Dylan Thomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas, (October 27 1914 – November 9 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer.

Dylan Thomas was born in the coastal town of Swansea, Wales. His father David, who was a writer and possessed a degree in English, brought his son up to speak English rather than Thomas's mother's native Welsh. His middle name, "Marlais", came from the bardic name of his uncle, the Unitarian minister, Gwilym Marles (whose real name was William Thomas). Dylan Thomas was unable to activly fight in World War 2 because he was considered as too frail, however, he still helped by writing scripts for government propaganda.

Thomas attended the boys-only Swansea Grammar School, (now known as Bishop Gore School), at which his father taught English Literature. It was in the school's magazine that the young Dylan saw his first poem published. He left school at age 16 to become a reporter for a year and a half.

Thomas's childhood was spent largely in Swansea, with regular summer trips to visit his mother's family on their Carmarthen farm. These rural sojourns, and their contrast with the town life of Swansea, would inform much of his work, notably many short stories and radio essays and the poem "Fern Hill".

Thomas wrote half his poems and many short stories when he lived at the family home at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive—"And death shall have no dominion" is one of the best known works written at this address. By the time his first poetry volume, 18 Poems, was published in November 1934, he was one of the most exciting young poets writing in the English language.

In 1937, Thomas married Caitlin Macnamara (1913-1994), and would have three children with her, although the relationship was very often stormy and littered with affairs (Caitlin had an affair with Augustus John before, and quite possibly after, she married Thomas). January of 1939 saw the birth of their first child, a boy whom they named Llewelyn (died in 2000). He was followed in March of 1943 by a daughter, Aeronwy. A second son and third child, Colm Garan, was born in July, 1949.

Thomas liked to boast about his drinking. During an incident on November 3, 1953, Thomas returned to the Chelsea Hotel in New York and exclaimed "I've had 18 straight whiskies, I think this is a record."

He collapsed on November 9, 1953 at the White Horse Tavern, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan after drinking heavily while in New York City on a promotional tour; Thomas later died at St. Vincent's Hospital, aged 39. The primary cause of his death is recorded as pneumonia, with pressure on the brain and a fatty liver given as contributing factors. His last words, according to Jack Heliker, were: "After 39 years, this is all I've done." Following his death, his body was brought back to Wales for burial in the village churchyard at Laugharne, Wales, where he had enjoyed his happiest days. In 1994, his widow, Caitlin, was buried alongside him.

Dylan Thomas is widely considered one of the greatest 20th century poets writing in English. He remains the leading figure in Anglo-Welsh literature. His vivid and often fantastic imagery was a rejection of the trends in 20th Century verse: while his contemporaries gradually altered their writing to serious topical verse (political and social concerns were often expressed), Thomas gave himself over to his passionately felt emotions, and his writing is often both intensely personal and fiercely lyrical. Thomas, in many ways, was more in alignment with the Romantics than he was with the poets of his era. Thomas' short stories are poetry exploded. Most notably is a semi-autobiographical selection published in 1940 entitled, 'Portrait of an Artist as a Young Dog', in which he explores his youth.

Thomas's circle, sometimes known as the "Kardomah Boys" after the coffee shop where they often met, included the composer and old school friend, Daniel Jones, the poet Vernon Watkins, the poet Charles Fisher and the artists Alfred Janes and Mervyn Levy.

Brought to the attention of the public by the discerning eye of the English Romantic poet Victor Benjamin Neuberg,the poetry editor of the Sunday Referee, Thomas was invited to London by Neuberg and introduced to the capital's influential literary critics.

He is particularly remembered for the remarkable radio-play Under Milk Wood, for his poem "Do not go gentle into that good night," which is generally interpreted as a plea to his dying father to hold onto life, and for the short stories "A Child's Christmas in Wales." and "The Outing".

As would be expected of a famous poet whose best known line is "Do not go gentle into that good night", many memorials have been constructed or converted to honor Thomas. Tourists in his home town of Swansea can visit a statue in the maritime quarter, the Dylan Thomas Theatre, and the Dylan Thomas Centre, formerly the town's guildhall. The latter is now a literature centre, where exhibitions and lectures are held and is the setting for the city's annual Dylan Thomas Festival. Another monument to Thomas stands in Cwmdonkin Park, one of his favourite childhood haunts, close to his birthplace at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive. The memorial is inscribed with the closing lines from one of his best-loved poems, "Fern Hill." - "Oh I was young and easy in the mercy of his means/Time held me green and dying/Though I sang in my chains in the sea". This is inscribed on a rock in a closed-off garden within the park. Thomas's home in Laugharne, the Boat House, is also a memorial.

Several of the pubs in Swansea also have associations with the poet. One of Swansea's oldest pubs, the No Sign Bar, was a regular haunt, renamed the Wine Vaults in his story The Followers.

It has been suggested that Bob Dylan, who was born Robert Allen Zimmerman, changed his name in tribute to Dylan Thomas. Bob Dylan has often denied this, responding in a 1966 interview, "Get that straight, I didn’t change my name in honor of Dylan Thomas. That’s just a story. I’ve done more for Dylan Thomas than he’s ever done for me." In 1965 he claimed that he took the name from an uncle named Dillon, adding, "I've read some of Dylan Thomas' stuff, and it's not the same as mine." In his 2004 biography, Chronicles Vol.1, however, Dylan admits that Dylan Thomas was relevant to his choice of alias, changing the surnom de plume of "Dillon" to "Dylan". Dylan is also billed as Robert Milkwood Thomas on Steve Goodman's "Somebody Elses Troubles" where he plays piano and harmonises on the title track.

Poetry

• Collected Poems 1934 – 1953 (London: Phoenix, 2003)
• Selected Poems (London: Phoenix, 2001)

Prose

• Collected Letters
• Collected Stories
• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog
• Under Milk Wood
• Quite Early One Morning (posthumous)

• Dylan Thomas: Volume I - A Child's Christmas in Wales and Five Poems (Caedmon TC 1002 - 1952)
• Under Milk Wood (Caedmon TC 2005 - 1953)
• Dylan Thomas: Volume II - Selections from the Writings of Dylan Thomas (Caedmon TC 1018 - 1954)
• Dylan Thomas: Volume III - Selections from the Writings of Dylan Thomas (Caedmon TC 1043)
• Dylan Thomas: Volume VI - Selections from the Writings of Dylan Thomas (Caedmon TC 1061)

• The Life and Work of Dylan Thomas
• Dylan Thomas on Poets.org Biography, poems, audio clips, and related essays from the Academy of American Poets
• "The Mumbles", a village frequented by Thomas
• The city of Swansea's site on Thomas
• BBC Wales' Dylan Thomas site
• The Dylan Thomas Theatre Company Swansea
• The graves of Dylan and Caitlin from findagrave.com
• French Audio Book (mp3) from Under Milk Wood, translated in French by JB.Brunius
• "The pub and the hellraiser: The poet, the actor, their pub, a furore" The Independent online edition 30 November 2005
• BBC Wales biography of Caitlin
• Biography (obituary) of son Llewelyn, from Guardian Unlimited (2000)

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