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Thomas returns again and again to the theme of the unity and holiness of all existence.  He is in the tradition of Blake, Wordsworth and Whitman.  But he is not there all the time.  There is conflict.  And so we have lines like this one.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

If it is a “good night” then it is something to be desired.  Have a “good night” is something we wish for our friends.  So why should we “rage” against the “dying of the light”?

And so there is ambivalence here.  Perhaps there are moments of clarity for Thomas when he sees the unity of all things.  But then he loses his vision and falls into a slumber or alcohol intoxication.

But Thomas was direct in his poetry.  He was blunt, forthright and full of explosive feeling.  He was an entertainer and did his poetry much good by traveling throughout the US several times and reciting it.  If he was a blogger he would understand how to reach the feeds of many readers.

His poetry is full of images that suited the age to which he belonged.

“The force that through the green fuse drives the flower”  brings to my mind the image of an atomic blast which was so shockingly present during that time.  “Light breaks where no sun shines”  does the same thing.  His metaphors are rich and complex.  He illustrates a world of driving forces, resistance and explosions.  Do flowers and atomic clouds seem antithetical to you?  Remember the little girl who picked daisies in that famous commercial the Johnson team used against Barry Goldwater?  If they can be used in an election ad they certainly can become part of a poem.

Dylan Thomas was perhaps not a great poet.  It is difficult to pin down his meanings.  But he was definitely the poet for his times.  And it is not surprising that he burned himself up at an early age like so many flamboyant entertainers a decade or two later.

It is rumored that Bob Dylan changed his name because of his admiration of Dylan Thomas.  Who knows?

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Worked as a newspaper reporter
Discovered through a poetry contest in a popular newspaper.
Published Eighteen Poems.
Noted for strange violent imagery and powerfully suggestive obscurity.
New strength and romantic picturesqueness restored to English poetry?
Post TS Eliot neo-Romantic movement afoot? No.
He becomes known as a master craftsman and not a shouting rhapsodist.
Images carefully ordered.
He saw the workings of biology as a magical transformation process.
He saw men and women locked in a round of identities.
Closely woven imagery derived from the Bible, Welsh folklore, preaching and Freud.
He read all of DH Lawrence as a young man.
And he wrote Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.
He was a brilliant talker and a very entertaining reader of poetry.
His poetry readings in the US between 1950 and 1953 were enormously popular.
He loved to drink and was impulsive, reckless.
He died suddenly in New York November 1953 age 39 due to “an insult to the brain” (alcohol).
He played the wild bohemian poet as it had not been played since the 1890’s.
As time goes on it is clear that he was at his best an original poet of great power and beauty.

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 they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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On this date back in 1968 Lyndon Johnson announced at the end of one of his little television chats that he would not be seeking reelection. And you cannot imagine the sadness that gripped the college community at that moment. I know because I was one of those who had nearly been shipped off to a snake infested jungle full of pajama clad and rifle toting individuals who would be eager to shoot me if they got the chance.

And for what? I could never figure that one out. So maybe Lyndon wouldn’t look like such a loopy and depressed basket case when he got his mug on your television screen. Go to Vietnam! Make Lyndon smile!

In 1880 on this date Wabash Indiana became the first town in the world to be illuminated by electrical lighting. How nice for them! Men fell on their knees as they were totally overwhelmed when the lights were turned on and the town square blazed like the sun. Moths from the surrounding states all made a B-line for Wabash and it was soon knee deep in wings and not the edible kind.

Two steps forward and one step back. Progress is never in a straight line.

On this date in 1889 the Eiffel Tower was officially completed and its creator French engineer Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French flag on top of it. And such a wonderful day it must have been. The sky was clear and all the bugs had left for Wabash Indiana long ago. Air flight was on the horizon and everyone was optimistic because when you went to the top you couldn’t quite see into Germany.

And around this time in 1766 the Sons of Liberty gathered in Norfolk Virginia to protest the Stamp Act which was viewed as an attempt to tax the colonists without their permission.

It was much like what we call “foreign aid” or “the war in Iraq” in the present day.

And now it is time for Birthdays! Hockey great Gordy Howe is 80 today! I bet he can still put on a pair of skates and whoop up on some people. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 74 and some of us fondly remember his days as Dr Kildare. Actress Shirley Jones is also 74. Did you know they were born on the same day? I didn’t ! Actor Christopher Walken is 65 today and Gabe Kaplan is 63. Al Gore and David Eisenhower are both 60 today. Twins maybe? Nah. And finally actress Rhea Perlman is 60.

Happy Birthday to all and especially those who are beginning a new decade in their lives.

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A class action suit is being brought by some of Vermont’s prison inmates over the food they receive. They don’t like Nutraloaf. And unless someone starts building Hardee’s Restaurants inside Vermont prisons and staffing them with Hooters waitresses they will continue to pursue their rights in court. And they also want Charlize Theron to entertain them with her performance from Two Days In The Valley while they eat.

In other news the AP reports that people should toss out cantaloupes from a Honduran firm believed to be linked to a salmonella outbreak. Authorities note, however, that this does not mean you can toss these babies out your car window when traveling at excess speed through the center of town.

There is a proper way to dispose of your cantaloupe. And ignorance of the right way to do it is no excuse in a court of law.

In other news fleeing drug traffickers off Nicaragua’s coast dumped 3,300 pounds of cocaine into the ocean before escaping. Divers tried to retrieve the packages but were hampered by throngs of tourists who were thrashing about in the water. Fishing boats were also seen to be entering the area in great numbers and the price of fish was skyrocketing as the weekend approached.

And finally Russian says the killing of two journalists from the violence ridden Russian providence of Dagestan are not related. Television reporter Ilyas Shurpayev was found dead on Friday and later that day the head of Dagestan’s state controlled television channel was also killed.

“This is just a coincidence. The murders are not related to each other” said Shamil Guseivov, deputy police chief in Dagestan’s capital. ” The same bullet was not used in each case so they cannot be related. Also they did not happen at the same time and two different criminals were executed. I mean two different journalists died. Probably they both had heart attacks. But we will get to the bottom of this incident”.

“Before Sunday because we want to start the new week off with a blank sheet of paper. So we will have room for the names of more journalists.“

And that’s all the news we have for you western dumkoff’s today. Grab your feed and hold tightly onto it because you never know when the news will happen.

And try to buy some fish for your dinner tonight. Remember. Fish from Nicaragua. Good. Cantaloupes from Honduras. Bad.

And Stay away from Dagestan. All of the time.

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