Been reading 'The Poems Of Dylan Thomas'. I'm finding it incredibly beautiful in a somber and inspiring manner. Thematically it's right up my alley and I am absolutely loving his tone and structure. To tie this into my recent VU blog postings, above is a fantastic performance of Thomas' well known poem 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' set to music by fellow Welshman John Cale with a stunning and lush orchestration. In contrast below is Thomas' own reading (both just beating Rodney Dangerfield's recitation by a hair).
A current D.T. favorite:
IT'S NOT IN MISERY BUT IN OBLIVION
It's not in misery but in oblivion,
Not vertically in a mood of joy
Screaming the spring
Over the ancient winter,
He'll lie down, and our breath
Will chill the roundness of his cheeks,
And make his wide mouth home.
For we must whisper down the funnel
The love we had and glory in his blood
Coursing along the channels
Until the spout dried up
That flowed out of the soil
All seasons with the same meticulous power,
But the veins must fail.
He's not awake to the grave
Though we cry down the funnel,
Splitting a thought into such hideous moments
As drown, over and over, this fever.
He's dead, home, has no lover,
But our speaking does not thrive
In the bosom, or the empty channels.
Our evil, when we breathe it,
Of dissolution and the empty fall,
Won't harm the tent around him,
Uneaten and not to be pierced
By us in sin or us in gaiety.
And who shall tell the amorist
Oblivion is so loverless.
A significant amount of Dylan Thomas' poems can be read: here.
'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' performed by John Cale w/ orchestration featuring a few more Dylan Thomas renditions can be found on: Words For The Dying (pw: lagrimapsicodelica).
'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' performed by John Cale solo on piano featuring still more Dylan Thomas renditions can be found on: Fragments Of A Rainy Season (pw: lagrimapsicodelica).
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