In the poem "The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower," Dylan Thomas utilizes a clever metaphor to make a powerful commentary the endless cycle of life and death. Thomas achieves this by drawing a parallel between the life of man and nature itself, as he implies that the same life force that drives man forward is the same one that inhabits nature, including the flower mentioned in the poem's opening line. Indeed, Thomas ties the poet himself to the forces of nature, as the life that flows through the poet also imbues all of nature as well.
The poem's central metaphor is made apparent in the first lines: "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower/Drives my green age" (1-2). Thomas suggests that the same power that causes the flower to bloom also gives life to the poet. Thus, nature becomes a powerful metaphor for the life of man, as Thomas continues it the next line by declaring that the same force that "athat blasts the roots of the trees/Is my destroyer" (2-3). Here, Thomas introduces the notion of death into the poem. It becomes clear that life and death inhabit the same cycle, and just as the force described in the poem destroys the trees, it siphons the poet's life away over time.
Thomas continues to use the nature metaphor to describe the cycle of life and death. He explains that "aI am dumb to tell the crooked rose/My youth is bent in the same wintry fever" (4-5). The poet does not need to explain the effects of the 'force' to the rose because it is affected in the same manner that man is. As a flower will begin to bend over time, so too will old age and death begin to "bend" man. Thomas underscores his metaphor once more as he declares, "The force that drives the water through the rocks/Drives my red blood" (6-7). All around him, the poet sees his similarities to nature.
In this sense, it would seem that the poet is truly one with nature. Indeed, both are ...