..Dylan Thomas' battle, our battle..

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. John 3:16, The Holy Bible

I found myself trapped in his words, words that were born from a mysterious fusion of mind and soul. Because once I had read his poems, I could not distinguish the real source of his art. He had gone through a battle that I could not quite understand and, therefore, his poems were an enigma. But then, I thought about my own perception of Life and Death, and the answers to all my questions began to flourish. We are similar, somehow… we, humans, are probably more than similar.

In his poetry, Dylan Thomas struggles with what I think is one of humanity’s most common questionings: what do we really experience when we face death?. No wonder I felt so lost among his ideas, they were a reflection of mine. I too am expecting the unknown, and I too am stumbling along my beliefs about it. Aren’t we all (or at least, a vast majority of us) torn by this never-ending inquiring?

And then:

“…Though they go mad they shall be sane,

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;

Though lovers be lost love shall not;

And death shall have no dominion…”

Metamorphosis

Death, as the inevitable dawn of life, falls on us no matter what. The poet is brave enough to put into words his longing for eternal life, for a moment in which we, in all our grace, defeat death. What is more, he implies that once we reach the point of no return, a new gate opens to allow us to renovate ourselves, to rise from the bottom of our predestined ending, and cherish a new beginning (as a sort of metamorphosis) . Because death shall have no dominion over our fate anymore. We shall no longer fear death, but consider it a threshold that leads us to a second chance.

Isn’t that what the ancient words of the Bible promised us once? Isn’t that what many of us so strongly believe? That God will not leave behind those who share his love, but He will remain being love for them and provide them with eternal life. That He, will fix those who are broken. And as Dylan Thomas claims, that He will reconstruct what has been corrupted.

But then, almost twenty years later:

“Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light…”

A dichotomy arises.

When encountering death, when on the edge, the threat of darkness becomes real. Somehow the poet finds himself judging his own belief, questioning his will to experience death and rise from it as a new being. Due to the fact that once death knocks on our door, we crave for more to live, terror invades us. And, in a way, we fear the absence of eternal life.

Consequently, Dylan Thomas presents our final destiny, admitting that we must accept the end, because it is imminent, and apparently, no new life awaits for us after that. But this time, he does not believe in subjugation, instead, he encourages himself and his audience to be fearless, to rage against our final time, not to defeat it, but to show our frustration. The idea that we shall surrender to the end because it only marks the beginning of a new path, is now obsolete

Isn’t this battle, Dylan Thomas’ battle, also ours? Aren’t we also struggling with our predisposition towards our fate?  His poetry is an expression of his thoughts and feelings, those which all humans also share. It is authentic, and it is in fact, about Life and Death in all their extent. His battle, our battle.

Luis Royo