The Space – Peter Rylands
How often do we rush to be inside?
Away from the rain,
The cold,
The space.
It may be but a moment,
To sit at the platform,
Waiting to confine myself amongst the carriage walls,
But here – is space!
The cold!
The rain!
I’d rather wait here in the space,
Than look out at it from my seat.
Making the most of the night,
The night I shall pass through unnoticed.
Through the rain,
The cold
And the space.
So for now I will be a part of the elements,
An element of the space surrounding me,
But not confining me to the inside.
‘The Space’ has came about due to a few things. Firstly is my current work on D H Lawrence and his repetitive style; a way of building momentum, keeping rhythm and to highlight an important aspect of the passage.
Secondly is the film Interstellar which has led to today’s featured poem by Dylan Thomas, which also strongly centres on the repetition of ‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light’ and ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’. It is the content of the poem too which I looked at, which in the context of my poem related to taking a train home at night.
Lastly is my continued interest in observation, to comment on both my own actions and those of others who in this instance rushed to be on a train that did not leave for 30 minutes.
Poem of Note
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night – Dylan Thomas
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.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
This is one of Thomas’ most famous poems. Its use in popular culture has probably gone past without you realising (Dr. Who, Assassin’s Creed, Rise Against) – that is until watching Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.
Thomas’ poem is a plea to his father to not accept the finality of death. It is a poem of resistance – that you should not go willingly into the arms of the Grim Reaper. A sense of the intensity of life is repeated with reference to nature’s power – the sun, lightning and meteors – though there is a focus on the darkness which immediately proceeds the fading light, which conveys an anger that is highlighted in the final stanza.
If you would like your poem to be placed in Poet’s Corner please submit to aeypmry@nottingham.ac.uk or arts@impactnottingham.com
Pictures sourced from Flickr via Ross Pollack
