R.S. Thomas was the pre-eminent, Welsh poet writing in English in the second half of the twentieth century, and one of the leading, lyric poets writing in English anywhere during that time. He was active throughout the fifty years that followed the end of the Second World War, publishing twenty four separate volumes of new poetry during the period, beginning with

The Stones of the Field

(1946) and ending with

No Truce with the Furies

(1995). In addition he published three collections:

Selected Poems, 1946-68

(1973),

Later Poems, 1972-82

(1983) and

Collected Poems, 1945-90

(1993); one longer poem,

The Minister

(1953); and an increasingly impressive range of prose, most of it written and published in Welsh, including his autobiography,

Neb

['No-one'] (1985). If one counts in poems published…

3199 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "R. S. Thomas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4376, accessed 03 October 2024.]

4376 R. S. Thomas 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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