Dylan Thomas' Final Trip to America Dylan
Marlais Thomas was born in Swansea,
Wales on October 27, 1914. He died
November 9th, 1953 in New York City. In only
39 years, Dylan Thomas left
an indelible mark on history. Thomas published
numerous books of his poetry,
plays, short stories, and various other works. He
first toured America in
early 1950, reading at a variety of public forums. This
tour was very
successful and Thomas fell in love with America, a romance that
would bring
his end just more than three years later. "This first lecture
tour of three
months was a roaring success, or roaring and a success"
(Sinclair, 166).
Thomas gave great lectures on this tour, but more importantly,
he discovered
New York City. "New York seemed to egg him on" (Ferris,
232). Dylan grew
fond of "some of the seedier Irish bars of Third Avenue
and
particularly...the White Horse Tavern" (Sinclair, 164). Dylan was even
forced
to leave his hotel because of "drunkenness" (Ferris, 232).
Thomas had
gained a reputation of being a heavy drinker and he wasn't ready
to
disappoint his American followers. "Dylan lived up to his roistering
and
shocking reputation, while turning in some of his greatest performances
as a
lecturer" (Sinclair, 166). "He was loudly applauded," Ferris
wrote,
"His rich voice overcame any problems of meaning. People frequently
said that
Thomas' way of reading made them understand poems for the first time;
but it
may be under the influence of his voice, the literal meaning of a poem
became
irrelevant" (233). After only two readings in New York, Dylan moved
on to
tour the rest of the country. Thomas moved west stopping in major cities
all
over America to lecture by day and drink by night. Tales of his
growing
dependence on alcohol preceded him. The quality of Dylan's lectures
deteriorated
as he moved west on his tour of American bars. For the final
five weeks of his
visit to America, Thomas returned to New York (Ferris,
248). Dylan described his
last two weeks in New York as a "liquid, libidinous
fortnight"
(Ferris, 250). Thomas admitted to having three affairs during the
trips (Ferris,
250). He left for home on June 1st, 1950. When Thomas
arrived at his home in
Laugharne, Wales he discovered that his trip to
America did not prove to be
lucrative enough to support his poetry for any
extended period of time (Ferris,
252). Being at home, with his wife,
Dylan recuperated from the wear and tear of
his first tour (Sinclair, 173).
"He wrote that he had to ruin his health
again because he felt so
preposterously well. Such were the healing powers of
Laugharne - and of
love" (Sinclair, 175). During this period at home,
Dylan's father became
ill and "Dylan was shocked into his last fertile
period of writing poetry"
(Sinclair, 175). By the end of 1951, Thomas had
agreed to take another
lecture tour of America, This time however, his wife
Caitlin, having
received news of his love affairs on his last tour, insisted on
going
(Sinclair, 176). This tour went on with moderate drinking by
Thomas.
Caitlin assisted by spending whatever money Dylan earned. The
second and the
first trips were very similar in form. Dylan left For Wales on
May 15, 1952.
Thomas returned to Laugharne and his Father's condition
worsened. DJ Thomas died
on December 16; Dylan's own health was beginning to
deteriorate. Years of heavy
drinking, heavy smoking, and hard living were
beginning to take their toll just
two months after his 38th birthday (Ferris,
287). Thomas was suffering from many
ailments, several pulmonary in nature
(Ferris, 287). Despite all of this,
needing money, Thomas agreed to tour
America for a third time (Ferris, 288). He
left on April 21, 1953. Thomas
soon began an affair with a woman he was working
with named Liz Reitell
(Ferris, 289). Dylan was receiving opportunities in
America, but was
"finding it difficult to produce anything at all"
(Ferris, 291). Reitell and
Thomas fell in love and Liz soon became worried about
his drinking problem.
He fell down a staircase while drunk and broke his arm.
Reitell took him
to see Dr. Milton Feltenstein who set his broken bone and
treated him for
illnesses held over from England (Ferris, 292). Thomas returned
to England,
as scheduled, a few days later. Dylan's condition quickly
deteriorated. He
decided to return to America shortly after coming home. Many
feel that this
was an attempt at self-destruction. His body could not take
another trip to
America, but Thomas was determined. Caitlin did not approve of
this trip, but
was not going to accompany him (Ferris, 297). Dylan took off for
America
on October 19th. Reitell met Thomas on his arrival in New York
(Ferris,
299). The next few days, Thomas kept from drinking (Ferris,
299). Reitell said
the were "the loveliest days I had with him. He wanted to
take walks. He
wanted to eat. But he also was frightened" (Ferris, 299).
After this
period, Thomas began drinking heavily (Ferris, 300). Thomas'
health appeared to
be continuing to deteriorate by the day. Reitell took him
to see Dr. Feltenstein
On October 23, he treated Dylan and told him not
to drink so much (Ferris, 300).
Thomas' drinking only accelerated after
this. Reitell, convinced that Dylan
wished to die, accompanied him on Monday
the 26th and watched him as he slipped
into a temporary madness (Ferris,
301). The 27th, Thomas' birthday, was more of
the same. He was forced to
leave his own birthday party because he felt ill; he
returned to his hotel
(Ferris, 301). Dylan spoke without any problems on the
28th and 29th
(Ferris, 301). He spent the 30th with Reitell and another woman.
On the
31st, Thomas resumed drinking heavily and began telling stories of
his
childhood and professing his love for his wife (Ferris, 302). Sunday,
November
1st passed without any significant happenings. November 2nd
started with Thomas
drinking beer in the morning, the meeting Reitell and
going to dinner with her
(Ferris, 303). Tuesday the 3rd started with Thomas
drinking in his room. He kept
some previous meetings for drinks with Reitell
and returned to the Hotel in the
evening. That evening, he admitted to
Reitell that he wanted to die (Ferris,
303). The next morning at 2:00, he
left his room for a drink. He was gone for an
hour and a half (Ferris, 303).
Upon his return to the hotel room, Thomas said,
"I've had eighteen straight
whiskies. I think that's the record"
(Ferris, 304). Eighteen whiskies was
probably an exaggeration (Thomas was known
to embellish his drinking
stories). Thomas woke up on the 4th and walked with
Reitell to the White
Horse to drink two beers. They returned to the hotel,
Thomas sick
(Ferris, 304). Reitell called Dr. Feltenstein again. He came to the
hotel and
medicated Thomas to ease his pain (Ferris, 304). After sleeping for a
while,
Thomas woke up and complained of hallucinations. Reitell
called
Feltenstein again. When he arrived, he injected Thomas with a half
grain of
morphine sulfate (Ferris, 304). Thomas' breathing was depressed
enough from his
asthma, smoking, and a case of pneumonia that a half-grain of
morphine could
have been enough to limit the oxygen to his brain (Ferris,
306). Thomas slipped
into a coma and was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital. He
lived on in a coma until
November 9th. Thomas' cause of death was under
two headings, "acute and
chronic ethylism" (alcoholism), and "hypostatic
bronchopneumonia"
(Ferris, 308). Debate still surrounds Thomas' death. The
newest theory blames
Feltenstein. Feltenstein failed to recognize that
Thomas was a diabetic. The new
theory claims that Feltenstein not only
administered morphine, but also
cortisone and benzedrine which would have
propelled Thomas into a diabetic coma.
The new theory also states that
Thomas was not an especially heavy drinker, he
simply drank enough to
inebriate him every night. Nashold and Tremlett say,
"It can be said with
certainty that Dylan Thomas did not die of an acute
alcoholic intoxication of
the brain." These theories do not overshadow the
fact that people around
Dylan Thomas felt that he was going to die before the
events in New York in
the fall of 1953. Thomas did not want to live to the age
of forty. He was a
young poet and will stay perpetually young. Thomas says this
in his own word
in part of 'Poem on His Birthday': ...Oh, let me midlife mourn
by the shrined
And druid herons' vows The voyage to ruin I must run, Dawn ships
clouted
aground, Yet, though I cry with tumbledown tongue, Count my
blessings
aloud... ..And this last blessing most, That the closer I move To
death, one man
through his sundered hulks, The louder the sun blooms And the
tusked,
ramshackling sea exults...
Bibliography
Gittins, Rob.
The Last Days of Dylan Thomas. London : Publications. 1987.
Nashold, Dr.
James and George Tremlett. The Death of Dylan Thomas.
Edinburgh:
Mainstream Publishing. 1997. Sinclair, Andrew. Dylan Thomas-No
Man More Magical.
New York : Holt, Rinehart and Wilson. 1975. Thomas.
Caitlin and George Tremlett.
Caitlin-Life With Dylan Thomas. London :
Secker and Warburg. 1986. Poetry
Exhibits : Dylan Thomas. The Academy of
American Poets. March 26, 00.
Ferris, Paul. Dylan Thomas : The Biography.
Counterpoint Press. 2000