Dylan Thomas' style in Under Milk Wood.

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Dylan Thomas’ style in Under Milk Wood.

Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 and lived for many years in a small Welsh town called Laugharne.  He could speak not a single word of Welsh. The piece called ‘Under Milk Wood’ was finished just short of a month before he passed away. It was commissioned by the BBC to be broadcasted on the National radio. This meant that it was broadcasted with no costumes, no props and no visual imagery to excite the audience.  Dylan Thomas’ radio play had to entertain the audience by the spoken word only. The style and language in Under Milk Wood is therefore very important.  Under Milk Wood uses throughout the play an opaque and poetic style giving the listener an impression of fluency and flowing.  We propose to contrast this style with others that are used in Under Milk Wood.

The first style in Under Milk Wood is an opaque poetic style, which Thomas uses to perfection; it is used to describe the strange and unusual inhabitants of Llareggub and their day-to-day activities.  There are many different techniques that are used that help build up an atmosphere that is normally created through the use of actors and costumes but as Under Milk Wood was broadcasted and not meant to be performed upon a stage with an audience.  One way to introduce an atmosphere is to bring songs into the play as a sombre song will make a sombre mood.  Dylan Thomas uses songs through out the play to reflect on the atmosphere, a song such as Tom, Dick and Harry produces emotions “O Tom, Dick & Harry were three fine men” the whole song is very sombre and is a technique that wasn’t used in very many plays.  It is very effective and the songs are repeated again numerous times throughout the play this use of familiar repetition is another attractive device to incite the listeners.  To contrast the sombre song there is a happy song about Johnnie Crack and Flossie Snail sung by young children this is very useful as it is a step from the opaque and poetic style that he normally used. It is used as it is interesting and inspires the reader to continue. The songs sung are still in keeping with poetry but are quite close to the different styles that Dylan Thomas can use to great effect.

Songs appeal to the ear, which is the basis of radio productions.  Alliteration is another aural device it is used through out the play in names and in the pro’s.  There is alliteration in one of the main characters name ‘Captain Cat’ putting alliteration into a name that has to be repeated many times makes the listener interested.  “There’s the clip clop of horses” “gulls’ gab” and “the boat bobbing sea” these are effective and interesting and the continuing use of these descriptive words are among the very best poetic description that is used by Dylan Thomas. It is appealing to the ear and will prompt the listener to continue.

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The technique of alliteration is sometimes joined by assonance.  Assonance also appeals to the ear and is used mostly in cataloguing.

“Arethusa, the Curlew and the skylark, Zanzibar, the Rover, the Cormorant and the Star of Wales”.

As it is the repetition of the vowel sound it is sometimes used as a substitute for end rhyme. Dylan Thomas has focused upon the fact that a list of names is more appealing then separate names.

Dylan Thomas also complements the technique of assonance with the rhyme of consonants.

One passage of interest when looking at sensual poetic ...

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