The poem
In my craft or sullen art Exercised in the still night When only the moon rages And the lovers lie abed With all their griefs in their arms I labour by singing light Not for ambition or bread Or the strut and trade of charms On the ivory stages But for the common wages Of their most secret heart.
Not for the proud man apart From the raging moon I write On these spindrift pages Nor for the towering dead With their nightingales and psalms But for the lovers, their arms Round the griefs of the ages, Who pay no praise or wages Nor heed my craft or art.
This poem raises a subject, which most every poet or writer of any genre has considered: who is bound to read my words, and more importantly, who am I writing them about and for? The sad truth, which Thomas so aptly captured through a syntax more romantically removed than anything so lovely, is that those whom we often write about, with the luck and affectionate grace to find another and graze with them so…
Read the whole commentThis poem raises a subject, which most every poet or writer of any genre has considered: who is bound to read my words, and more importantly, who am I writing them about and for?
The sad truth, which Thomas so aptly captured through a syntax more romantically removed than anything so lovely, is that those whom we often write about, with the luck and affectionate grace to find another and graze with them so fervently, shall never read our works, nor ever appreciate them as much as they were meant to do if ever perused by chance. We ourselves who write of it recognise the inherent otherworldly importance capturing such a transient or permanent fixture it represents within all of the possibilities of feeling. This poem is driven by feeling, using appropriate logic in setting to merely justify its existence, the poet's own profound tone and passion, when he sounds so very devoid of a similar joy himself. Personally, I deeply empathise with this insightful piece.
I believe the last comment misunderstands the poem completely. Some tips to a more in depth read: The poem consists of two stanzas, one with 11 lines and the other with 9 (mistakenly, the comment below identifies it with only 8 lines). And there IS a rhyme scheme, the first stanza has three parts: [abcd][ebd][ecca]. The second is: [abcd][f][ecca]. You will notice the first and third sections of each stanza match…
Read the whole commentI believe the last comment misunderstands the poem completely. Some tips to a more in depth read:
The poem consists of two stanzas, one with 11 lines and the other with 9 (mistakenly, the comment below identifies it with only 8 lines). And there IS a rhyme scheme, the first stanza has three parts: [abcd][ebd][ecca]. The second is: [abcd][f][ecca]. You will notice the first and third sections of each stanza match exactly. It is the middle portion which is different.
Allow me to mention some key words of particular thematic imagery (make of them what you will, I won't give it all away here...):
-craft, trade, raging, [spin]drift, [nightin]gales
-singing, stages, nightingales, psalms, praise
-bread, labour, wages, pay
This poem is NOT about an author who is hostile to government or to the church. This is about writing; what it means to be a poet. It is about writing without commission and writing not for praise but because writing IS its own worth.
The poem is also a commentary on war. It is about the "towering dead" and Florence Nightingale, about older poetry that used to be all odes and psalms and "Hymns to the Aton." It is a new era of grief, where lovers hold each other and are alive in their grief. It is how words could never touch this grief, and how it is for this extreme feeling that the poet must write. It is a poem that is above "worth," it cannot be traded for "ivory."
Rhyme scheme
I was reading the comment about the rhyme scheme, it says that the rhyme scheme is 1st stanza [abcd] [ebd] [ecca] second stanza [abcd][f][ecca] the [f] referring to psalms.
"Psalms" rhymes with "arms" making the rhyme scheme first stanza [abcde] [bd] [ecca] and the second [abcde] [ecca] the only difference between the two is "bd" in stanza one!
analysis
this poem is about the process of writing pure poetry .it is about writing for no other purposes,but for the sake of poetry it self.the poet here states the main reason of writing poetry which is to please the ordinary every day people not the opposite.dylan derives his inspiration from the moon"when only the moon rages" .the poem is made of 2 stanzas ,the first rhyming abcdebdecca ,while the 2 rhyming abcdfacca