Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Regarding Michael Robbins’s dismissal of Dylan Thomas [“The Child That Sucketh Long,” January 2013]: Thomas was a very careless poet, except when he was a great one. Careless because he often allowed his own gifts to get the better of  him. Too many of  his poems have a great first line but then falter from there to the finish. He was, however, so talented that he could create the illusion of a sustained performance, even when the rest of the poem was a mess. Crane’s talent was very similar. Both of them were drunk on words, both prolific to their detriment. I am grateful for what they gave us.