Â鶹Éç

Poetry Season

Local Navigation

Local Navigation

Dylan Thomas 1914-1953

Biography

Not since Byron had someone so captured the public imagination for living the archetypal poet's life. Dylan Thomas' life was tempestuous, but his poetry was meticulously constructed, with the poet labouring through redraft and redraft, to produce lyric poems of passionate musicality.

Dylan Marlais Thomas was born in "ugly, lovely" Swansea in 1914, and raised to speak only English despite both his parents having fluent Welsh. His first job was as a reporter on the South Wales Evening Post, but Thomas soon decided to move to London. An asthmatic, Dylan was classed as unfit to serve in the armed forces, and he spent the Second World War working for Strand Films. In 1946 he published Death and Entrances to great acclaim, and his powerful reading voice made him popular on radio and at live events.

His most celebrated work for the Â鶹Éç is Under Milk Wood, a verse radio play that drew heavily on the idyllic Carmarthenshire holidays of his youth. Its completion allegedly exists partly thanks to his producer Stella Hillier who dragged him from pubs to make sure it got finished. Welsh actors Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins have both performed memorably versions of Under Milk Wood. Thomas toured America in the early 1950s increasing his reputation, but putting strain on his marriage to Caitlin Macnamara. His hard-drinking habits also took their toll and he died of pneumonia in New York in 1953.

Thomas' life and loves were explored in the 2008 film The Edge of Love, starring Keira Knightly, Sienna Miller and Matthew Rhys.

Is Thomas
the Nation's
Favourite Poet?

FIND OUT HERE

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

There are no longer poems available for this poet

VOTE RESULTS >

The Nation's Favourite Poet

Michelle Ryan

Celebrity Choices

Michelle Ryan, Alex James and more on their favourite poets

Ian McMillan

Discover

Watch Ian McMillan's tips on writing poems for special occasions

Related Links

The Â鶹Éç is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Â鶹Éç iD

Â鶹Éç navigation

Â鶹Éç © 2014 The Â鶹Éç is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.