Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)

Form became a fetish in some kingdoms of poetry world in the later twentieth century. Creative writing students practised Sestinas and Villanelles, and some of them produced technically proficient examples. Most of them were immediately forgettable, and if you enjoy trivial pursuits a good question is 'Name three great villanelles written in the twentieth century'.

What the festishists ignored, forgot or didn’t know what that form is never the whole story. Simply being formal doesn’t you make your poem any better than sprawling free verse. You can teach an 11 year old to write a technically flawless sonnet but your chances of it being memorable are almost non-existent.

This is a great poem, regardless of Thomas’ choice of form. You can always criticise him for being excessive with the adjectives, and he obviously didn’t care for Bunting’s ‘Cut out every word you dare’. But there are few poets who are so enjoyable to read aloud. Even when sense is slipping out the back door for a quiet pint in the pub while the music rolls on.

And don’t be fooled by the music of it. This is very clever in a subtle and unobtrusive way. As someone said, there is no true repetition in poetry….Good night is both a night that is a good, a euphemism for death, and a parting statement. You can exhort someone to rage, or they can rage.

This is taken from a very tatty, yellowing Aldine Paperback ‘Collected Poems 1934-1952’ which I bought in a bookshop in Bala in April 1976