Dylan Thomas, Annotated Bibliography Example

Brown, Thomas. “The Irish Dylan Thomas: Versions and Influences.” Irish Studies Review. Vol. 17 Issue 1 (2009): 45-54.

Brown argues for influences that the work of Dylan Thomas had on Irish poets, such as Patrick Kavanagh and Louis MacNelce. Insofar as both Irish and Welsh cultures (Thomas was Welsh) that have had a close contact with Anglo-Saxon culture, there seems to be a natural affinity between the two which Brown attempts to uncover. In particular, Brown suggests that such Irish poets picked up on an existential motif in Thomas’ work, in particular the latter’s obsession with death as a theme for poetic meditation. The article is primarily valuable in terms of its elaboration of Thomas’ role within a particular ethnic context (Welsh and Celtic culture), its identifying some of his most treasured poetic topics, and its presentation of his reception by other artists. The text however is demanding of some pre-understanding of Irish poetry.

Dilworth, Thomas. “Unicorn Evils” and Ineffectuality in Dylan Thomas’ “And Death Shall Have No Dominion.” English Language Notes. Vol. 42, Issue 1, (2004): 63-65.

Dilworth focuses specifically on Thomas’ famous work “And Death Shall Have No Dominion”, investigating where Thomas received the image of the unicorn in his piece. Dilworth suggests that this is primarily a “Scriptural reference” (63), which also appears in Milton’s Paradise Lost (63), such that Thomas’ poem can be considered an interpretation of traditional theological motifs. The main motif is that of Christian overcoming of death, most explicitly stated in the Resurrection of Christ. Thomas thus presents, according to Dilworth, an artistic take on Christian motifs, or rather a Christian message without explicit Christian references. These references must rather be uncovered through careful exegesis and philological investigation of the implicit influences on Thomas. The article provides an excellent example of how literary criticism can be performed in a rigorous manner that bears a fidelity to historical contexts that nurture the production of a particular work.

Gordon, John. “The Great War and Recovered Memory.” ANQ. Vol. 18, Issue 14 (2005): 39-42.

Gordon’s article takes a very specific look at Thomas’ poetry, noting the prevalence of the word “cut” in the Welsh artist’s work. Gordon links what he terms this “obsession” (39) to a greater thematic within Thomas’ work that is concerned with amputation, and, by extension, traumatic incidents that are registered upon the physical flesh. At the same time, this physical amputation corresponds, for Gordon, to a “psychic regression” (39) that entails a reduction of mental life to a minimum of psychic consciousness. The work is highly interesting as an examination of very specific diction choices in Thomas’ work and how frequency of word choice can be connected to broader conceptual themes that define a poet’s work.

Sundquist, Eric J. “In Country Heaven: Dylan Thomas and Rilke.” Comparative Literature. Vol. 31, Issue 1 (1979): 63-79.

Sundquist looks for similarites between Thomas and the famous German poet, Rainer Maria Rilke. In particular, Sundquist focuses on the influence of Rilke’s poem “Duino Elegies” upon Thomas’ “In Country Heaven.” This influence, argues Sundquist, takes the form of a topology, whereby the locations Rilke sketches in his poem may be seen as repeating themselves in Thomas’ work. Furthermore, what Sundquist terms “beings” in Rilke’s poem are then compared to Thomas’ “beings.” This text is a fairly complex comparative criticism, in which specific philosophical concepts are viewed as being initiated by one author, and then further developed by another. The greatest merit about Sundquist’s text is that it shows that comparative literature studies do not entail the tracing of fairly mundane parallels, but rather the study of how conceptual conversation unfolds between artists.

 “Dylan Thomas (1914-1953).” Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski and Phyllis Carmel Mendolsohn. Vol. 1 (1988): 465-477.

This article sets forth a fairly thorough artistic biography of Thomas, focusing not only of his major artistic accomplishments, but on the precise approaches to poetic language that interested him. The authors above all argue that Thomas was motivated by a “natural and strong love of languages and of words for their own sake.” (466) Accordingly, the image portrayed of Thomas in this article is not that of an artist philosophically investigating specific existential themes, but rather an artist who is committed to playing with the possibilities of his material. Whereas other articles on Thomas perhaps argue against the veracity of this interpretation, this particular article is a must-read for the beginning student of Thomas, as his driving artistic commitments and his main techniques are summarized. But this apparently introductory nature of the text does not mean that it fails to offer a deep view of its subject matter. Insight is given to how Thomas worked with language and therefore how he worked with life in general, a process the authors intriguingly describe as a “rhetorical violence.” (467) The article above all presents the aesthetic forces that an artist can produce, as Thomas is portrayed as a singularly powerful poet and wielder of language.