Under Milk Wood

Afternoon begins in Llareggub as the children are let out of the school. They run through the streets, singing songs and playing games. A girl named Gwennie plays a game in which the boys must either kiss her or “give her a penny” (43). While some of the boys are keen to play, a boy named Dickie is reluctant. He remembers his mother warning him not to kiss girls, and additionally, he does not have a penny to pay Gwennie. The other girls notice his apprehension and chase him to his house, then go to the shop to spend their money on candy. The schoolteacher, Gossamer Beynon, also finishes her day. She thinks about Sinbad Sailors, the owner of local the pub. She believes that he is an attractive man, even if he is “common.” Sinbad is also attracted to Gossamer but believes that she is too proud and too “educated” to ever be attracted to him.

Elsewhere, Mr. Pugh shares lunch with his wife. He barely listens to his wife’s gossip about Polly Garter, choosing instead to focus his attention on a book titled “Lives of the Great Poisoners” (47). He lies to his wife, telling her that the book is about the lives of saints. However, unbeknownst to her husband, Mrs. Pugh learned the true contents of the book when the mailman Willy Nilly brought it to the house. The tension between Mr. and Mrs. Pugh is palpable as she disparages Polly.

Mr. Organ Morgan plays the organ in the local church. His wife, Mrs. Organ Morgan, also wants to tell her husband the latest gossip about Polly. She must admit that, even if the children were born out of wedlock, they are pleasant. She cannot pick a favorite among them, so she asks her husband to pick. Barely listening, he responds “Bach.” Mrs. Organ Morgan realizes that her husband is not listening, and she begins to cry. Lord Cut-Glass sits in his house and listens to the ticking of his “sixty-six clocks—one for each year of his loony age” (49). Polly continues to sing about Little Willy Weazel. As Mrs. Pugh chides Mr. Pugh about his manners, he fantasizes about poisoning his “pokerbacked nutcracker wife” (50).

At home, Captain Cat falls asleep near an open window. In his dreams, he sees Rosie Probert again. She was “the one love of his sea-life that was sardined with women” (51). In his dream, she tells him that she is beginning to forget life; she has begun to forget that she “was ever born” (53). In his sleep, Captain Cat begins to cry, and a mother and daughter passing his window hear him. The mother and daughter pass Nogood Boyo, who complains about the “bloody funny fish” that he has failed to catch (53). Reverend Jenkins returns to his project. He is writing a book about Llareggub, trying to document everything about life in the small town. He writes about the local nature and the daily routines of the townspeople, worried that this way of life may soon vanish. He mourns his father, who died of “drink and agriculture” (55).