DAN'S PAPERS, April 18, 2008 Page 25 www.danshamptons.com
From Swansea to Sag Dylan Thomas Fans Won’t Go Gentle into that Good Night By Victoria L. Cooper Ask yourself this: When was the first time you heard a Dylan Thomas poem? It was the eleventh grade for me. My English teacher at the time, a retired NYPD cop and avid admirer of Thomas, read us the poet’s most famous work, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” the haunting lines ringing out: 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. His blistering imagery and wise couth are like fire and ice — the life condensed into a mere line. But as history had it, Thomas lived a short and fruitful life that has influenced countless artists (including America’s folk king, Bob Dylan) with his lasting impressions. He died in November 1953, at the age of 39 in the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. William Faulkner, E.E. Cummings, Tennessee Williams and other prolific literati attended the funeral and his wife, Caitlin Thomas, escorted his body back to Wales to be buried. But Thomas lives on today — even after so many years since his last words were put on paper. People have an affinity for Thomas because his writing speaks to the soul — it
strikes like lightning — deep and bright with eternal energy. Although the East End has been a destination for writers and poets — Arthur Miller, Truman Capote, and John Steinbeck — a historic literary “happening” has not occurred in some time. Until last week. The Hamptons welcomed the 2008 Dylan Thomas Tribute Tour of America, featuring the poet’s daughter,
Jones also focuses on the Welsh devices (cynghanedd) that he uses a background to his poems. The Hamptons tour was in two parts — part one of the program was given at the home of Jane and Ken Schwartz in North Haven, part two at the Southampton Inn, hosted by Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan of the North Sea Poetry Scene. The tour continues across America — Manhattan, Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado and California. Stanley Barkan, a writer and publisher at Cross-Cultural Communications, who has produced some 350 titles in 50 different languages to date, organized the tour under the guidance of Vince Clemente, a Sag Harbor poet and mentor to many Long Island poets. Even though Thomas and Jones only spent a short week on the East End, the relationship between Sag Harbor and Swansea, on the south coast of Wales, is more than just a hop across the “pond.” Many more literary events are proposed, notably the publication Bridging the Waters: Swansea to Sag Harbor, a first in a series of books co-published by Cross-Cultural Communications and The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine.
A historic literary “happening” has not occurred on the East End in some time. Until now. Aeronwy Thomas, and Peter Thabit Jones. During the program, Ms. Thomas answers questions about her father and reads his works as well as her own poems, primarily taken from her new book, Burning Bridges. Peter Thabit Jones, poet and editor of the Swansea-based poetry journal, The Seventh Quarry, reads his own work from The Lizard Catchers, and lectures on Dylan Thomas.
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