A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London : Quotations

Quotations

Quotations 

1. Quote: “Never until the mankind making / Bird beast and flower / Fathering and all humbling darkness”
   Speaker: The Poet (Dylan Thomas)
   Stanza: 1
   Explanation: The poet begins by describing the world’s creation — when man, animals, and plants were made. He says only when everything in the world becomes silent again will the true end come. This shows that life and death are both parts of nature’s big circle.
2. Quote: “And I must enter again the round / Zion of the water bead / And the synagogue of the ear of corn”
   Speaker: The Poet
   Stanza: 2
   Explanation: The poet feels he must return to nature after death, just as water and corn return to the earth. “Zion” and “synagogue” are religious words. It shows that nature itself is holy. He believes life and death both belong to this sacred natural cycle.
3. Quote: “I shall not murder / The mankind of her going with a grave truth”
   Speaker: The Poet
   Stanza: 3
   Explanation: The poet says he will not destroy the meaning of the child’s death with fake sadness or emotional words. He will not turn her death into a “show of grief.” This line shows his deep respect and quiet acceptance.
4. Quote: “Nor blaspheme down the stations of the breath / With any further elegy of innocence and youth.”
   Speaker: The Poet
   Stanza: 3
   Explanation: The poet refuses to write another sad elegy about lost innocence. He feels too much mourning insults the sacredness of life. Instead, he chooses silence and spiritual peace.

5. Quote: “After the first death, there is no other.”
Speaker: The Poet
Stanza: 4