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

Main text

A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London By Dylan Thomas (1914-53) Never until the mankind making Bird beast and flower Fathering and all humbling darkness Tells with silence the last light breaking And the still hour Is come of the sea tumbling in harness And I must enter again the round Zion of the water bead And the synagogue of the ear of corn Shall I let pray the shadow of a sound Or sow my salt seed In the least valley of sackcloth to mourn The majesty and burning of the child's death. [...]

Key info

“A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London” is a famous mournful poem by Dylan Thomas. Look at the key facts of the poem to get a quick conception.

Full Title: A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London
Writer: Dylan Marlais Thomas (1914-1953)
Title of Dylan Thomas: Poet of the Wild Wordplay
Genre: Elegy

Summary

"A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London" is a powerful and emotionally charged poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-53). The poem was written in 1945. The poem deals with the tragic death of a child in a fire and the speaker's refusal to accept the conventional mourning rituals.

Sorrowful Image of the Child by Fire: The poem begins with a sorrowful image of the child's death by fire in London. The child's body is described as a "grain of man" consumed by flames. It highlights the impermanence of human life. The poem delves into the idea that death is inevitable. Death is a part of the natural cycle of life. Now, mourning for the child is unnecessary.

Way of Mourning for the Dead: The speaker believes that there is a collective and traditional way of mourning for the dead. It involves rituals like tolling bells and the mourning of friends and family.