The Full Text of “In My Craft or Sullen Art”
The Full Text of “In My Craft or Sullen Art”
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“In My Craft or Sullen Art” Introduction
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"In My Craft or Sullen Art" is a poem from Dylan Thomas's 1946 collection Deaths and Entrances. A well known ars poetica, it expresses Thomas's values and aims as a poet—his sense of what poetry is for. He declares that he does not write for pay, praise, prestige, or career advancement, but rather for the "common wages" of lovers' "secret heart": that is, for an emotional response from ordinary, passionate readers. He seeks this human connection even though, during the actual writing process, he works alone and the world's "lovers" do not notice him at all.
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“In My Craft or Sullen Art” Summary
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Practicing my discipline or unsociable art form in the quiet of evening, when the moon is the only restless thing and lovers hold each other in bed as if nursing their sorrows, I work in the beautiful light—not to advance my career or get rich, or to show off and charm audiences in fancy venues, but for the ordinary reward of touching those lovers' inmost hearts.
It isn't for snobby people who reject what the moon represents (passion, etc.) that I write on these pages, which are temporary as ocean spray. Nor do I write to please grand, dead authors, with their classic songs about nature and God. I write for those lovers, who seem to embrace the sorrows of all ages and who don't give me acclaim or money—or even pay attention to my discipline or art form.
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“In My Craft or Sullen Art” Themes
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Poetry, Emotion, and Connection
"In My Craft or Sullen Art" is what critics sometimes call an ars poetica: a poem that explains or illustrates how the poet thinks about their art. Dylan Thomas's poem argues that true poetry speaks to the ordinary feelings of ordinary people—and of "lovers" in particular. The speaker (whom readers can take to be Thomas himself) seeks both to stir and to express the passions of lovers' "most secret heart[s]," including their "griefs." He feels that expressing emotional truths, and thus making a potential emotional connection, should be a poet's or artist's top priority.
The speaker writes for "the common wages / of [lovers'] most secret heart." In other words, he's writing to communicate and evoke everyday emotion. He writes about "common" experience, stressing that poetry isn't limited to specific highbrow or rare subjects; it can and should be used to capture something within lots of people's hearts.
Moreover, he's writing for not a select audience but for "lovers" everywhere, lying in bed "With all their griefs in their arms." This broad language suggests that he writes for anyone and everyone feeling love and/or grief—in fact, anyone capable of feeling deeply. Later, he describes these lovers lying with "their arms / Round the griefs of the ages." Again, he suggests that he hopes both to express age-old feelings and to reach people who feel them throughout "the ages." He hopes to do the kind of work that can be appreciated by sensitive souls in every era.
The poem implies that this is what poetry should try to do above all: understand and touch ordinary people's hearts. The poet shrugs off all other kinds of "praise" and "wages," implying that poetry isn't about prestige, money, etc.: it's about making an enduring emotional connection. He emphasizes that he does not write for "the proud man apart / From the raging moon"—that is, for people uninterested in making such connections themselves.
What's more, he strives to connect with "the lovers" even as he himself works alone. He practices his art "in the still night / When only the moon rages." That is, he works in silence and (presumably) solitude, not embracing a lover himself. And the lovers for whom he writes offer him no material reward, either; for the moment, at least, they don't even "heed [his] craft or art" (to pay attention to his words). Instead, writing something that would speak to them if they did "heed" him is its own reward. The poet works to earn the "wages" of their inmost "heart," even if these metaphorical "wages" (of appreciation) aren't paid directly or immediately. He describes even the "pages" he writes on as "spindrift," implying that they're as trivial and fleeting as ocean spray. In other words, even writing materials, published books, etc. are temporary things; they're just a means to an end. All he cares about is plugging in to timeless emotions: the love and "griefs of the ages."
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-20
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Artistic Purity vs. Worldly Ambition
For the poet of "In My Craft or Sullen Art," his art is "sullen" in the sense that it's stubbornly rebelling against something. He rejects all worldly and commercial "ambition," insisting that he doesn't write for money, praise, or even literary glory (measured by comparison with "the towering dead"). Instead, he dedicates his work to average, passionate people who may never even pay attention to it. This, the poem implies, is what any true artist does; to do otherwise would be to sell out.
The poet proudly proclaims that he doesn't write for money, praise, or applause; he isn't motivated by traditional career ambitions. He asserts that he doesn't write "for ambition or bread"—to advance his career or meet his material needs. ("Bread" here stands in for food in general; it can also be slang for "money.") Nor does he want "the strut and trade of charms / On the ivory stages." In other words, he's not trying to show off or charm audiences in fancy venues.
He doesn't even seek the approval of intellectuals, or the imagined approval of prestigious predecessors. He claims not to write for "the proud man apart / From the raging moon," perhaps meaning critics or thinkers who detach themselves from the emotional side of art. Nor is he trying to meet the standards of "the towering dead / With their nightingales and psalms": that is, famous poets and prophets who have written before him. He isn't interested in literary prestige or the inheritance of a grand tradition.
In short, he believes that poetry should be an emotional and spiritual pursuit, not a professional, commercial, egocentric, or strictly intellectual one. He rejects worldly vanity and aims to meet the standards of ordinary readers, not people who might pay him or boost his career.
In real life, Thomas was a famous and very public poet, so he's articulating a set of priorities here, not rejecting the professional world altogether. He's not literally implying that artists shouldn't sell their work or build a career; he's implying that career success shouldn't be the goal of their art.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-20
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “In My Craft or Sullen Art”
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Lines 1-5
In my craft ...
... in their arms,Lines 1-5 begin to establish the poem's voice and setting. The speaker is an artist reflecting on his "craft" or "art," which he pursues in the silence of nighttime. Since there is no additional or alternative explanation, it makes sense to assume that the speaker is Dylan Thomas himself, reflecting on the art of poetry. A poem that reflects on the poet's art is called an ars poetica (Latin for "Art of Poetry"), after a famous poem of that name by the ancient Roman writer Horace.
Thomas wavers slightly between calling poetry a "craft" and an "art," implying that it might be either or both. A "craft" sounds slightly less prestigious than an "art"; though it implies skill, it's a word often associated with homemade or hand-made goods. This initial ambiguity sets up a tension that runs throughout the poem: Thomas takes his poetry seriously, but resists taking it too seriously or coming off as pompous. He wants to keep his poetry humble and honest, not chase literary prestige. In short, he seems to aspire to the humility (but not the amateurishness) of a craftsman, as well as the seriousness (but not the elitism) of an artist.
Thomas also describes his art with a curious adjective: "sullen." This word usually means sulky or resentful, but its meaning here is somewhat mysterious—and likely metaphorical. In light of the lines that follow, it might imply that poets "Exercise[]" (i.e., practice) their art away from the rest of humanity, as if sulking in their rooms. In other words, while "lovers lie abed," poets stay up all "night," writing in solitude. "Sullen" also hints that Thomas's art is rebelling against something. The rest of the stanza will provide some clues as to what that might be.
The poet practices his art while "only the moon rages," somewhere in the sky above. This detail seems highly symbolic: the moon is conventionally associated with passion, romance, poetry, and the like. Its "rag[ing]" might indicate something about its appearance; perhaps the moon is reddish (red being the traditional color of anger) or surrounded by stormy weather. But the verb "rages" might also be meant to personify the moon and to project some of the poet's own feelings onto it. In the "still[ness]" of the "night," that is, the poet wrestles with raging, tumultuous emotions, which seem to find a mirror in the moon overhead.
Meanwhile, the "lovers" of the world rest quietly "abed" (in bed). Here, Thomas turns a potentially sensual image into a sad one. Rather than making love or sharing pillow talk, these couples, according to Thomas, "lie [...] With all their griefs in their arms." In other words, they lie together in deep, brooding sorrow, metaphorically clutching their "griefs" as tightly as they embrace each other. Unhappy as they are, these lovers seem to provide a starting point for the poet's "art."
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Lines 6-9
I labour by ...
... the ivory stages -
Lines 10-11
But for the ...
... most secret heart. -
Lines 12-16
Not for the ...
... nightingales and psalms -
Lines 17-20
But for the ...
... craft or art.
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“In My Craft or Sullen Art” Symbols
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The Raging Moon
The moon is a traditional symbol of many things, including love, passion, irrationality, and poetry. The poet seems to link "the moon" above him with all these things. He calls it a "raging" moon—perhaps it's a fierce red color, or surrounded by storm clouds—so it's clearly meant to represent some form of passion. That passion, in turn, informs the work of the poet, who's writing for passionate "lovers" everywhere.
The poet also specifies that he's not writing for "the proud man" who sets himself "apart / From the raging moon." This man seems to exemplify the type of analytical reader who cuts himself from emotion: perhaps a "proud" (haughty) intellectual or critic. Thomas doesn't care what people like that think of his work; he wants to engage readers' "heart[s]" as much as, or more than, their rational minds.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 2-3: “Exercised in the still night / When only the moon rages”
- Lines 12-13: “Not for the proud man apart / From the raging moon I write”
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“In My Craft or Sullen Art” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Along with meter and rhyme, alliteration helps make the poem's language musical and memorable. In this poem about poetry, Thomas seems to be not only sharing his view of his art form but demonstrating the kind of verbal music he's capable of making. This is a lyrical poem for "lovers," so it's full of beautiful sounds. Look at lines 4-6, for example:
And the lovers lie abed
With all their griefs in their arms,
I labour by singing light [...]The repeated /l/ sounds are lush and melodious, appropriate for a song-like poem written "by singing light."
Similarly, the /r/ alliteration in "raging" and "write" (line 13) adds emphasis to the language, drawing out the passionate emotion of the line. Later in the stanza, /p/ alliteration and long /a/ assonance combine in "pay no praise" (line 19). This double emphasis underscores the poet's proud disdain for ordinary, worldly rewards, such as audience "praise" and monetary wages. (A comparable effect occurs earlier, in line 7, as /b/ consonance lays extra stress on the claim that the poet doesn't work "for ambition or bread.")
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 4: “lovers lie”
- Line 6: “labour,” “light”
- Line 13: “raging,” “write”
- Line 19: “pay,” “praise”
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Repetition
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Allusion
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Metaphor
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Enjambment
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"In My Craft or Sullen Art" 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.
- Sullen
- Exercised
- Abed
- Bread
- Strut and trade of charms
- Ivory stages
- Spindrift
- Psalms
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “In my craft or sullen art”)
Sulky or gloomy. The poet's "art," poetry, is "sullen" in the sense that it's pursued apart from other people (as if by someone sulking in their room), and also in the sense that it rebels against worldly "ambition."
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “In My Craft or Sullen Art”
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Form
The poem contains two rhymed, single-sentence stanzas, one with eleven lines and the other with nine. There's no traditional name for this form; it's one that Thomas improvised. Its repetitions lend the poem a noticeable, though imperfect, balance and symmetry. It makes the language highly musical but also allows for some roughness and freedom in that music. Overall, then, the form suits a poem that's not trying to obey literary conventions (please "the towering dead / With their nightingales and psalms"), but is trying to comfort or enchant the "secret heart[s]" of "lovers."
The poem's genre does have a traditional name. It's an ars poetica (Latin: "art of poetry"): a poem in which the writer reflects on the nature of their art form, or on the aims and values they bring to it.
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Meter
The poem uses a loose, three-beat accentual meter. This means that each line contains three (or sometimes four) strong stresses, but the placement of those stresses (and the overall number of syllables) varies from line to line. Look at lines 1-4, for example:
In my craft or sullen art
Exercised in the still night
When only the moon rages
And the lovers lie abed [...]The placement of stresses shifts around, and the syllable count varies in later lines (some have seven syllables, others six). But the number of stresses remains pretty constant.
The flexible rhythm keeps the poem lyrical, yet loose. This is a song fit for "lovers" on a moonlit night, but not one that's strictly wedded to rules or traditions (the "towering" poets who came before).
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Rhyme Scheme
The poem's complete rhyme scheme is ABCDEBDECCA ABCDEECCA.
Notice that this scheme is identical across stanzas, except for the "missing" B and D rhymes in the middle of the second stanza. The scheme also begins and ends each stanza with the same rhyme sound ("art"/"heart"/"apart"/"art"), lending the poem an extra touch of symmetry. Indeed, the poem's first and last lines are very similar and end with the same word ("In my craft or sullen art," "Nor heed my craft or art"). These effects bring each stanza, and the poem as a whole, full circle, like a song that circles back to the root note of a chord. The song-like structure suits this poem for "lovers" written by "singing light" (i.e., evening light that seems to inspire music).
All the rhymes in the poem are full rhymes; even "psalms," in Thomas's Welsh accent, makes a full rhyme with "arms" (lines 16-17). Again, this effect makes the poem more musically rich and heightens its intense, romantic mood.
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“In My Craft or Sullen Art” Speaker
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The speaker is a writer explaining why and for whom he writes. It's fair to equate the speaker with Dylan Thomas himself, and to read "In My Craft or Sullen Art" as an ars poetica: a poem that reflects on poetry.
The speaker is proud, idealistic, and self-assured, though the irony in the last line undercuts his self-assurance a little. He insists that he doesn't write for intellectual clout or material gain but to touch the "heart[s]" of passionate, suffering people. His imagined audience is the world's "lovers," who experience intense "griefs" as well as intense romance. At the same time, he knows this imagined audience isn't paying attention to ("heed[ing]") his poetry, at least not yet. He presents himself as so little concerned with "praise or wages" that he's eager to write for lovers who are totally oblivious to him, just on the chance they'll appreciate him someday.
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“In My Craft or Sullen Art” Setting
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The poem's setting is wherever the poet is writing the poem! It might be anywhere indoors or even outdoors, but the time is the middle of the night—an hour "When only the moon rages" and everything else is "still." An indoor setting is more likely, of course: the "singing light" he works by probably refers to some light source in his home, not just the light of the moon.
As he writes, the poet's imagination travels elsewhere, to the beds of "lovers" around the world. He imagines these passionate people—who do not imagine him in return nor think about the work he's doing—as a kind of ideal audience for his poetry. If he can ultimately reach them in some way, his efforts will have been worth it.
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Literary and Historical Context of “In My Craft or Sullen Art”
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Literary Context
The Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) was part of the second generation of modernists. This group of 20th-century writers (which included figures like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound) sought new modes of poetic expression, abandoning or reworking the conventions of 19th-century verse to write daring, expansive, psychologically acute poetry in a wide range of experimental forms.
Thomas was something of a prodigy. He published many of his intense, idiosyncratic poems when he was just a teenager. While his stylistic inventiveness places him among the modernists, his pantheistic feelings about nature and his passionate sincerity also mark him as a descendant of 19th-century Romantic poets like William Blake and John Keats (both of whom he read enthusiastically). He also admired his contemporaries W.B. Yeats and W.H. Auden, who, like him, often wrote of the "mystery" behind everyday life (though in very different ways).
"In My Craft or Sullen Art" appears in Thomas's acclaimed volume Deaths and Entrances (1946), which also contains such frequently anthologized classics as "Poem in October" and "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London."
Historical Context
Dylan Thomas published Deaths and Entrances in 1946, a year after World War II (1939-1945) came to an end. Most of the poems in the volume, including "In My Craft or Sullen Art," were written during wartime. This bloody, destructive war hit close to home for Thomas: Swansea, his beloved Welsh hometown, was badly damaged by German air raids. Thomas was appalled not only by that great loss but also by the rise of fascism across Europe in the 1930s and '40s. A passionate leftist, he even wrote comical anti-fascist propaganda films for the UK government during the war.
Deaths and Entrances contains several war poems that memorialize victims of Germany's air raids on the UK. However, Thomas's poetry usually isn't directly political. "In My Craft or Sullen Art," for example, doesn't refer to historical or topical events. Its focus on grief may be partly a response to the prevailing mood of wartime, but the war doesn't feature in the poem. Even the reference to the "towering dead" (lines 15-16) evokes literary history rather than the political or social kind. Instead, the poem makes clear that Thomas writes for "the ages" (line 18). He hopes to elicit and evoke timeless human emotions—the love, sorrow, and other passions that unite all eras.
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More “In My Craft or Sullen Art” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to Dylan Thomas read "In My Craft or Sullen Art."
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A Thomas Biography — Read about the poet's life and work at the Poetry Foundation.
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More on the Ars Poetica — Learn more about the genre tradition Thomas's poem is part of.
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A Dylan Thomas Doc — Watch a BBC film about the life of the poet.
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More on the Poet — A brief Thomas biography at Poets.org.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Dylan Thomas
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