This collection of R.S. Thomas's poems have been published to mark his 80th birthday. Many of his themes are prophetic to all our concerns; his attack on technology and our use of it to destroy the natural world; his passionate concern for all who suffer from the greed of others; the search for personal and national identity and for meaning in human life; the quest for and dialogue with a God now absent, now present. R.S. Thomas has won many awards, including the "Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry" in 1964 and the Cholmondeley Award in 1978.
Collected Poems: 1945-1990 R.S.Thomas (Everyman's Poetry)
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"'Read these poems', Stephen Spender; 'This is the book I've been waiting for', Ted Hughes"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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The complete works of one of Britain¿s finest, introduced by Andrew Motion.
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44 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a wonderful collection of poems by one of the foremost writers of the twentieth century, now, alas, no longer with us. His poems range from his early fascination with the Welsh landscape, through poems reflecting on his life as a parish priest in the Anglican church in Welsh country parishes, to a later, remarkable questioning of the whole meaning of faith, God and life. In his very latest poems he wrote movingly of his marriage and the death of his first wife. Throughout his poems the voice is strong and utterly distinctive - nowhere more so than when describing his "deus absconditus" - the god who is never quite within reach of our questioning. This is a book I would not be without.
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
R.S.Thomas was probably the greatest miniaturist of all twentieth century poets. He could write with greater profundity and insight in eight lines than most poets manage in eighty. Not all his poems are that short, of course. He was a Welsh priest who celebrated the lives of Welsh peasant farmers and other parishioners whom he had seen through birth, life, marriage, death. As time went on his range broadened, and more and more he wrestled with the elusive God at the corner of his vision; a half-glimpsed presence, or even an absence, that nevertheless he was drawn to, that gave shape to his vision of life.
He was both fascinated and appalled by modern science and technology; codifying it as, 'the machine' he often wrote of its dehumanising and destructive effect.
But there are also poems that are fascinating commentaries on paintings seen in European museums; poems about his marriage; poems about England's role in the economic and cultural problems Wales has faced.
Thomas was honest, unsentimental, profound and modern. Anyone who relishes the power of poetry to move and transform us should read his work.
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ronald Stuart Thomas is one of the few commercially successful poets of the late twentieth century. His early work has tended to be more popular than his later, more fragile work, but his honesty and directness shines through all of his poems. His later work reflects his doubts about God, something that was a big issue for him, him being a member of the Anglican Clergy. But his poems reach out to all, with their environmental and personal concerns, as well as his lamenting his departed wife. This volume lacks an introduction, but shear amount of poems within, and the amazing price, make this an excellent buy for all interested in English poems.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pain and passion
Many years ago the work of R S Thomas was part of my own gateway into poetry. For me the early poems about the dogged strength and simplicity of the Welsh farmers he knew and for... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Elginson
5.0 out of 5 stars
superb
nothing much to say. If you get only one Thomas poetry book, get this one.
Superb. Undoubtedly one of the greatest 20thC poets.
Superb. Undoubtedly one of the greatest 20thC poets.
Published 17 months ago by Mr. Edward Gregory
5.0 out of 5 stars
Time will be kind to Thomas, but this edition has had its time: update...
First a note on the poetry: all the above five star reviews have said it far better than I can. It's enough to say that if you hear the words "20th century welsh poetry" and... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Cardew Robinson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great poet, excellent collection
In his long career as a poet, RS Thomas found constant inspiration in the bleakness, space and simplicity of Welsh rural life. Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2010 by Stephen Hudson
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poor Man's Ted Hughes
I bought this collection of poetry on the strength of one I read on the inner sleeve of a Manic Street Preacher's album only to find that like them it started off promising and... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2002
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