Dylan Thomas

Metaphysical refers to anything that is concerned with abstract thought or

subjects, as existence, causality, or truth. (Dictionary.com, metaphysical) Many
writers throughout time have tried to capture the essence of metaphysical concepts in
their writing. These writers, predominantly British lyric poets from the 17th century, have
come to be known as metaphysical poets. Many have not referenced these metaphysical
subjects directly, but rather written about abstractions of or allusions to them. Dylan
Thomas, a 20th century poet from Wales, wrote in this way. Though he wrote about many
different metaphysical concepts, such as heaven, hell, and life, he impressed them upon
the minds of his readers through his use of extensive imagery and rich word choice, often
not referencing these subjects directly, but instead abstractions of them.
Imagery is a powerful tool in literature. Through it the writer can convey a scene,
sight, smell, or touch through those senses themselves. This gets rid of the necessity of
analyzing and describing a scene too thoroughly, which can cause the reader to lose the
big picture and get stuck in the details. Imagery can also be used to create scenes to
represent something else. Dylan Thomas uses this imagery to create a scene alluding to
the metaphysical, as shown in his poem Now the Thirst Parches Lip and Tongue:
Now the thirst parches lip and tongue
The dry fever burns until no heart is left,
Now is decay in bone and sinew,
When heavenopen wide the gateshas taken flight,
Searing the sky for thunderbolts to fall
On man and mountain,
In treasons time and the time of envy.
The acid pours away, the acid drips
Into the places and the crevices
Most fit for lovers to make harmony,
To catch the lovers palsy,

And on the sweethearts bed to lie and grin,

To smirk at loves undress,
Make mock of womans meat,
And drown all sorrows in the gross catastrophe.
In this poem, Thomas uses words to conjure images and sensations. We can feel
the thirst parching our lips and tongue, feel the dry fever [burn]. We see decayed bones
and sinew, and watch the lightning arc across the sky in our minds eye. However, these
images are not necessarily to be taken literally. Through these sensations that Thomas
has conjured in our minds, he points us in another direction, towards the metaphysical.
Through these images he is alluding to the despair that settles on us and burns us when
heaven has taken flight. The poem goes on to talk more of this despair and the effects
that it has on humans, using further imagery and symbolism.
Ideas and meanings can be conveyed in other ways than imagery. Thomas once
said, What the words stood for, symbolized, or meant was of very secondary
importance--what mattered was the very sound of them as I heard them for the first
timethose words were, to me, as the notes of bells, the sounds of musical instruments,
the noises of wind, sea, and rain, the rattle of milk carts, the clapping of hooves on
cobbles, the fingering of branches on a window pane Words can convey much
meaning, just from their sound, look, and feel. They can also make impressions much
more solid when chosen wisely. Take, for example, Was There a Time, another poem
by Dylan Thomas:
Was there a time when dancers with their fiddles
In childrens circuses could stay their troubles?
There was a time they could cry over books,
But time has set its maggot on their track.
Under the arc of the sky they are unsafe.
Whats never known is safest in this life.
Under the skysigns they who have no arms

Have cleanest hands, and, as the heartless ghost

Alones unhurt, so the blind man sees best.
One word that jumps off the page the most in this passage is maggot. The
meaning of maggot in this context means an odd fancy or whim, as opposed to flylarvae. The use of maggot in place of a more common word, such as fancy or
whim, causes this word and its accompanying phrase to jump out at us, impressing
themselves on the readers mind. This causes us to focus on time and its whims, or, in
other words, the metaphysical concept of fate. Other words, such as skysigns and even
common words such as fiddles, also are appealing to the eyes and mind, and make this
poem more memorable.
Another example showing how Thomas uses rich word choice to make
metaphysical impressions is shown in a poem he wrote in his early years, called Of Any
Flower:
Hourly I sigh,
For all things are leaf-like
And cloud-like.
Flowerly I die,
For all things are grief-like
And shroud-like.
Many words in this passage jump out at the reader. The greatest surprise is the
word flowerly, which is an example of poetic license, in that it is not in any
dictionaries. However, it fits in relation to the first stanzas hourly. This unusual word
choice, impresses the poem on the readers mind, and in turn, the subjects of the poem,
life and death.
Both imagery and word choice are devices that Dylan Thomas uses heavily in his
poems to impress upon the readers mind metaphysical concepts, allusions, and

abstractions. These devices, when used well and by a gifted writer, can improve writing
and cause effects that can be achieved in no other way. Through these devices he is able
to capture and hold the attention of the reader, and cause thoughts, feelings, and
impressions that might otherwise be lost. This gift places him among the great poets of
the age, and will allow his poetry to continue on for many more generations.