A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London

A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London

By Dylan Thomas

Never until the mankind making
Bird beast and flower
Fathering and all humbling darkness
Tells with silence the last light breaking
And the still hour
Is come of the sea tumbling in harness

And I must enter again the round
Zion of the water bead
And the synagogue of the ear of corn
Shall I let pray the shadow of a sound
Or sow my salt seed
In the least valley of sackcloth to mourn

The majesty and burning of the child’s death.
I shall not murder
The mankind of her going with a grave truth
Nor blaspheme down the stations of the breath
With any further
Elegy of innocence and youth.

Deep with the first dead lies London’s daughter,
Robed in the long friends,
The grains beyond age, the dark veins of her mother,
Secret by the unmourning water
Of the riding Thames.
After the first death, there is no other.

Summary of A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London

  • Popularity of “A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London”: Written way back in 1945, this beautiful poem with mysterious images appeared in the collection of Dylan Thomas, the pacifist Welsh poet, Deaths and Entrances. Later, it appeared in several of his collections of poems published from time to time. The poem presents the poet’s feelings about the death of a child in a Nazi air raid. This death of London’s daughter has forced the poet to adopt a seemingly indifferent stance toward this innocent death in barbaric air raids and the indifference of nature. The popularity of the poem lies in the irrelevant relevance of the images with the death of the girl.
  • “A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London” As a Representative of Lamentation of Death: The poet mentions that he would lament the death of the child but will not do so until mankind comes out of the darkness that has also given birth to life including the bird, beast and the flower, making them appear before the mankind and becoming the source of consciousness. The speaker adamantly refuses to mourn this death, thinking he will revert to the origin of life and will not “murder” the truth. He would let the world know the murder of “innocence and youth” as it has taken place. Therefore, calling her death the death of London’s daughter, the speaker states that death is an equalizer and that deaths are not different, whether they are first or the last. The poem has rather immortalized the death of the girl.
  • Major Themes in “A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London”: Mourning of death, murder of innocence, and indifference of nature are three major themes of this poem. Although the poet mourns the death of this London’s daughter, he does not delve deeper into the death. Rather, he highlights the origin and reversion of life, shedding light on the origin and consciousness of mankind to mourn the death of this child. He is of the view that this death of a child is the death of innocence and silence. Therefore, going into excessive mourning means avoiding this, which seems blasphemous to him. Therefore, he highlights the “unmourning water” to show that nature is indifferent to death, or the first death, or the last death. Death is for mourning for what it has murdered.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London

Dylan Thomas’s uniqueness lies in using a host of literary devices. And their impacts are obvious. Some of the major literary devices he uses in this poem as shown below.

  1. Allusion: It means using references of historical, social, or religious significance to stress a point. The poet has used geographical and religious allusions, such as Zion, synagogue, or London.
  2. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Never until the mankind making” and the sound of /o/ in “And the synagogue of the ear of corn.”
  3. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /b/ in “bird beast” or /m/ in “mankind making.”
  4. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /m/ in “Never until the mankind making” and the sound of /s/ in “Or sow my salt seed.”
  5. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Dylan Thomas uses imagery in this poem, such as “Never until the mankind making”, “Shall I let pray the shadow of a sound” and “The majesty and burning of the child’s death.”
  6. Irony: It means to the contradictory meanings of the words used in different contexts. The poem shows the use of irony in several ways, such as the poem is mourning the death of the child, but still it says “refusal to mourn.”
  7. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used different metaphors, such as;
  • Bird beast and flower / fathering
  • Synagogue of the ear of corn
  • Shadow of a sound
  • The grains beyond age
  1. Personification: It means the attribution of human traits to inanimate objects and ideas, such as “unmourning water” or “riding Thames” or shadow of sound.”
  2. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as dreams, triumph, disaster, knave, fools, and risks to show the different aspects of life.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows very good use of formal and lugubrious diction.
  2. End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Dylan Thomas has used end rhyme in this poem, such as making/breaking and flower/hour.
  3. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABCABC rhyme scheme in the first stanza, and it continues until the end.
  4. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are four stanzas in this poem, with each comprising six verses, also known as sestet.
  5. Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a formal, ironic, and ambivalent tone.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote about death and the indifference of nature.

Deep with the first dead lies London’s daughter,
Robed in the long friends,
The grains beyond age, the dark veins of her mother,
Secret by the unmourning water
Of the riding Thames.
After the first death, there is no other.

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