Every Morning I wake || Dylan Thomas || Compulsory English Grade 12

 

Every Morning I Wake

Dylan Thomas

 

About the Poet:

Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on 27 August 1914 and died on 9 November 1953,

He is a poet and playwright, was born in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom,

Poet, short story writer & playwright/dramatist,

Famous for using poetic diction, imagery, lyrical and emotional poetry

An heir to the English Romantic tradition in 19th century England particularly focuses on imagination, emotion, and feelings, etc.

For him, poetry is a means of self-discovery and self-definition,

Subjects of his poems are his own emotional life, private passion, and his struggles,

He is a lover of the human race especially women,

His death is regarded as a symbol of the tragic life of the modern artist.

 

About the Poem:

This poem entitled “Every Morning I Wake” is extracted from his 1954 radio play “Under Mild Wood”. In this poem, the speaker is praying to the Almighty and glorious God to have mercy and grace on human kinds represented by the inhabitants of a small village under Milk Wood. This is also known as a prayer poem or a sunset poem. This poem shows that nothing is as powerful as God. God is the supreme creator of the entire creatures and things on this planet. This poem shows the essence of all prayers. We are nothing just tiny creatures made of bone and flesh. 

 

Summary of the Poem:

This poem is a prayer to the magnificent God made by a tiny creature known as a human being. The speaker of the poem is a representative of human kinds who are born to die but nothing. The speaker is a devotee of God and he knows the real power of God, so every morning he wakes up he makes a pray to Him for having mercy on every creature. The speaker prays not only for his benefit but for the well-being of entire creatures. They are living on this planet but the remote control is at the hand of God. God is the creator and destroyer of everything on this planet. The speaker prays to Him to have mercy because He is immortal and Almighty. As mortal beings, we have to die but the blessings of God make our life beautiful. The speaker is praying to God before he sleeps at night but is not certain if they will see him tomorrow morning so he is asking to bless them. We may be good or bad in the course of living our everyday lives, but it is only God who knows our best side. The blessings of God every night make us able to see them tomorrow morning. So, the speaker bows down and pray to God to keep them alive throughout the night. This time the speaker bides goodbye but not forever though it not certain to be able to wake up the following morning. 

 

Understanding the Text:

Answer the following questions:

a. When does the speaker pray to God?

Ans:- The speaker prays to God every morning he wakes up and at night before he sleeps.

 

b. What does the speaker pray for?

Ans:- The speaker prays for the grace and the blessings to the people living under Milk Wood.

 

c. Who are the ‘poor creatures? Why does the speaker call them ‘poor creatures?

Ans:- The ‘poor creatures’ in particular are the people living under Milk Wood and in general the entire humankind. The speaker calls them ‘poor creatures’ because they are merely made of bone and flesh and they are born to die. 

 

d. What does Milk Wood sound like? A type of wood or a place? Why?

Ans:- Milk Wood sounds like a place because there is not use of article before this noun. If it is a type of wood, an article either ‘a’, ‘an’, or ‘the’ must have been used according to grammatical rules. Articles are unnecessary before the singular proper noun that refers to a specific place. 

 

e. Why do the inhabitants of Milk Wood bow to the setting sun “but just for now”?

Ans:- The inhabitants of Milk Wood bow to the setting sun just for saying goodbye only to that evening. They hope to see the shining sun the following morning. They want to live another day by the grace of God along with the warmth of the Sun. 

 

Reference to the Context

a. Discuss “Every Morning When I Wake” as a prayer to God.

Ans:- “Every Morning When I Wake” by Dylan Thomas is a prayer poem. The speaker is praying to God as he says, “Dear Lord a little prayer I make/O please do keep Thy loving eye/on all poor creatures born to die”. The speaker is addressing God to keep His loving eyes on all poor creatures and to have blessings on them. In a prayer poem, the speaker communicates with God for his blessings and guidance throughout his life and entire human kinds and creatures.  

 

b. Why does the speaker make a prayer to God, but not to a king, a billionaire, or a scientist?

Ans:- The speaker makes a prayer to God because He is the supreme being, creator, and the principal object of faith. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Kings, billionaires, or scientists all are made of bone and flesh and they are born to die. No matter how much powerful they are, how rich they are, how much knowledge they have, they are never compared to God. Even they are under the control of God. He is a holy being, he created us, he saves us, we love Him, we trust him, and He guides us in a righteous path. That’s why we worship him to have His mercy and blessings. A king, a billionaire, a scientist are merely temporary creatures. They can’t protect us as God protects us. A king gets his position because of God, a scientist gets knowledge because of Him, and a billionaire earns lots of money because of Him. 

 

c. How does the poet highlight the magnificence of God?

Ans:- The poet highlights the magnificence of God because He keeps his loving eyes on all poor creatures who are born die, He protects us from uncertain mishaps, and He is the only supreme being who knows our best side. 

 

d. How does the rhyme scheme of the poem reinforce its message?

Ans:- A rhyme scheme is the ordered pattern of rhyming words at the end of each line of a poem. This poem has coupled rhyme in which every two lines of each stanza rhyme together. In AABB rhyming scheme line 1 rhymes with line 1 and line 3 rhymes with line 4. The whole poem has a rhyming scheme of AABB, CCDD, EEFF, GGHH. Such rhymes sound like pleasant songs. Because of its simplicity, it expresses innocent nature. The speaker is an innocent being in front of God. Most of the prayer-poems follow this type of rhyme scheme to make an innocent appeal to God. 

 

 Reference beyond the text:

a. Does God exist? Give your opinion?

"Does God exist?" is the most important question which has been discussed since the beginning of human civilization. Generally, two types of people are found on the planet based on the belief in the existence of God. Some people who prefer to call themselves 'atheists' don't believe that God exists and 'theists' believe in the existence of God. No matter some people deny the existence of God, for me, God does exist. Some people argue that God doesn’t exist because nobody has seen Him physically yet or our sensory perceptions don't feel and experience the presence of God. But it doesn't mean that things do not exist if we don't feel or see them through our sense organs. Besides our five sensory organs, there is the sixth sense, which makes us able to attain God. It is a power of perception, unlike our five senses. We are habituated to feel and experience this physical world using our five senses. But humans also possess a sixth sense, but we don't use them. People who use the sixth sense believe in the existence of God. It is our religious sense. The existence of God is like the existence of radiation. We just see the effects of it. We don’t see God but we find effects in our lives. Unexpected and miraculous things are the example of the existence of God. 

 

b. In his Epistle to the author of the book, “The Three Impostors (1768)”, Voltaire says, “Even if the God didn’t exist, it would necessary to invent him.” Write an essay highlighting the importance of God in society.

 

"Even if God didn't exist, it would necessary to invent him." It is a sentiment expressed by 18th century French Philosopher Voltaire in his book "The Three Imposters (1768)" He emphasizes that humans need to believe in a divine being-God. He is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, and a creator or law of nature. The world without God is chaos. There are deaths, damages, and destruction if there is no God. The beauty of this planet is preserved by the supreme creator. Every person in every society must believe in Him.

 

A civilized society must function properly. God is the symbol of all the positive sides of our society and evil is the symbol of all negative sides. God guides us on a righteous path. It teaches us moral values, humanity, kindness, love, compassion, and so on. He teaches us to give up revenge, greed, passion, desires, and so on. People with good qualities make any society civilized. There remains peace and harmony among the people. There is law and order. People have fear of God before they commit any crimes. It is because of the fear of God; people don't commit any sinful deeds. So it is necessary to create an ideal existence of God even if He doesn't exist. 

 

Most of the people who believe in the existence of our soul even after death, believe in God. The sin they commit here, and if they are not repented, their souls will suffer in purgatory. People who follow the path of righteous and moral values, after death souls remain in heaven peacefully. This belief, people follow on, is because of the sense of the existence of God. Such beliefs and ideals of the people living in any society make the society civilized. So for the betterment of and healthy society, God is needed, if not, He must be invented.