[Tim McGrath]

Roger, my favorite line has always been "Though I sang in my chains like the sea," which aptly describes what formalists do, I believe. But Thomas only loosely adheres to a formal scheme in the poem. Yes, every stanza has nine lines, and the corresponding line of each stanza has roughly--very roughly--the same metrical pattern. However, the poem's overall effect is that, for all its loveliness, it verges on disorder. Thomas should have tightened up its chains. And he could have deleted the penultimate stanza without damaging the poem