Corner" in Westminster. Swansea featured heavily in Dylan's poetry and prose and remained an essential part of Dylan, even though he once described it as "A graveyard of ambition"
Dylan's literary career also began in Swansea where he worked briefly as a journalist at the South Wales Evening Post in the early thirties, an experience he used in his short story "Old Garbo". After his first poem "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" was published in 1933, Dylan began to vist London regularly, a place he had previously described as "The Font Line.........because no one ever comes back".
After many visits to London he finally moved there in 1934. Dylan had always liked a drink or twelve and had been a common fixture in the pubs throughout Swansea, but it was not until he moved to London that his drinking turned from a fairly serious hobby into something that required full time dedication. His first collection of poetry 18 poems was published in 1934, providing him with an even better excuse for long bouts of public drunkenness. He regaled crowded bars with his banter and drunken antics, it was in a state of advanced liquid refreshment that Dylan met his future wife, Catlin Macnamara. Together they became a force to be reckoned with, as she was just as wild as the Welsh Wordsmith.
" A stranger has come
To share my room in the house not right in the head,
A girl mad as birds"
Love in the Asylum [ Death and Entrances,1946 ]
This would truly be the couples honeymoon period, as their continued drinking and partying would later prove an almighty strain on their relationship. Added to this Dylan's frequent infidelity and the poverty that forced them to steal clothes and alcohol from friends, it was not a recipe for marital bliss.
When life in London became to hectic for the couple moved back to Wales, Dylan insisted that he could only write there. They moved to a village called Laugharne, which became the inspiration for one of Dylan's most well know pieces of work Undermilkwod. This Play For Voices is set in a fictional village called Llareggub, which famously spells Bugger All backwards, an example of Dylan's sense of humor. It was at this time when a personal tragedy struck Dylan, the death of his father in 1952. His fathers death deeply effected him, :-
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at the close of day,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
Though Wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that goodnight."
Do not go gentle into that Goodnight [ In Country Sleep, 1952 ]
This was perhaps Dylan's most well know poem, a testament to his father, who had taught English at the same school Dylan attended as a child.
Dylan's poverty forced him into touring America giving lectures, it was the moment that would make him famous throughout the world. The lectures were a huge success and recordings of Dylan's lectures remain as popular today as they were at their release. In 1953 the first performance of Undermilkwood was given in Cambridge, Massachusetts to wide critical acclaim. The play is often humorous and typifies Dylan's often surreal take on things :-
[Mr Pritchard is a hen pecked husband]
" MR PRITCHARD
I must dust the blinds, and then I must raise them
MRS OGMORE-PRITCHARD
And before you let the sun in, mind it wipes it's shoes."
[ in the dreams of another character ]
"The inspectors of Cruelty fly down into Mrs Butcher Beyons's
dream to persecute Mr Beynon for selling
BUTCHER BEYNON
owl meat, dog's eyes, manchop"
On the 9 November 1953 days after his birthday, Dylan Thomas died in St. Vincent's hospital New York.
His last reported words were :-
"I have just had eighteen double whiskeys in a row. I do believe that's a record"
