Altarwise by Owl-Light (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Dylan Thomas
- First Published: 1935
- Type of Work: Poetic sequence
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry, Sonnet
- Subjects: Religion, God, Christianity, Death or dying, Bible, biblical imagery, or biblical symbolism, Biblical times, Jesus Christ, Devils or demons, Resurrection, Satan or Satanism, Astrology or astrologers
The Poem
“Altarwise by Owl-Light” is a sequence of ten sonnets. The title is taken from the opening of the first sonnet, which describes the birth of Christ as producing an era of owl-like wisdom through the light of His altar. The last sonnet returns to vary the image of “altarwise” as a celebration of the effects Christianity has had on the history of the world: It has followed “the tale’s sailor from a Christian voyage/ Atlaswise.”
In the first sonnet, Dylan Thomas says that Jesus descended from Adam into the grave of life, the house of the flesh, which...
[The entire page is 1471 words long]
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