Crafting Poetry

I wanted to write this post on our activity in class today. I really enjoyed searching for the poetic techniques Dylan Thomas used in his poem "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London". When first reading through his poem (well, his poetry in general), I arrived at the end saying "what"?! Part of my struggle with Thomas was the fact that his poetry is anything but straight-forward. However, after re-reading and really diving into his work, I appreciate it a lot more.

Thomas truly had a craft, and I believe his poetry was created difficult on purpose. I think by using the techniques he did, he weeds out readers that are distant. When first reading through his poetry, I remained on the outer boundaries of his work. It is pretty much impossible to breeze through Thomas' poetry, and I think his choice in taking away the "easiness" of his poetry forces the reader to do one of two things: engage with the work, or walk away without understanding. My first reaction was to walk away not understanding; however, after searching for alliterations, personifications, metaphors, internal rhymes, etc. I really began to see the genius behind his words. After today's class I have a higher regard for his work. Thomas presents depth, craft, and skill! He really packs a punch with his poetry! I look forward to trying to identify some of these other elements in future poetry we study. Even if I don't "get" the meaning, understanding poetic techniques exposes the craft of the work :)