The Hunchback In The Park Poem by Dylan Thomas
The Hunchback In The Park
The hunchback in the park
A solitary mister
Propped between trees and water
From the opening of the garden lock
That lets the trees and water enter
Until the Sunday sombre bell at dark
Eating bread from a newspaper
Drinking water from the chained cup
That the children filled with gravel
In the fountain basin where I sailed my ship
Slept at night in a dog kennel
But nobody chained him up.
Like the park birds he came early
Like the water he sat down
And Mister they called Hey mister
The truant boys from the town
Running when he had heard them clearly
On out of sound
Past lake and rockery
Laughing when he shook his paper
Hunchbacked in mockery
Through the loud zoo of the willow groves
Dodging the park keeper
With his stick that picked up leaves.
And the old dog sleeper
Alone between nurses and swans
While the boys among willows
Made the tigers jump out of their eyes
To roar on the rockery stones
And the groves were blue with sailors
Made all day until bell time
A woman figure without fault
Straight as a young elm
Straight and tall from his crooked bones
That she might stand in the night
After the locks and chains
All night in the unmade park
After the railings and shrubberies
The birds the grass the trees the lake
And the wild boys innocent as strawberries
Had followed the hunchback
To his kennel in the dark.
Where Dylan lived as a boy in Swansea UK near to his house was Cwmdonkin Park where a hunchback visited from time to time. I particularly like verse six - the hunchback invoking the lady with the perfect figure, unlike his own.
I've just revisited this poem after 45 years. At that time the Slept at night in a dog kennel but nobody chained him up resonated. My English teacher explained to me that this wasn't awesome, or whatever word we were using at the time; it was very sad. Get a good bit more about the sadness now and still love the poem and the dog kennel couplet.
I don't know why he did't use vocabulary - this makes no sense
i dont understand a single thing said in this poem i just have to read it for school
Poem is very detailed and contains good vocabulary. A great poem for kids.
I love this poem, its really nice, but kinda hard to understand but great use of vocabulary! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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10/3/2024 1:54:24 AM # 1.0.0.1119
What can anyone say? There was only one Shakespeare, and only one Dylan Thomas. Shakespeare wrote the words, Thomas made them sing....