History Creator / DylanThomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} Welsh]] {{poet|ry}}. His poetry is notable for its tendency towards obscurity, its gothic, surreal tone and its rhythmic, infectious cadence. His most famous poem is the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] for DoNotGoGentle.

[[caption-width-right:350:"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 labor by singing light..."]]

* ''Theatre/UnderMilkWood'': A humorous play, it accounts a day in a coastal Welsh village.

''Rage, rage against the dying of the light''

''I've had 18 straight tropes ... I think that's the record.''

* TheAlcoholic: A case of WriteWhatYouKnow, as he was a ''very'' heavy drinker. The exact circumstances of his death in New York at the age of 39 are unclear [[note]] his last words, uttered just before he slipped into a coma following a drinking session in Greenwich Village's White Horse Tavern, were "I've had 18 straight whiskies ... I think that's the record" [[/note]] -- but if alcohol consumption wasn't the primary cause, it was a huge contributing factor.

----

* ''Quite Early One Morning'': A posthumous collection of fictions, interviews and criticis ms. Includes what is arguably his greatest story, "A Child's Christmas in Wales".
* ''Theatre/UnderMilkWood'': A humorous play, it accounts a strange day in a coastal Welsh town.

!! His life and work give examples of the following tropes...

* InfantImmortality: Purposefully averted. A handful of his poems ("A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" and "The Conversation of Prayer", to name a couple) deal with dead children.

* GrowingUpSucks: "Fern Hill" (which provides the page quote) is about how his memories of a happy summer at the title farm have been spoiled by an adult's awareness that time was going to take it all away.

Dylan Thomas was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} Welsh]] {{poet|ry}}, born in 1914 and dead by 1953. His poetry is notable for its tendency towards obscurity, its gothic, surreal tone and its rhythmic, infectious cadence. His most famous poem is the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] for DoNotGoGentle.

* YouthIsWastedOnTheYoung: "Fern Hill" again
-->And nothing I cared at my sky blue trades that time allows\\
In all his tuneful turning so few, and such morning songs\\
Before the children green and golden\\
Follow him out of grace.

'''Dylan Thomas''' was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} Welsh]] {{poet|ry}}, born in 1914 and dead by 1953. His poetry is notable for its tendency towards obscurity, its gothic, surreal tone and its rhythmic, infectious cadence. His most famous poem is the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] for DoNotGoGentle.

* ''Under Milk Wood'': A humorous play, it accounts a strange day in a coastal Welsh town.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: ''Under Milk Wood'' is set in the fictional village of Llareggub (pronounced Khlar - regg - ib). This looks like a real Welsh place name to the untrained eye, but try reading it backwards ...

* ''[[{{Shout Out}} A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog]]'': Following the model of Creator/JamesJoyce's ''Literature/{{Dubliners}}'' (although Thomas insisted he never read a word of Joyce), this auto{{biograph|y}}ical collection of {{short stor|y}}ies tracks an AuthorAvatar as he navigates the turmoil of adolescence and disappointment.

'''Dylan Thomas''' was a Welsh {{poet|ry}}, born in 1914 and dead by 1953. His poetry is notable for its tendency towards obscurity, its gothic, surreal tone and its rhythmic, infectious cadence. His most famous poem is the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] for DoNotGoGentle.

'''Dylan Thomas''' was a Welsh {{poet|ry}}, born in 1914 and dead by 1953. His poetry is notable for its tendency towards obscurity, its gothic, surreal tone and its rhythmic, infectious cadence. His most famous poem is the TropeNamer for DoNotGoGentle.

* ''[[{{Shout Out}} A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog]]'': Following the model of Creator/JamesJoyce's ''{{Dubliners}}'' (although Thomas insisted he never read a word of Joyce), this auto{{biograph|y}}ical collection of {{short stor|y}}ies tracks an AuthorAvatar as he navigates the turmoil of adolescence and disappointment.

* ''[[{{Shout Out}} A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog]]'': Following the model of JamesJoyce's ''{{Dubliners}}'' (although Thomas insisted he never read a word of Joyce), this auto{{biograph|y}}ical collection of {{short stor|y}}ies tracks an AuthorAvatar as he navigates the turmoil of adolescence and disappointment.

* {{The Alcoholic}}: Drink would eventually become his undoing.
* {{Infant Immortality}}: Purposefully averted. A handful of his poems (''A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London'' and ''The Conversation of Prayer'', to name a couple) deal with dead children.
* {{Religious Horror}}: Much of his poetry is grotesque, an effect he achieved by juxtaposing religious imagery with descriptions of filth and decay.
* {{Slap Slap Kiss}}: He would sometimes have to restrain his wife Caitlin when she grew rowdy at social functions.

* ''Quite Early One Morning'': A posthumous collection of fictions, interviews and criticisms. Includes what is arguably his greatest story, "A Child's Christmas in Wales".