Our November ’25 meeting featured a talk by Josh Brown on Dylan Thomas.
Josh Brown’s book “Unjudging Love” published in 2024, attempts to debunk the persistent myths about Dylan Thomas (1914-1953). The title of the book comes from a poem addressed to his son called “This Side of Truth.” Dylan Thomas died aged 39 with Under Milkwood unfinished. Ross Brown confessed to being hooked on Dylan aged 14 after hearing an LP Caedmon recording of his poetry and being bowled over by the musicality of the words. He has Dylan poetry on his mobile phone and can listen to it any time he wishes. Dylan’s father had read poetry to his son from an early age. Josh visited Laugharne and the boathouse seventeen years after Dylan died.
In his book he challenges the myths about Dylan being a drunkard, an alcoholic, lecher, rumbustious rebel, a scrounger, that he hated Wales and Wales hated him according to a BBC article. He found these myths to be false but they had a grain of truth about them. He did misbehave, have affairs, borrow money (but always repaid his debts when able), lived a rock and roll lifestyle – living up to the image he had of the bohemian poet. He was part of the bardic tradition and did love to perform. The post mortem did not mention alcohol as cause of death but cited pneumonia and severe lung infection. Dylan exaggerated how much he drank and apparently it was women who always initiated the affairs. He was really rather shy. Richard Buton apparently regretted not lending him money as if he had, he might not have gone to the US and subsequently died. Dylan’s parents had diverging religious views, his mother being an avid Chapel goer but his father being an atheist. He developed his own faith in a God of “unjudging love”. He was a lifelong romantic socialist but was not really political. He became good friends with T.S. Eliot. He did not write about Wales or the coal mines but he did express a love of Wales with Under Milk Wood. The quote “Land of my fathers and my fathers can keep it” was written for a screenplay character and was not Dylan’s own view of Wales. Dylan had a romantic view of the poet as Bohemian and invented the notion of him being a heavy drinker, outrageously dressed to fit this image and Caitlin his wife says he encouraged this view but was quite shy. Philip Toynbee viewed him as the “greatest living poet in the English language” but Dylan shrugged this off saying he must have been thinking of someone else.
On his tours in the US, cocktails before and after his readings were a regular feature and led to the American media distorting and perpetuating the view of him as an alcoholic. John Brinnin’s biography, written two years after his death, added to the myth with its inaccurate depictions of drunken scenes and groping. Most books about Dylan have been written by men and perpetuate the myths, as the exaggerated stories sell more books.
Dylan can be credited with popularising poetry with his BBC readings and the Caedmon LP which was an instant success. Popular musicians such as John Lennon, and Leonard Cohen loved Dylan’s poetry. The DylanThomas museum in Swansea pays tribute to his enduring legacy.
Josh Brown – Unjudging Love – the enigma of Dylan Thomas. A Way With Words, £15, 2024
Lois Coulthart