"A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" mourns a young victim of Germany's air raids on London during World War II. One of Dylan Thomas's best-known war poems, its "Refusal" is laced with irony: the speaker resists writing a conventional elegy, yet captures the tragedy of the girl's death in soaring, intense language. Ultimately, the speaker links her particular death to the larger tragedy of "mankind," including human mortality and the fragility of childhood innocence. The poem was first published in Horizon magazine in 1945 and collected in Thomas's Deaths and Entrances (1946).

• Read the full text of “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London”

• “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London” Summary

• “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London” Themes

  • 

    The Tragedy of a Child’s Death

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-24
  • 

    The Natural Cycle of Life and Death

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-9
    • Lines 14-15
    • Lines 19-24

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London”

  • Lines 1-4

    Never until the ...
    ... last light breaking

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-9

    And the still ...
    ... ear of corn

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-13

    Shall I let ...
    ... the child's death.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 14-18

    I shall not ...
    ... innocence and youth.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-23

    Deep with the ...
    ... the riding Thames.

    

    

    

    

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  • Line 24

    After the first ... is no other.

    

    

    

    

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• “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London” Symbols

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    Water and Corn

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-9: “And I must enter again the round / Zion of the water bead / And the synagogue of the ear of corn”

• “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “mankind making”
    • Line 2: “Bird beast,” “flower”
    • Line 3: “Fathering”
    • Line 4: “silence,” “last light”
    • Line 5: “still”
    • Line 6: “sea”
    • Line 10: “Shall,” “shadow,” “sound”
    • Line 11: “sow,” “salt seed”
    • Line 12: “mourn”
    • Line 13: “majesty”
    • Line 14: “murder”
    • Line 15: “mankind,” “going,” “grave”
    • Line 16: “blaspheme,” “breath”
    • Line 19: “Deep,” “dead,” “lies London's,” “daughter”
    • Line 20: “long”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 10-13: “Shall I let pray the shadow of a sound / Or sow my salt seed / In the least valley of sackcloth to mourn / The majesty and burning of the child's death.”
    • Lines 16-18: “Nor blaspheme down the stations of the breath / With any further / Elegy of innocence and youth.”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3: “Never until the mankind making / Bird beast and flower / Fathering and all humbling darkness”
    • Line 4: “Tells with silence the last light breaking”
    • Lines 7-8: “And I must enter again the round / Zion of the water bead”
    • Line 16: “Nor blaspheme down the stations of the breath”
    • Line 24: “After the first death, there is no other.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “making / Bird”
    • Lines 2-3: “flower / Fathering”
    • Lines 3-4: “darkness / Tells”
    • Lines 4-5: “breaking / And”
    • Lines 5-6: “hour / Is”
    • Lines 7-8: “round / Zion”
    • Lines 10-11: “sound / Or”
    • Lines 11-12: “seed / In”
    • Lines 12-13: “mourn / The”
    • Lines 14-15: “murder / The”
    • Lines 16-17: “breath / With”
    • Lines 17-18: “further / Elegy”
    • Lines 22-23: “water / Of”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3
    • Line 6
    • Lines 7-12
    • Lines 14-16
    • Line 20
    • Line 21
    • Line 23

• “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Mankind making
  • All humbling
  • The still hour
  • Zion
  • Synagogue
  • Salt seed
  • Sackcloth
  • Her going
  • Blaspheme
  • The stations of the breath
  • Elegy
  • The long friends
  • Her mother
  • Thames
  • (Location in poem: Lines 1-3: “Never until the mankind making / Bird beast and flower / Fathering and all humbling darkness”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London” Speaker

• “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London”

• More “A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poet's Life — Read a brief biography of Dylan Thomas at Poets.org.

    • More About Thomas — A Thomas biography and exhibition at the Poetry Foundation.

    • London and the "Baby Blitz" — Read about Nazi Germany's bombings of London during 1944-45, the period in which Thomas wrote the poem.

    • A Reading of "A Refusal" — Listen to Dylan Thomas read the poem aloud.

    • Thomas on Poetry and Cinema — Watch a video of one of Dylan Thomas's final public appearances.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Dylan Thomas

    • Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

    • Fern Hill

    • In My Craft or Sullen Art

    • Poem in October

    • The force that through the green fuse drives the flower

    • The Hand That Signed the Paper

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