The Force of Time
The poem “The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower,” by Dylan Thomas, has to be read attentively at least twice to begin to grasp its meaning. In the poem Thomas handles all of the literary elements with dexterity, which is why there are so many possible interpretations. But the general theme of the cycle of life is evident through his skillful use of imagery, symbolism, and connotation.
In the first line of the first stanza Thomas introduces “The Force,” the omnipotent element that is ever-present in the poem.
The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever. (1-5)
The “green fuse” represents the stem of the flower, but through connotation “fuse” is thought of as something explosive, contrary to a gentle flower. The word “green” implies youth, exuberance, and growth as he describes his age. In the second and third lines the force that produced life in the flower and himself is described as the same force that destroys life. The fourth line shatters the beautiful image of a rose, a symbol of healthiness and vigor, when it is described as crooked, inviting negative connotations. Just as the rose is feeble, he is also weakened and the seasons of his life change from springtime liveliness to “wintry fever.” The image of a frail, hunched over old man comes to mind.
The second stanza resembles the first stanza in set-up and message.
The force that drives the water through the rocks
Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams
Turns mine to wax.
And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins
How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks. (6-10)
Once again “the force” is brought up. The “force” here extends the flow of the stream as it drives it along, similar to the first stanza in which the force extended the growth of the flower. “Red blood” is homogenous to “green age” from the first stanza – they both represent life and vivacity. In lines seven and eight “the force” becomes destructive again as in the first stanza. The force that pushed life along becomes the very force that takes away life as it “dries” the stream and turns the speaker’s blood to “wax,” which represents the speaker’s stiff corpse after embalming. As in the first stanza he is unable to communicate his feelings. An attempt to explain the situation to his body would be futile, since it is already lifeless.
In the third stanza the force is replaced by “the hand,” and like the “force” in the previous two stanzas it has the power to control and alter nature.
The hand that whirls the water in the pool
Stirs the quicksand; that ropes the blowing wind
Hauls my shroud sail.
And I am dumb to tell the hanging man
How of my clay is made the hangman’s lime.
The “hand” agitates the normally calm waters of the pool and the generally motionless quicksand, and it is so powerful that it also controls the wind. The third line of this stanza is a double entendre. The speaker can be referring to a ship where the “shroud” is one of the ropes that support a ship’s mast; in this case the “hand’s” power is demonstrated as it controls the ship’s course. Another interpretation of the third line is similar to the third lines in the previous stanzas in which he states his demise; in this case the “shroud” would be the sheet used to wrap a dead body for burial. In the fourth and fifth lines the speaker find it senseless to communicate his feelings with the “hanging man” since they both share the same fate. The speaker’s body, his “clay,” will be in the hangman’s pit, which is doused in “lime” to nullify the smell of rotting corpses.
While the first three stanzas illustrated the abilities of “the force,” the fourth stanza identifies the force as being “time.”
The lips of time leech to the fountain head;
Love drips and gathers, but the fallen blood
Shall calm her sores.
And I am dumb to tell a weather’s wind
How time has ticked a heaven round the stars.
The denotation of “fountainhead” is an original source, therefore, where life begins, time leeches the fountain head just as age exhausts life. The line can also interpret as the “lips of time” symbolizing the genitals of a female and the “fountain head” as the phallus of a man. The latter interpretation ties in well with the rest of the poem because of its significance in the cycle of life; the speaker is playing his role in reproduction. The next line also leads on to sexual connotations but leans more towards the reoccurring theme of death where “fallen blood” represents a dead person. The speaker brings another life into being through reproduction in line one and in lines two and three he explains that the burden on society will be offset by his death, “fallen blood.” Time is referred to as “her” and the burden on society is represented by “sores.” He is incapable of explaining to the wind how time works because the wind already knows the nature of time. The “weather’s wind” has been to the heavens and the stars and has seen all possible weathers.
And I am dumb to tell the lover’s tomb
How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm.
We’ll post an interpretation for the final lines of this poem with a quote from commenter James Stephen: “This is a tricky refrain and I’m sure it’s interpreted differently. The words “lover’s tomb” could have many implications. In essence though, again, worms act differently to someone alive as they do someone dead (regardless of love – would be my interpretation of the explicit reference to love).” (Read the rest of James’ analysis in the comments below)
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article ce That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower | Dylan Thomas | Literary Analysis | machete, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
Great blog post on The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower. Thoroughly enjoy these write ups you are doing. Actually it takes a lot of time and thought to examine any piece of modern prose as well as ancient.
Very helpful. It is a tough poem to grasp the full meaning.
thanx heartfully ..ive got this meterial for my exams..thnx…thnx a lot
What about the last two lines of the poem? They seem to be important, and it would be greatly appreciated if you could help interpret them.
I found it interesting reading what you had to say. I have to say, however, I disagree with your fundamental interpretation (which, to my mind, has tainted your entire reading of the poem). Certainly there are references to life cycles but they’re somewhat benign in lou of the main thrust. This poem runs much deeper than just a sense of mortality. It is about the incompatibility of nature and love. You’re right the poem is packed with symbolism and ambiguous language (perhaps there is a religious reading to be made) but mostly they hark back to this theme. I don’t want to give a line by line commentary but I’ll give my interpretation for each stanza.
1. “The force” is life (I don’t think it is necessarily omnipotent). This is shared by both man and plant. However, nature undoes plant life differently to man. The irony, first introduced here, is nature gives life and takes it away: it can be seen as good or bad depending on your viewpoint. Only our perception of life (love) changes things for us. “For there is neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so” – William Shakespeare
2. Although we are just as at the mercy of nature, we would be wrong to say our blood flows as carefree as water in streams (a very different “mouth sucks”). Again, you could say the water is nature but this is the point; there are two sides to nature.
3. “The hand” is a force of nature creating danger – whirlpools and quicksand but this same force “Hauls my shroud sail” (gives us life). He reinforces this with the difference in perspective a “hanging man” would have on the substance of a “hangman’s lime” (clay is creative, lime was an instrument in his death – helps speed the rate of decomposition, I read).
4. Essentially, love is integral to time but the concept of heaven (place of love) would be meaningless to the nonchalant weather.
5. This is a tricky refrain and I’m sure it’s interpreted differently. The words “lover’s tomb” could have many implications. In essence though, again, worms act differently to someone alive as they do someone dead (regardless of love – would be my interpretation of the explicit reference to love).
I hope you read this as a constructive response or it’s wasted (it took longer than I thought it would to say what I wanted to say!). Great poem.
James Stephen: Splendidly written – thank you for sharing such an elegant interpretation of this poem. The analysis you posted seems more viable than my analysis above, which would be more viable if the poet were perhaps found to be a bit “off his rocker.”
I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be received this well! Thank you.
thanks a lot.. It’s very very helpful..