The poem "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" by Irish poet Dylan Thomas is a poem about the inevitability of death and the futility of mourning those who have been lost (especially those lost in war). The first stanza of the poem gives readers a sense of London, which is seemingly at the end of the world. Eventually, it seems darkness will soon fall and the sea will come to a standstill because of the war. In the first stanza, the speaker contemplates whether to mourn now or to wait to mourn until the end of their own life, when they will return to the earth.
In the second stanza, the speaker contemplates their own mortality and the idea of entering a cycle of life and death. A small boy has died because of bombings by the Nazis. The speaker questions whether to let out a small sound of prayer or to mourn the boy’s death in the least valley of sackcloth. The speaker feels the weight of the child's death but chooses not to grieve any further with things that may not do justice to the tragedy.
In the third stanza, the speaker reflects on the child's death and the decision to not speak the "grave truth" or mourn further for the young boy. The speaker acknowledges the majesty and burning of the child's death, but the speaker doesn’t want to “murder” the child’s memory or “blaspheme” the kid’s memory or humanity with words that he feels may not do justice to the lost boy’s innocence and youth.
The final stanza of the poem talks about the child’s burial in London, where the poem says they are “deep with the first dead.” The child is described as being “robed in the long friends” and lying in the waters of the Thames river. The poem ends with the line "After the first death, there is no other,” which suggests that death is the only thing a person can count on in their life and that additional mourning for a person’s death may not be worth it. suggesting that death is the one true certainty in life and that further mourning and grieving may not serve a purpose.
