In My Craft of Sullen Art by Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas would be 96 today. Let's celebrate the anniversary with one of his most exquisitely written poems, In My Craft of Sullen Art, recited by the poet himself.

In my craft or sullen art

Exercised in the still night

When only the moon rages

And the lovers lie abed

With all their griefs in their arms,

I labour by singing light

Not for ambition or bread

Or the strut and trade of charms

On the ivory stages

But for the common wages

Of their most secret heart.

Not for the proud man apart

From the raging moon I write

On these spindrift pages

Nor for the towering dead

With their nightingales and psalms

But for the lovers, their arms

Round the griefs of the ages,

Who pay no praise or wages

Nor heed my craft or art.

 

Learning by heart: A poem by Dylan Thomas

This poem was my favourite when I was at university. I think I liked it at the time because I didn't need a thick thesaurus to look up every second word and after a few readings I could recite most of it by heart (probably with pauses and a few mistakes but still somehow). Now that I have found it again I am quite surprised just how beautiful it really is. This time, I will make a point of learning it well.

Dylan Thomas: In My Craft or Sullen Art

In my craft or sullen art

Exercised in the still night

When only the moon rages

And the lovers lie abed

With all their griefs in their arms,

I labour by singing light

Not for ambition or bread

Or the strut and trade of charms

On the ivory stages

But for the common wages

Of their most secret heart.

Not for the proud man apart

From the raging moon I write

On these spindrift pages

Nor for the towering dead

With their nightingales and psalms

But for the lovers, their arms

Round the griefs of the ages,

Who pay no praise or wages

Nor heed my craft or art.

You can listen to Dylan Thomas reading this poem here.

A past perfect drink

I have found a poem which I quite like. It is on a BBC site called Poetry: Out Loud (unfortunately no longer updated). The title of the poem is "On the Booze" and it is read by the poet John Hegley himself. A few notes for learners of English:

- The word 'booze' means alcoholic drink.
- The expression 'blew her lid' means that the person got really angry.
- 'Lather' is the foam that soaps and detergents make.
- The word 'blinking' in the poem is used as a swear word, similar to 'bloody'.
- The adjective 'obnoxious' is a synonym of annoying or offensive.
- A 'half' is a measure of drink, usually of beer, and equals the half of a pint.


Another site with good poems read aloud can be found here.