Dylan Thomas Portraits
The Dylan Thomas portrait is a type of poem named after the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who used
words experimentally in his poems. This form focuses on the senses and begins with the question:
‘Did you ever...?’ The question is then answered with a description. Dylan Thomas portraits are
always written in couplet form, a couplet being two lines of poetry.
For example
Sound
Did you ever hear a classroom?
Voices rumbling, chairs scraping, teacher shouting.
Did you ever see a snake?
Zig-zagging, fork-tongued, elastic-jawed.
Touch
Did you ever feel a toad?
Rough skinned, stomach swollen, throat pulsating.
Did you ever see a cat?
Highly-polished, radar-eyed, bewitched.
1. Write your own Dylan Thomas portraits in which you answer questions beginning with the
following:
a. Did you ever see a ...?
b. Did you ever hear a ....?
c. Did you ever touch / feel a ...?
d. Did you ever taste a ....?
e. Did you ever smell a ....?