And Death Shall Have No Dominion

Poem

And Death Shall Have No Dominion

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead man naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
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.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan't crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.


-- Dylan Thomas --

About

“And death shall have no dominion” is a powerful and moving poem written by Dylan Thomas in 1933. The poem speaks of the human desire to live, to be alive and the struggle against the inevitability of death. The poem uses religious imagery and metaphor to convey its message.

In the poem, death is personified as a conqueror, but the speaker insists that death will not have the final say. The speaker proclaims that death will not be able to conquer the will to live, or to extinguish the human spirit. The repetition of the phrase “And death shall have no dominion” reinforces the message of the poem and gives it a sense of defiance and resistance.

The poem also uses imagery of the natural world, such as the sea and the earth, to convey the idea of continuity and rebirth. The imagery of the “dead men naked they shall be one” highlights the idea that death is not the end, but rather a continuation of life. The poem speaks of the idea of the human spirit’s resilience, and its ability to rise again, even in the face of death.

The title and key line come from the bible, in the book of Romans, 6:9, Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. (King James Version)

Readings of the poem appear in the 2002 movie Solaris, as read by George Clooney, and in the BBC miniseries The Field of Blood, recited by Peter Capaldi. Australian singer Paul Kelly put the song to music for the opening of his 2018 album “Nature”.

Author

Dylan Thomas was a Welsh poet and playwright born on October 27, 1914 in Swansea, Wales. He is considered one of the most important poets of the 20th century, known for his lyrical and imaginative use of language.

He began writing poetry at a young age and published his first book, “18 Poems,” in 1934. He went on to publish several more books of poetry, including “The Map of Love” (1939) and “Deaths and Entrances” (1946). He also wrote several plays, including “Under Milk Wood” (1954).

He gained fame and recognition for his performances of his poetry in London and New York City. His most famous poems include “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “And death shall have no dominion”.

In 1953, he embarked on a tour of America, where he gave a series of readings, but during this trip his heavy drinking caught up with him. He collapsed and died on November 9, 1953, at the age of 39, in New York City, from alcohol-related causes.