Every Morning I Wake

                                                                    Dylan Thomas

Before reading

Answer the following questions.

a. Why do people offer prayers to the God?

b. What do you feel when you visit the mosque, temple, or church? Why do you feel so?

Born in Swansea, Wales, Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) is famous for his acutely lyrical and emotional poetry. Thomas can be seen as an extension into the 20th century of the general movement called Romanticism, that flourished in the nineteenth century, England, particularly in its emphasis on imagination, emotion, intuition, spontaneity, and organic form.

Considered to be one of the greatest Welsh poets of all time, Thomas is largely known for his imaginative use of language and vivid imagery in his poems. He started working for BBC in 1945. Under Milk Wood (1953), a radio play, was written over a long period of time during the last months of his life. It is set in a small Welsh town called Llareggub and covers one day in the lives of its provincial characters.

“Every Morning I Wake” is an extract from Under the Milk Wood. In this poem, Thomas prays to the magnificent God to have mercy on ordinary inhabitants living under the Milk Wood.


Every morning when I wake,

Dear Lord, a little prayer I make,

O please do keep Thy loving eye

On all poor creatures born to die


And every evening at sun-down

I ask a blessing on the town,

For whether we last the night or no

I’m sure is always touch-and-go.


We are not wholly bad or good

Who live our lives under Milk Wood,

And Thou, I know, wilt be the first

To see our best side, not our worst.


O let us see another day!

Bless us all this night, I pray,

And to the sun we all will bow

And say, good-bye – but just for now!


Glossary

Milk Wood (adj.): a wooded area in the hills above a Welsh seaside village of Llaggerub in Dylan Thomas’ play Under Milk Wood


Summary

The speaker prays every morning being devoted to God. He makes a little prayer to the almighty God for all the people under the Milk Wood. He asks God to have his loving eyes on all poor creatures. He wants mercy on people from God. For him, all the creatures are poor and destined to die one day. All these creatures need the compassion of God. 

The speaker prays for the blessing of God especially for the town and its people who are living under the Milk Wood. He doesn't know about tomorrow's day whether they will be alive or not. Thus, he prays for the secured night of town and its people.

The speaker says that all the people are neither wholly good nor bad. He also prays to God for his finest judgement. He believes that it is God who will be the first to judge their traits with their best sides ignoring the worst sides.

In the end, the speaker prays for the blessing of God for all for their secured night. He states that the inhabitants under the Milk Wood finish their prayers to the setting sun. Their prayers to the setting sun are just for now ie temporary prayers. All of them are quite optimistic to see the next glorious day with the help of God's grace.

                            

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT 

Answer the following questions:

a. When does the speaker pray to the Lord?

Ans:-  The speaker in the poem prays to the Lord in the morning and in the evening. 

b. What does the speaker pray for?

Ans:  The speaker prays to almighty God for the betterment, safety, care and blessings to all the residents who are living under Milk Wood.

Or,

The speaker prays for different things. He prays for having God's loving eyes on all poor living  creatures under Milk Wood, having God's blessing on the town and its residents' at night while they sleep, having God's judgement on the best side of people under the Milk Wood ignoring worst aspects and having God's blessing to spend the night and see the glorious next day.

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

Ans:  The 'poor creatures' are all the living creatures especially the inhabitants of the town living under Milk Wood. The speaker calls them 'poor creatures' because he knows that all these living creatures including him under the Milk Wood have very short span of lives and are born to die.

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

Answer:

Milk Wood sounds like a name of a beautiful place with a wood. The term 'Milk Wood' must be the name of the place because there is no use of an article (a, an or the) before this noun. In the case of wood, there must be the use of an article either ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’, according to grammatical rules. Thus, it's not the common name of the wood or forest.

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 'but just for now' because they have deep faith in God's magnificence. They greet the setting sun for a shirt time to end their evening prayers being optimistic to see the glorious morning after passing the night safely.


REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT 

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

Ans:- “Every Morning When I Wake” is a poem of prayer to God. This poem composed by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas is full of prayers. The poem's speaker or Dylan Thomas has been seen making prayers to the magnificent God from morning to evening for the welfare of the town and its people. This is a poem of prayer because there are four different stanzas in this poem where we can find prayers of the speaker for the welfare of all the temporary living poor creatures under Milk Wood. Each stanza contains the prayers of the speaker to God with different wishes for the inhabitants under Milk Wood.

In the first stanza, the speaker prays for God's loving eyes or mercy on all the poor creatures of the town. In other words, he prays for God's compassion to all the people. In the second stanza, he prays for God's protection to the town and its people at night. In the third stanza, he, with great faith in God, prays for God's first and finest judgement. He prays to have God's judgement on the best sides of all the people living under Milk Wood and in the last stanza, he prays for God's blessing to let them have a chance to see the next glorious day after sunset and night.

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, but not to a king, a billionaire or a scientist because he has the belief in grandeur of almighty God. His devotion towards God is so deep and he has a good understanding related to God and his creations. He has referred to all the living beings as poor creatures on this planet. For him, all these creatures have been living their temporary lives here on this planet. They are destined to die and they will certainly leave this beautiful planet one day. As a devotee of God, the speaker keeps on praying for the welfare of all these creatures to God.

For him, all these individuals as a king, a billionaire or a scientist are also in the category of living creatures whereas God is the creator of this entire universe. The speaker knows very well about these differences between almighty God and the creatures of this planet. He believes more in God than creatures. His faith in God is so deep and beyond any other natural beings.

 

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

Ans:- The poet highlights the magnificence of God in the poem. He has presented God as the source of love and compassion for all living creatures. All these creatures depend on God and survive due to God's Grace. He has belief in God that God as the protector has the power to protect all the creatures at any time. God is the only caretaker of all the living beings on this planet. He has shown God as the first source of knowledge who has the finest ability to judge the positive aspects of all his children. He has presented God as the source of tremendous changes on this planet. It is only God who brings huge changes all the time and allows his children to see and enjoy the changes here.

 

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

Ans:- The rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.

"Every Morning I Wake" by Dylan Thomas is a poem of prayer to God. This poem is quite lyrical due to its rhythmic tone in all the four stanzas. The first line of each stanza rhymes with the second line and third line rhymes with the fourth. The rhyme scheme of the poem is AABB CCDD EEFF GGFF.

This poem sounds so good due to its rhyme schemes. This rhyme scheme of this poem reinforces its message regarding the almighty Lord and his magnificence. The rhyme scheme in the poem has stressed much on those words which have a connection to the speaker's prayers to God. The readers of this poem feel easy to grasp the main message regarding the speaker's prayers for all the poor creatures living under Milk Wood. This poem's rhyming scheme has made this poem simple to get its meaning.  God's magnificence can be felt in the poem.