The Conversation of Prayers by Dylan Thomas
This work explores the complexities of spirituality and faith through a series of prayers and meditations that blur the lines between personal devotion and public discourse. It delves into the human experience of seeking transcendence and connection with something greater, often in the face of mortality and uncertainty. The narrative voice is introspective and poetic, weaving together themes of love, loss, and the search for meaning in a chaotic world. Through its use of language and form, it challenges traditional notions of prayer as a private and individual act, instead presenting it as a communal and public expression of faith.
By Dylan Thomas · First published 1943 · Genre: Poetry, Modernist, Lyrical · 257 words
First lines
The conversation of prayers about to be said / By the child going to bed and the man on the stairs / Who climbs to his dying love in her high room, / The one not caring to whom in his sleep he will move
And the other full of tears that she will be dead, / Turns in the dark on the sound they know will arise / Into the answering skies from the green ground, / From the man on the stairs and the child by his bed.
The sound about to be said in the two prayers
For the sleep in a safe land and the love who dies / Will be the same grief flying. Whom shall they calm?
What this Textopian page supports
The Conversation of Prayers is listed on Textopian as a poem by Dylan Thomas, dated 1943 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Dylan Thomas
- Date: 1943 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Modernist, Lyrical, Religious, Psychological
- Length: 257 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Conversation of Prayers by Dylan Thomas
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Similar titles
- With A Mirror by Joyce Kilmer
- What Happens by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- At Least To Pray Is Left Is Left by Emily Dickinson
- Gethsemane by Georgia Douglas Johnson
- A Mortul Prayer by James Whitcomb Riley
- No Man Believes by Dylan Thomas
Genres
- Poetry — The work is structured in verse form, utilizing rhyme and meter, characteristic of poetry.
- Modernist — The themes of existential reflection and the use of complex imagery align with Modernist literature.
- Lyrical — The emotional intensity and personal expression in the text are hallmarks of lyrical writing.
- Religious — The text explores themes of prayer and spiritual contemplation, common in religious literature.
Tags
Poetry · Spirituality · Philosophy · Faith · Existentialism · Mortality · Death · Life · Meaning · Purpose · Humanity · Psychology