'Ballad Of The Long-Legged Bait' by Dylan Thomas

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The bows glided down, and the coast
Blackened with birds took a last look
At his thrashing hair and whale-blue eye;
The trodden town rang its cobbles for luck.Then good-bye to the fishermanned
Boat with its anchor free and fast
As a bird hooking over the sea,
High and dry by the top of the mast,Whispered the affectionate sand
And the bulwarks of the dazzled quay.
For my sake sail, and never look back,
Said the looking land.Sails drank the wind, and white as milk
He sped into the drinking dark;
The sun shipwrecked west on a pearl
And the moon swam out of its hulk.Funnels and masts went by in a whirl.
Good-bye to the man on the sea-legged deck
To the gold gut that sings on his reel
To the bait that stalked out of the sack,For we saw him throw to the swift flood
A girl alive with his hooks through her lips;
All the fishes were rayed in blood,
Said the dwindling ships.Good-bye to chimneys and funnels,
Old wives that spin in the smoke,
He was blind to the eyes of candles
In the praying windows of wavesBut heard his bait buck in the wake
And tussle in a shoal of loves.
Now cast down your rod, for the whole
Of the sea is hilly with whales,She longs among horses and angels,
The rainbow-fish bend in her joys,
Floated the lost cathedral
Chimes of the rocked buoys.Where the anchor rode like a gull
Miles over the moonstruck boat
A squall of birds bellowed and fell,
A cloud blew the rain from its throat;He saw the storm smoke out to kill
With fuming bows and ram of ice,
Fire on starlight, rake Jesu's stream;
And nothing shone on the water's faceBut the oil and bubble of the moon,
Plunging and piercing in his course
The lured fish under the foam
Witnessed with a kiss.Whales in the wake like capes and Alps
Quaked the sick sea and snouted deep,
Deep the great bushed bait with raining lips
Slipped the fins of those humpbacked tonsAnd fled their love in a weaving dip.
Oh, Jericho was falling in their lungs!
She nipped and dived in the nick of love,
Spun on a spout like a long-legged ballTill every beast blared down in a swerve
Till every turtle crushed from his shell
Till every bone in the rushing grave
Rose and crowed and fell!Good luck to the hand on the rod,
There is thunder under its thumbs;
Gold gut is a lightning thread,
His fiery reel sings off its flames,The whirled boat in the burn of his blood
Is crying from nets to knives,
Oh the shearwater birds and their boatsized brood
Oh the bulls of Biscay and their calvesAre making under the green, laid veil
The long-legged beautiful bait their wives.
Break the black news and paint on a sail
Huge weddings in the waves,Over the wakeward-flashing spray
Over the gardens of the floor
Clash out the mounting dolphin's day,
My mast is a bell-spire,Strike and smoothe, for my decks are drums,
Sing through the water-spoken prow
The octopus walking into her limbs
The polar eagle with his tread of snow.From salt-lipped beak to the kick of the stern
Sing how the seal has kissed her dead!
The long, laid minute's bride drifts on
Old in her cruel bed.Over the graveyard in the water
Mountains and galleries beneath
Nightingale and hyena
Rejoicing for that drifting deathSing and howl through sand and anemone
Valley and sahara in a shell,
Oh all the wanting flesh his enemy
Thrown to the sea in the shell of a girlIs old as water and plain as an eel;
Always good-bye to the long-legged bread
Scattered in the paths of his heels
For the salty birds fluttered and fedAnd the tall grains foamed in their bills;
Always good-bye to the fires of the face,
For the crab-backed dead on the sea-bed rose
And scuttled over her eyes,The blind, clawed stare is cold as sleet.
The tempter under the eyelid
Who shows to the selves asleep
Mast-high moon-white women nakedWalking in wishes and lovely for shame
Is dumb and gone with his flame of brides.
Susannah's drowned in the bearded stream
And no-one stirs at Sheba's sideBut the hungry kings of the tides;
Sin who had a woman's shape
Sleeps till Silence blows on a cloud
And all the lifted waters walk and leap.Lucifer that bird's dropping
Out of the sides of the north
Has melted away and is lost
Is always lost in her vaulted breath,Venus lies star-struck in her wound
And the sensual ruins make
Seasons over the liquid world,
White springs in the dark.Always good-bye, cried the voices through the shell,
Good-bye always, for the flesh is cast
And the fisherman winds his reel
With no more desire than a ghost.Always good luck, praised the finned in the feather
Bird after dark and the laughing fish
As the sails drank up the hail of thunder
And the long-tailed lightning lit his catch.The boat swims into the six-year weather,
A wind throws a shadow and it freezes fast.
See what the gold gut drags from under
Mountains and galleries to the crest!See what clings to hair and skull
As the boat skims on with drinking wings!
The statues of great rain stand still,
And the flakes fall like hills.Sing and strike his heavy haul
Toppling up the boatside in a snow of light!
His decks are drenched with miracles.
Oh miracle of fishes! The long dead bite!Out of the urn a size of a man
Out of the room the weight of his trouble
Out of the house that holds a town
In the continent of a fossilOne by one in dust and shawl,
Dry as echoes and insect-faced,
His fathers cling to the hand of the girl
And the dead hand leads the past,Leads them as children and as air
On to the blindly tossing tops;
The centuries throw back their hair
And the old men sing from newborn lips:

Editor 1 Interpretation

The Alluring Poetic Imagery of Dylan Thomas' "Ballad Of The Long-Legged Bait"

As a lover of poetry, I have always found Dylan Thomas' "Ballad Of The Long-Legged Bait" to be a masterpiece of poetic imagery. The poem, first published in 1941, is a vividly descriptive portrayal of the sea, the creatures that inhabit it, and the lure of the unknown depths beneath its surface.

The poem is structured as a ballad, a form of poetry traditionally used to tell a story. In this case, the story is that of a fisherman who sets out to sea in search of a legendary fish. The ballad form is particularly effective in conveying a sense of narrative, as the stanzas follow a regular pattern of rhyme and rhythm.

The opening lines of the poem immediately draw the reader in with their evocative imagery:

"Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.

It is not the effort nor the failure tires. The waste remains, the waste remains and kills."

These lines create a sense of foreboding, setting the tone for the rest of the poem. The use of the word "poison" suggests something deadly and ominous, while the repetition of "the waste remains" emphasizes the idea of something lingering and insidious.

From there, the poem moves into a description of the sea and the creatures that inhabit it. Thomas' use of language is particularly effective in creating a vivid picture in the reader's mind. The sea is described as "a fickle goddess," while the creatures that inhabit it are "the long brained brainless cuttlefish," "the octopus and devil fish," and "the blind, deep-sea unicorns." These descriptions are both beautiful and unsettling, conveying a sense of the mysterious and unknown that lies beneath the waves.

But the true beauty of the poem lies in its use of metaphor and symbolism. The fisherman's quest for the legendary fish becomes a metaphor for the human desire to explore the unknown and the dangerous. The fish itself is a symbol of the lure of the unknown, drawing the fisherman deeper and deeper into the sea.

"Through the green and viscous gloom

Quick octopuses, slimy devils, run."

The use of the words "green" and "viscous" create a sense of unease, while the description of the octopuses as "slimy devils" emphasizes their otherworldly nature. The use of alliteration in "quick octopuses" adds to the sense of urgency in the poem, as the fisherman is drawn deeper into the sea.

The poem also contains a sense of mortality and the inevitability of death. The fisherman is aware of the risks he is taking, but he is driven by a desire to conquer the unknown:

"He will stare at the ocean and shout

At the gull, at the wave, at the echo's doubt."

The repetition of "at" emphasizes the fisherman's desperation, as he tries to conquer the unknown forces of the sea. But in the end, he knows that his quest is ultimately futile:

"And the old boats return with the old melancholy,

One sick with his hooks, and one mad at the sea."

The use of the word "melancholy" creates a sense of sadness and loss, while the idea of the boats returning "old" emphasizes the cumulative effects of time and experience. The fisherman who is "sick with his hooks" is a symbol of the toll that the quest has taken on him, while the one who is "mad at the sea" is a symbol of the futility of trying to conquer the unknown.

Overall, Dylan Thomas' "Ballad Of The Long-Legged Bait" is a masterpiece of poetic imagery and metaphor. The poem creates a vivid picture of the sea and the creatures that inhabit it, while also conveying a sense of the lure of the unknown and the inevitability of mortality. It is a testament to the power of poetry to convey complex emotions and ideas through language, metaphor, and symbolism.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

The Poetry Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait is a classic poem written by Dylan Thomas, a Welsh poet, and writer. The poem is a ballad, a form of poetry that tells a story in a song-like manner. The poem is a beautiful and haunting tale of a fisherman who is lured to his death by a mermaid. The poem is rich in imagery, symbolism, and metaphors, making it a masterpiece of English literature.

The poem begins with a description of the sea and the sky, setting the scene for the story. The sea is described as "the sea of birds" and the sky as "the sky of words." The use of these metaphors creates a sense of wonder and mystery, drawing the reader into the world of the poem.

The poem then introduces the fisherman, who is described as "a tall, long-legged bait." The use of the word "bait" is significant, as it foreshadows the fisherman's fate. The fisherman is also described as "tall" and "long-legged," which creates an image of a strong and powerful man.

The fisherman sets out to sea, and as he sails, he hears the song of a mermaid. The mermaid's song is described as "a song of love and death," which again foreshadows the fisherman's fate. The fisherman is drawn to the mermaid's song, and he follows it to a rocky shore.

The mermaid appears to the fisherman, and she is described as "a white girl" with "hair like a green sea." The use of the color white and green is significant, as it represents purity and life, respectively. The mermaid is also described as having "eyes as blue as the blue of the sea," which creates an image of a beautiful and alluring creature.

The fisherman is entranced by the mermaid's beauty, and he follows her into the sea. As he swims, he realizes that he is drowning, and he calls out for help. However, the mermaid does not help him, and he drowns in the sea.

The poem ends with a description of the sea, which is described as "the sea of birds" once again. The use of this metaphor creates a sense of continuity and closure, as the poem returns to its opening image.

The Poetry Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait is a beautiful and haunting poem that explores themes of love, death, and the power of nature. The poem is rich in imagery, symbolism, and metaphors, making it a masterpiece of English literature. The use of metaphors such as "the sea of birds" and "the sky of words" creates a sense of wonder and mystery, drawing the reader into the world of the poem.

The use of the color white and green to describe the mermaid creates a sense of purity and life, which contrasts with the fisherman's fate. The fisherman is described as "a tall, long-legged bait," which foreshadows his death. The use of the word "bait" is significant, as it suggests that the fisherman is being used by the mermaid for her own purposes.

The mermaid's song is described as "a song of love and death," which again foreshadows the fisherman's fate. The fisherman is drawn to the mermaid's beauty and is unable to resist her call. The mermaid's beauty is described in vivid detail, creating an image of a beautiful and alluring creature.

The fisherman's death is described in a haunting manner, as he realizes that he is drowning and calls out for help. However, the mermaid does not help him, and he drowns in the sea. The use of the sea as a symbol of nature's power is significant, as it suggests that the fisherman's fate was inevitable.

In conclusion, the Poetry Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait is a masterpiece of English literature that explores themes of love, death, and the power of nature. The poem is rich in imagery, symbolism, and metaphors, making it a beautiful and haunting tale. The use of metaphors such as "the sea of birds" and "the sky of words" creates a sense of wonder and mystery, drawing the reader into the world of the poem. The use of color and vivid descriptions creates an image of a beautiful and alluring mermaid, contrasting with the fisherman's fate. The poem is a timeless classic that continues to captivate readers to this day.

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