Dylan Thomas: The Country of the Spirit

Rushworth M. Kidder

Published by Princeton University Press 1973

Dylan Thomas

The Country of the Spirit

Rushworth M. Kidder

Volume 1543 in the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400869794

Overview
Contents

About this book

Since the Bible appears so frequently in Dylan Thomas' work, some critics have decided that he must be a religious poet. Others, noting blasphemous statements and certain irreligious aspects of Thomas' personal life, contend that he was no such thing. Rushworth M. Kidder, investigating this problem, looks below the surface of the obviously religious imagery and discovers a more profound poetry.

The first part of this book discusses the nature of religious poetry and the application of that term to Thomas' work; it then develops the necessary background based on his letters and prose comments to provide a foundation for the study; and finally it examines the relationship between the religious aspects of his poetry and his well-known ambiguity. The author re-defines the vocabulary for dealing with religious imagery by establishing three distinct categories of imagery: referential, allusive, and thematic. This original technique is used to examine critically Thomas' poems to show the development of his religious and poetic thought. There are numerous close, sensitive readings of individual poems to show how his poetry, like the Bible, teaches by parable, speaking deliberate ambiguity rather than simple dogma. This strategy inspired poetry that is technically complex but thematically simple, a mode of verse that became more explicitly religious in the poet's final years.

Originally published in 1973.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
PART ONE: The Mazes of His Praise
Chapter I. Religious Poetry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Chapter II. Ambiguity and Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
PART TWO: The Three-Pointed Star
Chapter III. Three Types of Religious Imagery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
Chapter IV. Referential Imagery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
Chapter V: Allusive Imagery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
Chapter VI. Thematic Imagery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
PART THREE: The Parables of Sun Light
Chapter VII. 18 Poems Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
Chapter VIII. Twenty-Five Poems Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
Chapter IX. The Map of Love Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
Chapter X. Deaths and Entrances Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
Chapter XI. In Country Sleep Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Chapter XII. "The Prayer's End": A Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	204
Appendix: The Tendency Toward Ambiguity in Thomas' Revisions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227