Dylan Thomas -- Under Milk Wood

[Pooknottin]

You are an excellent reader! You understand the poem well and read it with feeling! Dylan is a mystery to many, but you get him it's clear.

[osip7315]

very good reading thanx !

[vickiehill1]

Now THAT friends...is one incredible poem! ......I am left breathless. I could see everything in my mind so clearly. Thank you to the poster & his lovely voice. This is a wonderful poem, poet & video.

[gordbard52]

@vickiehill1 Whose lovely voice are you talking about?

[6princeofdarkness]

very clear and very well read. it does lack dylans moody voice.....but still. very very nice!

[PoetJC]

Sensational poem read just beautifully - I'm gonna share it on JPiC Forum! Thanks for this.

Jacquii.

[tndowns1122]

@PoetJC Thanks. I really appreciate the nice comment.

[Jedermann101]

Masterful! A genius of imagination and expression! Honor to your memory DT!

Miguel

[birkenkrahe]

i also thought this was beautifully read.

[kevinastraw]

This is Thomas's claim to immortality, and I think he makes it. He raises with his poetry a whole village out of nothing, and all the sights and sounds and smells, and the comical and tragical people, awake under his spell, and seem for the duration of this play for voices real to the touch.

[FollowYourDream202]

I am doing a English project on him right now , and hearing him recite his poems is so different from reading them yourself. Dylan Thomas is a unforgettable poet. "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" has sentimental value to my family. :)

I just recently learned who all he is about and well I'm really starting to love his poetry a true art(:

[creamnblack]

What the hell is this? Thought it would be original reading. 

[DanWagstaffe09]

Genius. A unique piece of writing. Mind blowing.

[readerwriter]

Doesn't sound right read with an american accent, but well read that man .Great poem, a real journey through what he was thinking.

[DavidRandallCurtis]

19 dislikes? WTF???? Thumbs up! I can't believe some of the comments whining about your accent or lack of one. You read this with soul! (which is all that really matters).... My hat is off to you! :)

[tattoofthesun]

FROM WHERE YOU ARE YOU CAN HEAR THEIR DREAMS

[spaceoreo]

A good reader, but the lack of Welsh accent (or even RP) just doesn't sit well. It is not as evocative, and oddly-keyed expressions such as 'fancy woman' and mispronunciations of Llareggub and mintoes (minotes???) suggest a terrible lack of research/cultural awareness. Again, I wish to point out that the narrator, given other material, would do a fine job. But he's badly miscast here.

[TropicalFish995]

I auditioned for this show 2 days ago!!! I read the script its so amazing and Dylan Thomas reads it so well. I used the monolouge at the begining from " hush the babies are sleeping" up to " on the one clous of the roofs"

[TropicalFish995]

My school is doing this show in febuary! my audition was 2 days ago i used a part of this monoluge form " hus hthe babie are sleeping" to " on the one coud of the roofs"

[bilko9999]

DT detested the Welsh language as he had realised that different languages divide people and he refused to learn the little language. In his words "Land of my Fathers" and they can have it.

[mellymohamxD]

i love this

its inspired me to write my own piece

we listened to it one lesson

and i was completley intrigued!

[bintyboy123]

im doing this for a radio play but im struggleing has anyone got any tips on how to speak like a welsh person

[singact28]

had to memorize this for drama class. the whole damn thing.

I appalud you for posting this, Dylan Thomas was a true poet

[DanWagstaffe09]

Masterpiece

[closertofiftythanyew]

simple salmon fillets and hake steaks. with the occassional nibbles of cockles, and fried pork and sea greens.

Modern sugar and all its forms - doesn't agree with a welshman, and many other tribal people, no doubt.

[closertofiftythanyew]

@closertofiftythanyew when I say welshmen, I say people of the Carmarthen Bay.

[grandslam1998]

As Dylan said " just love the the word"

[Paulmanorbier]

I enjoyed that, thank you

[alieales]

I remember, huddled by my Grandfathers knee, he recounted Dylan Thomas in thick South African accent. I did not like my Grandfather, a cold disciplinarian: already worm eaten by Alzheimer. I did not understand and I did not like Dylan Thomas. My Grandfather stopped speaking (at least what I took for coherence), soon after the last reading of Under Milk Wood to me. But, he left me a spark. I miss him now. Dylan Thomass words act as a bridge.

[alsonross]

My tribute: Red Cloth Series: Ross McCague on youtube

[schmutzgreiffer]

Britain and America.

Two countries divided by a common language!

[stillanego]

No, the accent is fine.

I'd like the reader to slow down though. He is racing all the way through.

I imagine Dylan Thomas as a very relaxed person in no rush at all.

Well read otherwise.

What a poet!!

[mmiaxx2002]

I walk the night . I know this world. This human feels my vision

[mrbemorris]

I realise that you would be upset by my comments: Obscenity is a strong word to use, but I do stand by it.

As for my Welsh dialect, you may be right, but nowhere in my comment did I say that I was not a hypocrite.

Also I'm not so sure that Daniel Jones would call it a "bastardization", but a "bastardisation".

[paparotzie]

I love Dylan Thomas's Poetry

[En3usiast]

Good to see how universal Dylan's work has become...standard study for all ages...a walk around Laugherne is highly recommended.

[mrbemorris]

I, like Dylan Thomas, am from Swansea (something I am very proud of as you can imagine), but I am so sorry, I realise how awful it is of me even to think such a thing, but I find myself quite offended by the American accent. I realise that accent should not matter: Dylan Thomas was an influential writer whose work is renowned all over the English speaking world. I dislike myself as much as anyone for saying that America has abused and mutated a beautiful language to the point of obscenity.

[ttox05]

no i completely understand. i was born and raised in new york and moved to swansea in september. i always loved dylan thomas' work. but listening to this with a strong american accent put me off.

[mrbemorris]

I'm glad you weren't offended because I really meant no offence. I think it is just because of the dialect and the accent not matching, I'm sure it would sound just as odd if it were a Welshman reading from an American poem.

[jward199]

@mrbemorris I'm sorry; our dialects are a part of our environment, and we can't get away from it in the U.S.A.

[mrbemorris]

No need to apologise at all, dialect and accent are things that cannot be helped and perhaps I should not have made some of the quite narrow minded comments I did, however unnatural a reading it sounded to me. Looking back I am the only one that should be apologising.

[SuperBluehaze]

Wonderful and recited very well. Thank you.

[coracleman]

actually as a welsh person, I liked it. Yes, DT was welsh - but he understood that the language of poetry is universal. He did not read or speak welsh - the language was undergoing something of a slump during his lifetime and was not widely in use in the area of Wales where he lived. However, I think there's a reason that there is not a welsh translation of UMW - it would not have the same resonance as it does in english. Good heartfelt delivery BTW!

coraclewoman

[Brooksider100]

He drank in the Mermaid Hotel (destroyed by fire) and in the back (scrumpy) bar of the Churchill Hotel in Walters Road Swansea. Actually he drank wherever he could find alcohol but those were his regular haunts.

[bhd3]

I'm another privileged to own a copy of the Burton version (and the one by Anthony Hopkins) and I say well done. Yes, nothing will quite match the Welsh versions many of us know and love, but it is the language which matters more than who speaks it, and the more interpretations of that we hear the better we can perhaps appreciate all its nuances. You've made a very good attemept at a piece which is hard to read and I enjoyed hearing it.

[tumbledown11]

i saw under milkwood at the dylan thomas theatre in swansea and I became intrigued by the man and his works.

[parkplatzbizon]

OK so far

but a bit 2 fast

(c:

[RP1117]

amazing and really well done.

[xiangyik]

This is a fascinating recording. Dylan Thomas' readings have their own unique brand of beauty and so does yours, in a more intimate, more quietly frenetic way. I'll not say this is bad just because you're not Welsh. That would be stupid, arrogant, and insulting to the universal nature of Dylan Thomas' poetry.

[teffieren]

who would you consider to be a spokesperson for the welsh if not the inhabitants and speakers of the language?Point being, i wouldn't attempt an american character/narration that is prized on it's extrovert personality and nationality with a monotone voice + a welsh accent. It wouldn't be in the least bit believable.

[Coldrid]

I am sorely disappointed by the reaction that this video has received. Dylan Thomas was a great and powerful poet; his words carry their force with any accent. If there was supposed to be a particularly secret Welsh spirit to it all, perhaps he would have written in Welsh - would you have understood it then? Strange that you talk of the "speakers of the language", when he plainly wrote it in English. I think that the reader here actually appreciated and enjoyed the work, enough to want to share.

[Coldrid]

Which, incidentally, is a fine and laudable thing. Be glad that intelligent, thinking people have the taste and discernment to study. recite and broadcast Thomas' poetry, regardless of where they themselves come from. And, may I say, if it's so important to have it with a Welsh accent, why didn't you record it first?

[tndowns1122]

@Coldrid Thank you for the nice comment. I read this work because I like it a lot and thought it would be fun to share. I was surprised by some of the nasty comments I received after posting it--but I appreciate that you respected the effort. Thanks!

[teffieren]

completely ruining the welsh spirit which is core to the entire performance with insisting upon the american accent + monotonous tone, thanks for that.

[Jer1967]

P.S. what is "Under Milk Worrrrd" supposed to be? Typical bloody American.....no culture, class or style whatsoever.

[Jer1967]

What the hell is this supposed to be? I cannot believe someone has had the sheer arrogance to imagine that they can even BEGIN to emulate the late, great Richard Burton's narrative on this classic piece. Talk about murdering a piece of work! Anyone here who posts any positive comments WHATSOEVER on this particular piece of utter SHIT should hang their heads in shame. This is absolutely shameful and disgusting. A complete disgrace.

[Brooksider100]

How long have you suffered from the psychotic disorder which afflicts you? Have you never heard the expression 'A cat can look at a king'.?

[IbrahimZahiri]

Great Poem.

I am a great fan of Thomas's poems.

His alcoholism was humbling, however

[CelticQwn]

Just who do you think is reading this?

[derryhawk]

This is part of that which inspired me to write. What beautiful use of language to create pictures in our minds.

[Mazurka1001]

Bloodless reading especially in comparison to Dylan who was perhaps the best poet-reader of them all...I guess it's true that only Celts and Gaels have the way with English language. Least of all the post-culture amerikwans...

[chrisheinitz69]

mazurka seems to have a  wounded ego which is lashing out like a beaten puppy.

[Mazurka1001]

no, it's just mediocre, very lifeless reading aloud.

[HaShomeret]

this is my favorite poem and this is the best reading of any poem i have ever heard.

[Jer1967]

The best reading of any poem you have ever heard? Please tell me you're joking! You clearly have not heard the original or, in fact, much poetry at all.

[BeatsRoyale]

I like your comment, bro!! That shit was gangsta!!!

[Chickenhawk9932]

pure poetry.

[artj22850]

I love the emphasis on the word black. Wonderful poem and perfect reading. I love this.

[artj22850]

Wow, I am jealous; please have a drink for me too! Yes, I bet a lot of people wish they could speak like him and write that well. He was a wonderful poet. Glad you're keeping his memory alive on here.

[artj22850]

Beautiful read/recited. I love this. Dylan was amazing. I can just picture the atmosphere he describes...lovely...

[ctoan1]

Dylan Thomas' work was incrdible, however it's read so So much better on the vw advert than this !

it's not the whole text though.

look for 'Volkswagan Night Drive Golf'

[joetjoeb333]

the wind noise is a bit anoying but you read well, thank you

[HaShomeret]

"the boys dream wicked"

the girls seem innocent to him because he, having been a boy, knew their evils and saw that the girls did not have those evils. but, having never been a girl, missed the evils the girls did have and saw them as pure because they weren't dirty in the same way he was.

i like this poem.

[nordicsky]

Thanks for such a brilliant read. I havent read much Dylan Thomas but Im going to revisit him now.

This will help me improve my reading style, and bring more imagery into my poetry.

I only started to write poetry eighteen months ago, and Im here to learn, so postings like this really help.

Regards, Peter

[SwEeTyK3LLy]

wunderschöner HörspieL!!!

[SwEeTyK3LLy]

wunderschönes Hörspiel!!!!

[CR65]

Fantastic reading of this timeless poem. Very well done, congratulations.

[mdmooskie]

You have a beautiful, intriguing voice... (I like the soft wind in the background too.)

Last year, I saw "Under Milkwood" as a theatre production at college, and your reading brought back images of the show. Nicely done!

[lionheart042672]

very good, I have the Richard Burton Version, awesome.

[rothordegilian]

Well done. As a proud Welshman it is lovely to hear anybody, from any nation, read this. My only, hopefully constructive, criticism would be to let the words work for themselves, you seem to force it somewhat. With the greatest of respect, it's a play for voices and I'm not sure your voice matches the text, although I admire and thank you for trying and I wish you all the best.

[gw1pcd]

Da iawn! However, should be a little slower and more measured.

[llteejay]

More! Please more!

[StThomasmore133]

Strange to here an American recite Under Milkwood. That said I think you did a very good job. The only criticism of your recital would be; that you tend to rush a little at certain points. Well done though, it is most refreshing to learn of fans of Dylan Thomas who hail not only from Wales. :]

[densam19]

A brillent poet

[llteejay]

I love to hear a different reading of this, no matter what the contributors nationality!

Excellent mate, i'd love to hear more, perhaps some Macneice? You have a commanding voice and a great ear for the poetry, more of this please

[lickafrog]

Thankyou Dylan Thomas.

Thankyou tndowns 1122.

[whispperson]

Great to hear this From an American.

I am Welsh {I come from South Wales}, even though i now live and work in England and i enjoyed this very much.

Thanks for this

[joshboyweh]

very well read, though it does sound very strange in an american accent. but you cant help that! the welsh pronounciation of 'llareggub' is quite a bit different to that, but again somebody would have tell you how to say that properly, still vvery nice to see somebody take an interest in dylan thomas.. keep it up.