Dylan Thomas's "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower" explores the relationship between time, creation, and destruction. The poem's speaker uses various metaphors to illustrate how all of existence is bound by the same driving "force": time. Time is what makes a flower bloom but also what makes it wilt; likewise, time makes the blood pulse through the speaker's veins but will also one day stop that blood from flowing. Yet the speaker can't "tell" the "crooked rose" nor the "mountain spring" that they're all part of the same cycle of life and death, growth and decay; though everyone and everything is subject to time, the poem implies that people experience time's passage alone. Thomas wrote this poem in 1933, when he was just 19 years old; it was published in his first collection, 18 Poems, in 1934.

• Read the full text of “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower”

• “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower” Summary

• “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower” Themes

  • 

    Time, Creation, and Destruction

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-22
  • 

    Humanity, Mortality, and Isolation

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5
    • Lines 9-10
    • Lines 14-15
    • Lines 19-20
    • Lines 21-22

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower”

  • Lines 1-3

    The force that ...
    ... Is my destroyer.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-5

    And I am ...
    ... same wintry fever.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-10

    The force that ...
    ... same mouth sucks.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-15

    The hand that ...
    ... the hangman's lime.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-20

    The lips of ...
    ... round the stars.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-22

    And I am ...
    ... same crooked worm.

    

    

    

    

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• “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower” Symbols

  • 

    Green

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “the green fuse”
    • Line 2: “my green age”
  • 

    Red Blood

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “my red blood”
  • 

    The Crooked Worm

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 22: “How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm.”

• “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “force,” “fuse,” “flower”
    • Line 2: “Drives”
    • Line 3: “destroyer”
    • Line 4: “dumb,” “to,” “tell”
    • Line 6: “drives,” “rocks”
    • Line 7: “Drives,” “red,” “dries,” “mouthing”
    • Line 8: “mine”
    • Line 9: “mouth”
    • Line 10: “mountain,” “spring,” “same,” “mouth,” “sucks”
    • Line 11: “whirls,” “water”
    • Line 14: “to,” “tell”
    • Line 16: “lips,” “leech”
    • Line 17: “Love”
    • Line 19: “to,” “tell,” “weather's,” “wind”
    • Line 20: “time,” “ticked”
    • Line 21: “to,” “tell,” “tomb”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-22

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “the green fuse,” “drives the flower”
    • Line 2: “Drives my green age”
    • Line 6: “drives the water”
    • Line 7: “Drives my red blood,” “mouthing”
    • Line 9: “mouth”
    • Line 10: “mouth”
    • Line 14: “the hanging man”
    • Line 15: “the hangman's”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “flower / Drives”
    • Lines 2-3: “trees / Is”
    • Lines 4-5: “rose / My”
    • Lines 6-7: “rocks / Drives”
    • Lines 7-8: “streams / Turns”
    • Lines 9-10: “veins / How”
    • Lines 11-12: “pool / Stirs”
    • Lines 12-13: “wind / Hauls”
    • Lines 14-15: “man / How”
    • Lines 17-18: “blood / Shall”
    • Lines 19-20: “wind / How”
    • Lines 21-22: “tomb / How”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Line 2
    • Line 5
    • Lines 7-8
    • Line 10
    • Lines 11-13
    • Line 15
    • Lines 16-18
    • Line 20
    • Line 22

• “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower” 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.

  • Green fuse
  • Green age
  • Dumb
  • Mouthing streams
  • Mouth unto my veins
  • Whirls
  • Quicksand
  • Ropes
  • Hauls
  • Shroud sail
  • Hangman's lime
  • Fountain head
  • Leech
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower” Speaker

• “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower”

• More “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Original Rock Star of Poetry — An essay exploring Thomas's persona and the profound impact his work hadon rock n' roll. 

    • Listen to Thomas's Dynamic Reading of the Poem — An audio recording of the poem as read by the poet. 

    • "The First Poet Who Lived and Died As a Pop Star" — A short film exploring the incredible work—and unprecedented celebrity—of the Welsh poet. 

    • Read About the Poet's Life and Career — An in-depth biography of Thomas from the Poetry Foundation.

    • The Official Dylan Thomas Website — Poke around this online hub dedicated to Thomas's life and works. 

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Dylan Thomas

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

    • Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

    • Fern Hill

    • In My Craft or Sullen Art

    • Poem in October

    • The Hand That Signed the Paper

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