18 Poems

First edition (publ. The Fortune Press)

18 Poems is a book of poetry written by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, published in 1934 as the winner of a contest sponsored by Sunday Referee. His first book, 18 Poems, introduced Thomas's new and distinctive style of poetry.[1] This was characterised by tightly metered, rhyming verse and an impassioned tone. Written in his "womb- tomb period",[2] the poems explore dark themes of love, death and birth, employing a rich combination of sexual connotations and religious symbolism. The lyricism and intensity of the poems in the book contrasted with the emotional restraint shown in the poetry of the successful modernist poets that worked as his contemporaries. The book received critical acclaim, but was not initially commercially successful.[3]

The poem, The force that through the green fuse drives the flower, is known as the poem that "made Thomas famous", and also appears in the book.[4] The poems are considered by many to be evocative but difficult to understand. Critic and contemporary of Thomas, Geoffrey Grigson, said that, regarding the influence of prominent poets on Thomas, the young poet was "untainted with Eliot or with Auden [...] whose poems, though a bit unintelligible, sounded at least familiar in an old grandiloquent way."[3]

The poems in 18 poems are untitled and are often referred to by their first lines.

## Contents

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> I see the boys of summer
>  Where once the twilight locks
>  A process in the weather of the heart
>  Before I knocked
>  The force that through the green fuse
>  My hero bares his nerves
>  Where once the waters of your face
>  If I were tickled by the rub of love
>  Our eunuch dreams
>  Especially when the October wind
>  When, like a running grave
>  From love's first fever
>  In the beginning
>  Light breaks where no sun shines
>  I fellowed sleep
>  I dreamed my genesis
>  My world is pyramid
>  All all and all

## Influences

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* William Blake
* Victor Neuburg

## References

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1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online. "Dylan Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica.
2. ^ Tindall, William York (1996). A reader's Guide to Dylan Thomas. First Syracuse University Press. p. 27\. ISBN 978-0-8156-0401-3.
3. ^ a b Kirsch, Adam (28 June 2004). "Reckless Endangerment". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
4. ^ Tindall, William York (1996). A reader's Guide to Dylan Thomas. First Syracuse University Press. p. 38\. ISBN 978-0-8156-0401-3.

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Dylan Thomas (works)

Works|

* A Child's Christmas in Wales
* Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog
* Under Milk Wood (radio play)
* Rebecca's Daughters (screenplay)

Poems|

* 18 Poems
* Deaths and Entrances
* "And death shall have no dominion"
* "Do not go gentle into that good night"
* "Fern Hill"
* "In my craft or sullen art"
* "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower"

Related|

* Caitlin Thomas (wife)
* Aeronwy Thomas (daughter)
* Gwilym Marles (paternal granduncle)
* The Kardomah Gang
* Cultural depictions
* The Boathouse
* Dylan Thomas Centre
* Dylan Thomas Theatre
* Dylan Thomas Trail
* Laugharne
* Dylan Thomas (1962 documentary)
* Dylan (1964 play)
* The Edge of Love (2008 film)
* Set Fire to the Stars (2014 film)
* A Poet in New York (2014 television film)
* Dominion (2016 film)

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