Dylan Thomas and his poetry
Uploaded by Nac8113 on Jun 09, 2001
Dylan Thomas was born on October 14, 1914, in Upland, Swansea. His father, David John Thomas, received a degree at University College Aberystwyth and was valedictorian in English, he taught English at Swansea Grammar School. His father, quick tempered and intimidating had a beautiful, sonorous voice for reading aloud (which Dylan inherited). Florence Hannah Williams, Thomas’s mother, was a tailor before she was married. Thomas was a troublesome child. He stole money from his mother’s purse, and lied about it. While his mother was in denial about this, his sister Nancy was becoming very irritated. From 1925-1931,he attended Swansea grammar school, where his father taught. He was a small, pretty boy, and was bullied at school, until he became aggressive and rebellious. (Merric, 1)
In 1931 seventeen year old Dylan Thomas left school and became a reporter on the South Wales Evening Post, although he was not successful. He reported a lacrosse game once, except that he was in a pub and the game had been cancelled! He was later fired. (Merric, 1)
He began drinking around the age of fifteen. He would sneak into pubs with a friend. He later entered amateur dramatics, and appeared with his sister in Hay Fever. In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Thomas was in a pub again, and missed his cue. (Merric, 1)
In 1933, Thomas began publishing some of his poetry. He submitted a poem to a BBC competition, and it was read on the air. During 1934, he moved to London, where alcohol took over his life. While he was in London Thomas published his first volume of 18 Poems. This was his first taste of success. Three years after living in London he met his future wife, Caitlin Macnamara. (Merric, 1)
Thomas’s first broadcast was in 1937 for the BBC. His job was to read other poets’ works on the air. He began to read his own works with the company of well-known poets like Auden and Spencer. (Merric, 1)
When WWII began, Thomas was worried that he would be drafted, fortunate for him he was judged medically unfit. Some of his neighbors thought that he was a “conchie” (“concienting” objector) and was often attacked. For a while he thought that he would have to work in a Mauritius factory. Thomas said, “deary me, I’d rather be a poet any day and live on guile and beer.” Instead, he worked in a documentary...