The Love Letters of Dylan Thomas

by Dylan Thomas

The beauty and power of Dylan Thomas's voice is captured here in a stunning collection of letters to his wife Caitlin, as well as his various lovers and close female friends. With a style as grand and lyrical as his poetry, Thomas expresses his affection in letters that are sensual, uninhibited, romantic, funny, and always loving.

The Love Letters of Dylan Thomas is a look at Dylan Thomas as a poet and as a man. The letters portray details of Thomas's personal life, showing him at his most open and passionate. At the same time, the brilliance of his words represents the breadth of his talent and the power of the lost art of letter-writing. This book is a tribute to the art of Dylan Thomas and an inspiration to lovers, poets and writers everywhere. "I love you more than anybody in the world. And yesterday-though it may be lots of yesterdays ago to you when this wobbly letter reaches you-was the best day in the world in spite of dogs, and Augustus woofing, and being miserable because it had to stop. I love you for millions and millions of things, clocks and vampires and dirty nails and squiggly paintings and lovely hair and being dizzy and falling dreams."
-from a letter to his wife, Caitlin.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Classics

2 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Dylan Marlais Thomas (1914-1953) was a Welsh poet who wrote in English. Many regard him as one of the 20th century's most influential poets.

In addition to poetry, Thomas wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, with the latter frequently performed by Thomas himself. His public readings, particularly in America, won him great acclaim; his booming, at times, ostentatious voice, with a subtle Welsh lilt, became almost as famous as his works. His best-known work includes the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood and the celebrated villanelle for his dying father, "Do not go gentle into that good night." Appreciative critics have also noted the superb craftsmanship and compression of poems such as "In my craft or sullen art" and the rhapsodic lyricism of Fern Hill.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My darling far-away love, my precious Caitlin, my
wife dear, I love you as I have never loved you, oh
please remember me all day & everyday as I remember
you here in this terrible, beautiful, dream and nightmare
city which would only be any good at all if we were together
in it, if every night we clung together in it. I love you, Cat,
my Cat, your body, heart, soul, everything, and I am always
and entirely yours"


It's clear from the letters to Caitlin Macnamara—before and after they wed—that Thomas was absolutely smitten with her. It was a case of love at first sight when he met her in a pub for the first time—even spending the entire evening there with his head resting on her lap. And he's got Wyn Henderson to thank for that—the woman Thomas was actually staying with in Cornwall at the time. Yep—he liked women alright. No animosities though—she would go on to pay for their marriage license and remain friends with them.

While some of the letters to various other women whilst with Caitlin do indicate Thomas had affection for them, there is little in this book that pick's up on the stormy relationship he and his wife apparently had later on. Apart from one instance where he is begging for forgiveness
after Caitlin discovered a letter to the wealthy Marged Howard-Stepney, who was financially
supporting Thomas and couldn't keep away from him, although, there is nothing to indicate
it ever got physical between them. It's only at the end of the book, through a single letter, that it mentions the affair Thomas had with Elizabeth Reitell—who worked on the production of Under Milk Wood in New York—that brings into question his marriage to Caitlin.

Whilst he did continually go on and on about how much Caitlin meant to him, more interesting for me were the earlier letters as a teen, including correspondences with a girl who wrote to him after admiring one of his early poems, and then later on in the book his experiences whilst he was working in the United States.

Twice this year I've had to put off visiting the boathouse in Laugharne where Thomas lived the last few years of his life with his family, and the graveyard where he and Caitlin are buried, but It's something I still hope to do.

[Deborah Pickstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas seriously slept around - well, the inebriated are also the disinhibited! Certainly shows a genius with words, no matter what he was writing (or speaking, no doubt!) One of his passing flames, it appears, was my own grandmother - it was her proud boast (and she was not more continent than he, as far as I could see) so I am not telling out of school! I suspected her of.......embroidering but....they were both Welsh, both in the profession and I have found letters to and from him in other anthologies. At the least it made me interested....and once I read, I was hooked! Definitely one of the best literary minds and figures of Britain at that period - or any other, I would think.

[Astilbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

i still have no idea how to rate this. a collection of personal letters written by a well-known, now dead welsh poet is hard to rate. though, this was beautiful. there was a plethora of amazing phrases, ones that are quotable. dylan thomas was definitely an amazing poet and writer, in the times he was alive. the devotion that he felt towards his lovers really comes across, though in some places the writing felt insincere.
it was kind of spooky, that dylan seemed to have felt quite strongly about each of the women despite previous relationships, and even in letters that were written while he was married with caitlin.

i’ll rate this a 4, though im unsure on what i should rate this, or if rating something like this is a good idea.

============

BEFORE READING:
the tiniest book of my 6 book library hall.
i just wanted to read this because i heard about this guy before.

i have no idea how to rate this. how do i rate actual letters that a poet sent like 100 years ago um

[Janh55 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desperate, pathetic, funny, wonderful letters from unfaithful, sensuous, genius bastard.

Love it, especially the crawling letter he wrote to Caitlin to who discovered unsent poem to some woman called Marge.

"That letter was horrible...was dirty and cadging and lying......vile - a conscientious piece of contrived, bamboozling dirt which nobody was supposed to see... not you or that Marged gin woman"

[Dylan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look… as blokes go, Dylan Thomas is a bad one.

He is dangerously and highly intelligent, and seems to have consistently used it to emotionally manipulate the women in his life, his wife included. His wife especially.

I would just LOVE to read Caitlin’s replies. It’s tough to get a thorough assessment on their relationship without her perspective. Maybe one day, if we’re so lucky.

Reading these letters, you get the sense he definitely knows how to work people. He is a lying, manipulative, love bombing sociopath.

He’s also so transparently insecure and sad. And lonely. This loneliness seems to peak around post-1950, where he takes his genius to America: “I never seem to sleep in a bed anymore, only on planes and trains. I’m hardly living; I’m just a voice on wheels.” It killed me, that.

You wonder what amazing things he could’ve gone on to write had he not died a penniless, over-worked, alcoholic’s death. Just an astonishing literary legacy to leave in a life spanning only 39 years.

These are called love letters, but I’m not sure Dylan Thomas ever really knew what love is. I think that’s probably the saddest thing about this book, these letters, and Dylan Thomas’ complicated life.

And it is a complicated honour to be named after him. A great man. Not an honourable man, by any stretch of the imagination. But great, nonetheless. (Semi-nicked this from Ollivander. Sorry.)

Rest In Peace, Dylan. I’ll come visit you soon. (His grave, I’m not unstable. I’ve no intention of ditching this mortal coil just yet, I haven’t even read 1984.)

P.S. I realise I haven’t really touched on how the letters are written or whether they’re even any good. I don’t think I need to, do I? An artist to the very end.

[Astrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nuestra inocencia es inmensa, y nuestro vergonzoso secreto es que sencillamente no sabemos nada, y nuestro aún más profundo y vergonzoso secreto es que nos da igual no saber nada"

(Dylan Thomas a Caitlin McNamara, julio de 1936)

Empecé a leer este libro por recomendación, y préstamo, de mi amigo Rafa. La verdad es que nunca he leído la poesía de Dylan Thomas, pero al gustarme tanto Bob Dylan, quien tomó el "Dylan" del maldito poeta británico, tengo que empezar por alguna parte.


Es un libro muy interesante para entender un poco a Dylan Thomas, y también la manera en que durante esa época los romances a distancia florecían mediante la correspondencia.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting...not a favorite, but not horrible, either.
Dylan Thomas was a handful to be sure...I'm not actually sure how such a selfish and bold philanderer actually had this many women to write love letters to, but I guess there's somebody for everyone...and Thomas thought that there were a lot of somebodies for him.
That being said, his actual writing was interesting. A little too flowery and not quite sincere, but an interesting read.

[Rafa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siempre es dulce humanizar a todo un Dios.

[Charlotte Woof · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a collection of letters, I loved this book. There is something limitlessly fascinating to me about reading the diaries, journals, and letters of literary types.

I confess to have read none of Thomas’ poetry before starting this; I leapt to my collection of his works midway through these letters to try and see if I could find anything of his arrogance in his verse.

For all my admiration of his passion, his mastery, and his vision, the letters gave me no great love of the man nor his poetry. Though I found I liked some (eg This Bread I Break) I felt disinclined to muddle through some of his more incomprehensible and dense works. Overall there was just a level of conceit that I struggled, as a reader, to overcome, and which Thomas himself made me self conscious of.

He made me feel linguistically stupid and yet he was the very worst ‘fool in love’. How anyone could abide him as a lover is beyond me.

[Corey Terrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of love letters from Dylan Thomas. Such a gorgeous writer.

[Ape · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why don't people write letters like this anymore? Well, I know there are still letterwriters out there - me included - but in general it's a dying art. And that's such a shame. I am increasingly interested in reading the journals and letters of particular figures from the past, and as I like what I've so far read of Dylan Thomas, I saw this book the other day and thought I would give it a go. You do wonder sometimes whether there should be books like this. His poems and articles were intended for an audience; these letters were never meant for anyone other than the particular woman he was writing to. It would be nice to see some of the replies he got to these, to see a bit more of the conversation, but I guess with things like these we're at the mercy of what has survived and what people are prepared to pass over for the public record.

He was a very elloquent but messed up guy. The drink is referred to throughout this collection of letters. It seems he had a lot of love and felt passionately; fidelity was not his thing. The selected letters here span 20 years from 1933 to 1953 and are written to a number of women, from the first girlfriend, some affairs of varying lengths, and his wife, Caitlin. Some are about love and longing and missing the women, others seem to be more about discussing poetry.

i love some of the expressions and things he writes; I loved this ending to a letter: "I shall put this in an envelope and then sit looking into the fire. I love you. I am a blue-green buzzard and my name is Dylan." (p.29)

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book allows us to see inside the mind of Dylan Thomas, a brilliant poet and word artist. The book focuses, however, on some of the inner torture consuming the man. I felt much empathy and compassion for Thomas after reading this collection, but wanted to know more. These letters simply give the reader a glimpse into Dylan Thomas' inner thoughts.

I would have appreciated seeing some of his published writing incorporated alongside the letters in this book to provide a better insight into the man as a whole. His finished poems and plays reflect a different perspective of the man. After reading this book, I felt compelled to seek out more information about Dylan Thomas' life, and to read more of Thomas' works. I would have dearly loved to have seen him perform, as well as know more about his relationship with his wife and children. The man was certainly a unique, exceptionally-talented artist of words.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short collection of letters to the women in Dylan's life - which begins with a rather sweet long-distance relationship with another teenage aspiring poet - is a fascinating and insightful read. It contains the immense force and passion which is evident in his work and his letters to Caitlin, his wife, are incredibly touching. He was intense, intelligent, with a wicked and self-depreciating sense of humour, all of which come through in spades within this slim volume. I hesitate to call anyone a genius, but for me, Dylan Thomas comes pretty close. Any lover of DT's work will appreciate this book.

[Offuscatio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una lectura increíblemente apacible.

Fragmento: "¿En qué consiste una buena carta en realidad? ¿Dejar ahí un poquito de uno mismo para que lo lea otra persona que lo desea? ¿Ser alegre y un poco tímido, o ser tímidamente formal, ser tan natural que hasta las propias palabras se sonrojan y tartamudean?"

[Marie S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thomas should have seen a shrink instead of writing letters after letters of complaint. We get it, he didn't like bad weather.
It's a wonder all theses women were interested in him, but oh well. I didn't enjoy my reading very much. It wasn't really love letters so much as letters Thomas wrote to talk about himself.

[Marta J. de Villefort · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Oggi mi torturano tutti i dubbi e le incertezze che un’immaginazione ereditariamente contorta, una sete ereditaria e un dissetarsi commerciale, un desiderio per un corpo non mio, un’educazione irregolare e troppa poesia egocentrica, e un giorno pazzo e piovoso in una città lambita dalle maree possono evocare dalle loro profondità averne. Profondità averne. C’è tortura nelle parole, tortura nel collegarle e nell’ortografia, nella lumaca del loro strisciare sulla carta rubata, nella loro ferita che i quattro venti raddoppiano, e nella mia coscienza della loro inadeguatezza. Con un peso pedante alla fine, il periodo cade. Tutti i periodi cadono quando il peso della mente è distribuito in modo irregolare lungo le sacre consonanti e vocali. In principio era una parola di cui non conosco l’ortografia, non un Dog rovesciato, o una luce fisica, ma una parola lunga come Glastonbury e corta come «pith». E non è blesa come quest’ultima, non scorreggia come Balzac da una finestra calligrafica, ma parla tagliente ed eterna con le intonazioni della morte e del destino sulle sillabe magnifiche. Mi chiedo se amo la tua parola, la parola dei tuoi capelli (amando i capelli ripudio tutti i Wilde, perché l’omosessualità è calva come una palla da biliardo), la parola della tua voce, la parola del tuo corpo e la parola della tua presenza. Per quanto buona, non potrò mai amarti come la terra. La buona terra del tuo sangue è sempre lì, sotto la pelle che amo, ma è due parole. Ci deve essere solo una mezza parola tangibile, udibile e visibile all’analfabeta. È la metà migliore? O è la parte assolutamente spirituale? E il traghettatore monocolo, che non sa leggere una parola stampata, rema su un fiume di parole, dove le sillabe dei pesci sfrecciano fuori e sono prese col suo amo di rime, o si sente come una fantasma totale in un mondo che è concreto come la pietra? Se queste fossero le sole domande, sarei felice perché vi si risponde velocemente ribaltando il senso della vecchia metafisica. Ma vi sono altre domande più tremende cui ho paura di rispondere." (p. 49)

[Myrto Smyrilioy-Zerva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αρχικά να σχολιάσω κάτι που μου έκανε εντύπωση: Σε πόσες διαφορετικές γυναίκες είχε γράψει ερωτικές επιστολές αυτός ο άνθρωπος; Το γεγονός ότι έβλεπα τα ίδια, πληθωρικά συναισθήματα αγάπης και αφοσίωσης εκφρασμένα με τον ποιητικό λόγο του Ντύλαν, όσο όμορφος κι αν είναι αυτός (και πρέπει να παραδεχτώ πως είναι από τα ομορφότερα κείμενα που έχω διαβάσει), να απευθύνονται σε διαφορετικές γυναίκες, με αποθούσε. Στην πρώτη του αγάπη, στην πολύ μεγαλύτερή του κυρία που τελικά τον πάντρεψε με την γυναίκα του Κέιτλιν και τέλος στην Κέιτλιν (ενώ παράλληλα έγραφε και στις πολλές παράνομες σχέσεις του). Αυτό που μου άρεσε πιο πολύ στο συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο είναι ότι μπορούμε να δούμε την εξέλιξη της γραφής του Ντύλαν στο πέρασμα του χρόνου. Από την φρασκάδα των απόψεων ενός εφήβου, σε μια προσπάθεια έκφρασης του πάθους του νεανικού έρωτα, μέχρι την οριμασμένη σκέψη και γλαφυρή γλώσσα (έστω και λίγο επιτηδευμένη σε κάποια σημεία) ενός από τους σπουδεότερους ποιητές των αιώνων.

[Molsa Roja(s) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardly an acquaintance of mine through his trademark poem —Do not go gentle—, I've wanted to read about and from Dylan Thomas' for quite a while now; found a collection of love letters available, and contemplated the possibility as charming. Well, it must be said it's been a true pleasure to be able to read the outbursts of pure genius he had, from time to time, in the middle of an otherwise mostly banal letter, and that precisely these moments like lightning bolts are what a poet is made of; and so, I'm just now about to open his collection of poems & short stories & the very famous Under Milk Wood, and I do expect very much of this sad, lovable Welsh poet. Thx, Dylan.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

How letters should be written.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating!

[EMMA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these letters are so, so delicious! But far from all of them, hence the 3-star rating.

[Slenderman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun to read.

[Sarah Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Gives more insight to Dylan's character and life.

[Carlotta · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Evelyn Morris-Julien · Rating 4 out of 5]

such beautiful lyrical writing, only lost a mark because he kept fucking cheating on his wife

[Alejandro Ramirez Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanto amor en tanto lirismo y con tantas contradicciones. Amar en esos días era esperar semanas por respuestas.

[Dyfan Dyfans Dyfanson]

❤️ love

[Jesús Santana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dylan Thomas es uno de mis poetas y escritores favoritos, su trabajo habla por sí solo y su vida llena de excesos y polémica le otorga un plus y una agresiva realidad a todo lo que escribió, sus últimas palabras antes de morir por un coma etílico fueron “He bebido dieciocho vasos de whisky: creo que es todo un record” algunos estudiosos de su vida aseguran que lo hizo con toda la intención de suicidarse ya que venía arrastrando una fuerte depresión desde hacía mucho tiempo. Su trabajo como poeta fue excepcional, toda su obra se encontraba enmarcada en cambios de ritmo permanentes, las metáforas fueron su marca y como buen gales tuvo una imaginación absoluta, su poesía la respeto tanto como respeto y admiro a un José Antonio Ramos Sucre o a Fernando Pessoa, fueron poetas únicos que se convirtieron en clásicos de las letras eternamente. Como escritor no posee una obra extensa pero todas y cada una de ellas tiene su voz y su manera de columpiar al lector entre las palabras como pocos lo han hecho.

Dentro de todo este talento también se encontraba un hombre enamoradizo en exceso, muchas mujeres pasaron por sus brazos y fueron parte de su vida, Pamela Hansford Johnson su primera novia y casi que su primera vez, Wyn Henderson, Caitlin Macnamara su esposa y con quien tuvo una relación tan polémica y movida como la vida de ambos, esta relación la comparó en una de sus cartas como “una carne cruda sangrante”, también la escritora americana y principal exponente del catolicismo de izquierda Emily Holmes Coleman catorce años mayor que él, la actriz de teatro Ruth Wynn Owen quien se convirtió en una de sus amantes durante y entre sus relaciones mas estables, la escritora Edith Sitwell, Margaret Taylor con quien no tuvo ninguna relación amorosa pero agradeció por su gran ayuda en sus últimos años de vida y finalmente quien se dice que fue la última persona que lo vio con vida Elizabeth Reitell antes de beberse los dieciocho tragos en la taberna White Horse.

Todas ellas y alguna mas son las protagonistas de este trabajo en el que se reúnen casi todas las cartas que fueron escritas por puño y letra del gran Dylan Thomas, como es lógico para quienes lo hemos leído la manera en que el poeta escribe es implacable, es una casa y un corazón abierto cuando toca hablar de sus sentimientos, sus formas liricas mientras escribe son mágicas aunque no duda en ser violento y radical cuando opina sobre la poesía y de su pasión por ella, las letras son sagradas para Dylan y no duda en criticar fuertemente cuando habla de sus lecturas o cuando algunas de estas mujeres se atreve a pedirle su opinión personal sobre algún escritor o libro.

Su ambición literaria y sentimental queda plasmada en muchas de estas cartas, no teme aceptar cuando se equivoca ni mucho cuando acierta. Sus palabras y frases a veces son irónicas, directas, amorosas y también reflexiona sobre su vida y la de quienes lo rodean. Su sensibilidad fue única y aunque la podemos palpar en sus poemas es aquí en la intimidad de unas cartas donde mejor se puede apreciar. Resalta su miedo a la bebida viniendo de alguien que vivió y sobrevivió bebiendo toda su vida, teme por el futuro que se le acerca para matarlo en forma de una botella.

Es muy curioso cómo podía amar a tantas mujeres al mismo tiempo, al observar las fechas de cada misiva como se entremezclan entre ellas y como luego de leerlas todas uno nota como su faro principal sentimental era Caitlin Macnamara. “Cartas de Amor” es un libro de misivas apasionadas por un escritor que fue pasión pura en su forma de escribir y pasión absoluta en su forma de vivir.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, there I was, squatting in the 820s of Adult Non-fiction, running my finger along the spines, 828.8, .9, 829.0. It's not there! But hang on, this is by Dylan Thomas. The Love Letters of Dylan Thomas.
Don't you just hate that? I was looking for some Thomas poetry, preferably Under Milk Wood and the catalogue said it was available but it wasn't on the shelf! Oh, well, you just gotta take life as it comes.
Anyway, this was a pretty good read, incredibly short but jam packed with gushing letters of devotion that only a poet could write. What I found particularly disturbing, though, was the amount of love expressed for every woman regardless of previous or current attachments. Thomas seriously slept around! And he definitely wasn't afraid to talk about hi feelings. There really just seemed an air of insincerity about the whole thing and I didn't like that one bit. However, some passages were quite beautiful and there were poignant observations worth reading twice. Ultimately, his read jut provided an interesting view into the life of a man (and his women) that I didn't originally have much knowledge of.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up out of curiosity and really enjoyed reading through the many letters of an often desperate and love struck Dylan Thomas. It's a pity that few people write such letters as these anymore, though, to be honest, if I received as many in that manner as Dylan wrote I think I would feel suffocated, with some letters dated within days of each other. This offers only a small insight into the man behind the poems but shows his intelligence, wit and passion for those in his life. Filled with humour, vivid descriptions as well as his begging for love and forgiveness, this book definitely makes you want to read more about his life and his relationships within his world.