In my craft or sullen art

Dylan Thomas 1914 (Swansea) – 1953 (Greenwich Village)



In my craft or sullen art
Exercised in the still night
When only the moon rages
And the lovers lie abed
With all their griefs in their arms,
I labour by singing light
Not for ambition or bread
Or the strut and trade of charms
On the ivory stages
But for the common wages
Of their most secret heart.

Not for the proud man apart
From the raging moon I write
On these spindrift pages
Nor for the towering dead
With their nightingales and psalms
But for the lovers, their arms
Round the griefs of the ages,
Who pay no praise or wages
Nor heed my craft or art.
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Submitted by RobertHaigh on June 12, 2020

Modified on May 01, 2023

32 sec read
233

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXCDBCDEEA ABECXDEEA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 536
Words 109
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 11, 9

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", the "play for voices", Under Milk Wood, and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became popular in his lifetime and remained so after his premature death in New York. In his later life he acquired a reputation, which he encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet". more…

All Dylan Thomas poems | Dylan Thomas Books

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