The poem
Light breaks where no sun shines; Where no sea runs, the waters of the heart Push in their tides; And, broken ghosts with glowworms in their heads, The things of light File through the flesh where no flesh decks the bones.
A candle in the thighs Warms youth and seed and burns the seeds of age; Where no seed stirs, The fruit of man unwrinkles in the stars, Bright as a fig; Where no wax is, the candle shows its hairs.
Dawn breaks behind the eyes; From poles of skull and toe the windy blood Slides like a sea; Nor fenced, nor staked, the gushers of the sky Spout to the rod Divining in a smile the oil of tears.
Night in the sockets rounds, Like some pitch moon, the limit of the globes; Day lights the bone; Where no cold is, the skinning gales unpin The winter's robes; The film of spring is hanging from the lids.
Light breaks on secret lots, On tips of thought where thoughts smell in the rain; When logics die, The secret of the soil grows through the eye, And blood jumps in the sun; Above the waste allotments the dawn halts.
The poem presence the effects of maturity by the gaining of sexuality yet the death of innocense and virginity. Maturity can be seen as stepping into the light and seeing all of the obstacles and problems that you are now going to face. The over-all and played out imagery of this lose of the darkening thrush of innocense and naivity is the spark of first experience sexuality which is like a "Light (that) breaks…
Read the whole commentThe poem presence the effects of maturity by the gaining of sexuality yet the death of innocense and virginity. Maturity can be seen as stepping into the light and seeing all of the obstacles and problems that you are now going to face. The over-all and played out imagery of this lose of the darkening thrush of innocense and naivity is the spark of first experience sexuality which is like a "Light (that) breaks where no sun shines." The lifetime before the lose of virginity was a place "where no sea runs" because the physical effects of intercourse were not happening. But once the time came (I am stipulating that idealy this is noted with a dual intent upon the two virgins who are going into this act of intercourse both consenting their approval), the two lovers had "the waters of the heart/Push in their tides;" The proper physical reactions of the moistness and swelling where intiated by the heart, the center of love, and that of love making. Now the two virgin lovers who have decide to dive into their sexuality and let reality of obstacles and problems have just become "broken ghosts with glow-worms in their heads". They are "broken ghosts" because they have just killed any type of purity within themselves, so now they are doomed to death. The "Glow-worms" is a symbol of sex. The idea is that now that they have entered a world of physical pleasure that forever they will have consistent desires for physical things that won't ever bring them real pleasure because it will only bring them death in the end. The "worm" is a phallus symbol, but also a symbol for death because it represents the worm that eats away dead bodies. Innocense and purity offer everlasting life and delight, romantically speaking, because pleasure comes from the imagination which could last, idealy and pure, forever. But once sex and the loss of innocense is brought into the child then all light is shown on the difficulties of life. In Thomas' eyes, sex=light=death. Now that the two young lovers have stepped into the light "the things of light/File through the flesh where no flesh decks the bones." This means that the problems and obstacles of life are going to start effecting these nympos which in a sense are all ready dead.
love your poem
Clearly Thomas trying to be a smartalec.
Alusion to homosexual (anal) intercourse with younger partners drenched in heavy imagery and cadence to by pass it as a normal poem:
Light breaks where no sun shines;
"Something new happening in the anal area"
Where no sea runs, the waters of the heart
Push in their tides;
"Where there was none now love pushes in it tides"
A candle in the thighs
Warms youth and seed and burns the seeds of age;
Where no seed stirs,
The fruit of man unwrinkles in the stars,
Bright as a fig;
Where no wax is, the candle shows its hairs.
"the old man having an erection"
the gushers of the sky
Spout to the rod
no comment
the poem seems to portray an individual's first experience of phallic gratification which leads him to a kind of fulfilment.yet this fulfilment is only partial because it is accompanied by a sense of loss of chastity and purity of the body and the mind.therefore the act of sexual intercourse is a kind of enlightenment to him, it is like light breaking upon darkness or ignorance or even innocence, thus illuminating it. the loss in the process of illumination is the loss of purity of the body , the idea which is ingrained into the consciousness of yhe individual.
The sexual imagery is obvious on a first or second reading, but I think Thomas is digging for something a little deeper than a strictly physical meaning. Although I have not worked out the complete interpretation, I believe he is commenting on the connection between our human bodies and the earth. Within us we have moving "water" where "no sea runs." When we get down to the basics--the bones and the candle wick…
Read the whole commentThe sexual imagery is obvious on a first or second reading, but I think Thomas is digging for something a little deeper than a strictly physical meaning. Although I have not worked out the complete interpretation, I believe he is commenting on the connection between our human bodies and the earth. Within us we have moving "water" where "no sea runs." When we get down to the basics--the bones and the candle wick ("where no wax is the candle shows its hairs)--that is where elemental things are somewhat the same. Once we die and no longer have "light" behind our eyes (in our brains), then the seeds of the earth grow through our decaying bodies and the blood that once flowed in our veins becomes part of the earth again. I am still working on understanding this poem, but these are some thoughts.
i agree with J Lo from US... i also think Thomas is being a smart arse. he was probably drunk when he wrote it, though, and you must bare that in mind. but yeah, it's just about sex in a gross, distorted way and he's just being a smart arse. it is funny though!