assonance

The Use of Poetic Techniques in Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood

Under Milk Wood is a play for voices which was written by Dylan Thomas in 1954. The piece is set in the fictional Welsh village of Llareggub (pronounced "thlarr-eggoob"), and it is told by a series of narrators who take on the roles of the villagers. The play is structured as a day in the life of the village, from dawn to dusk, and the narration is in a poetic form. This allows the audiences to be informed by the villagers' thoughts and dreams, as well as their actions and dialogue. Dylan Thomas uses a number of poetic techniques in Under Milk Wood, including assonance, onomatopoeia, similes, compound adjectives, and personification. These devices are used to create a musicality in the language, which enhances the dream-like quality of the play.