oem in October.”
Dylan Thomas’s (1914-1953) “Poem in October” (written in 1944) is full of rich and beautiful imagery. Imagery means the use of words that create pictures in the reader’s mind. In this poem, Thomas takes a morning walk in the Welsh countryside on his thirtieth birthday. He walks through his town, climbs a hill, and remembers his childhood. On this walk, he uses the images of nature, seasons, colours, and sounds to bring back his childhood memories.
Nature Imagery: The poem begins on a rainy October morning. Thomas wakes up early and walks in the countryside. As he walks, we find beautiful images from nature. He describes the “harbour and neighbour wood.” He hears the “knock of sailing boats” at the shore. A springful of larks is flying into the cloud. The blackbirds are whistling from the bushes. He also describes a hunting heron dive into the water. These images make nature alive and active, as if nature is celebrating with the poet. These nature images also make the reader feel the freshness and life of the place.
Nature Images Bring Back Memories: Thomas uses nature images to remember the joy of childhood. As he walks, the autumn rain begins to fall. He writes:
“In rainy autumn
And walked abroad in a shower of all my days.”
He imagines that the rainy autumn is showering down all his memories on him. Then the poet climbs a hill. Suddenly, the weather changes. He describes the bright sunlight of midday summer. The “sun of October” suddenly becomes “summery.” Thomas’s vivid images take the readers on the hill with him, and they also feel the bright sunlight. From that height, the faraway town looks tiny. In the bright sunlight, he sees apples, pears, and red currants. The warm summer light brings back his childhood memories of walking with his mother. He writes:
“And I saw… a child's
Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother”
Childhood Imagery: Thomas describes his childhood memories through wonderful images. In nature, he feels the childhood joy again. The woods, river, and sea bring back his childhood memories. As he writes:
“These were the woods the river and sea
Where a boy
…whispered the truth of his joy.”
These lines mean he felt deep joy in the woods, river, and sea as a boy. He also describes speaking to “the trees and the stones and the fish in the tide.” These images show that his childhood was full of joy and innocence in the beauty of nature.
Return to Present: At the end, Thomas returns from the summer of his childhood to the present day of autumn. To show this, he uses the image of autumn. He describes the trees in the town below are turning autumnal red. He calls these red leaves “October blood.” Though the poet is thirty now, the childhood joy is still in him. He wishes to find the same joy in nature on his future birthdays. As he writes:
“O may my heart's truth
Still be sung…”
Color and Sound Images: Moreover, “Poem is October” is rich with images of color and sound. The red leaves of the trees in Autumn are portrayed as “October blood.” We also hear “the call of seagull and rook” and the “knock of sailing boats.” Even the phrase “water praying” makes us imagine a soft, continuous sound. These images make the scene more real.
In fine, Dylan Thomas uses wonderful images to make his birthday walk and childhood memories alive. Nature, seasons, colours, and sounds all work together to create vivid pictures. Through these images, the reader can see, hear, and feel the poet’s journey from his autumn morning into the summers of his childhood.
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