After the Funeral

Poetry | Dylan Thomas
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Brief Questions in Dylan Thomas' Poems

Brief Questions in Dylan Thomas' Poems 

  • What was Dylan’s second name?
Ans: His second name was Marlais, meaning “voice of the sea.”
  • What is the source of “The Force that through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower”?
Ans: It was reworked from his early Swansea Notebooks started at age 15.
  • What is the theme of that poem?
Ans: The same vital force works in both man and nature.
  • What is “crooked rose”?
Ans: A reference to Blake’s The Sick Rose, symbolizing corruption or decay.
  • What does “quicksand” symbolize?
Ans: Destruction and engulfing power in nature.
  1. What does the “fountain-head” symbolize?
Ans: The womb or life’s source from which time drains vitality.
  • What is “Weather’s Wind”?
Ans: The wind of time, symbolizing life’s passing.
  • What truth is the poet unable to reveal under the tomb?
Ans: That the worm devouring his corpse will crawl over his lover’s body.
  • What are “spittled eyes”?
Ans: Eyes moistened with saliva to fake tears of grief.
  • How is the boy Dylan shaken by his aunt’s death?
Ans: He is so grief-stricken that he feels suicidal.
  • What is the poet’s fancy in building a memorial for his aunt?
Ans: He imagines himself alone in her room, creating a poetic memorial.
  • How does Thomas estimate his aunt?
Ans: Ann Jones embodies love and generosity, like a spring of water.
  • What is “Brown Chapel”?
Ans: The chapel where Ann Jones prayed, a holy place like nature’s woods.
  • How is Thomas consoled by her statue?
Ans: Her marble image recalls her virtues and gives him hope of her return.
  • What made Dylan Thomas a poet?
Ans: His love for his aunt, her death, and writing her elegy awakened his poetic power.
  • What kind of poem is “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London”?
Ans: A war elegy for a child killed in an air raid.
  • Why is the poet unwilling to mourn the child’s death?
Ans: Conventional mourning would cheapen the dignity of her death.
  • What is “Zion”?
Ans: The sacred Jewish hill in Jerusalem, symbol of holiness.
  • Where does the child lie now?
Ans: With Adam and Eve on the earth, under the Thames flowing to the sea.
  • What is the poet’s idea of death there?
Ans: Death is not an end but a renewal of eternal life.
  • What is the theme of “In My Craft or Sullen Art”?
Ans: The poet’s dedication to his art and its purpose.
  • When does Thomas exercise his poetic art?
Ans: At night, under the moon, while lovers sleep.
  • In what sense is his art “sullen”?
Ans: It brings no reward, praise, or recognition.
  • What is the meaning of “green age”?
Ans: Youth or boyhood.
  • What does “The Force” signify?
Ans: The universal life-energy driving nature and mankind alike.
  1. In whose honour does Thomas write his verses?
Ans: For lovers who embody both passion and human sorrow.
  • What does “spindrift pages” mean?
Ans: His brief, fleeting poems—like sea spray blown away.
  • What does “green fuse” mean?
Ans: The vital, explosive life-energy in all living things.
  • What kind of poem is “After the Funeral”?
Ans: An elegy for his aunt, Ann Jones.
  • What are “mule praises”?
Ans: The false, mechanical mourning of hypocritical people.
  • What are “stuffed fox and stale fern”?
Ans: Decorative objects in Aunt Jones’s room symbolizing lifelessness.
  • What does “green age” mean?
Ans: Youthful, fresh period of life.
  • What does “wintry fever” mean in “The Force That through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower”?
Ans: The same natural force that brings life also causes decay and death. 

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from After the Funeral