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R. S. Thomas

ロナルド・スチュアート・トーマス

Ronald Stuart Thomas

Aliases: R. S. Thomas / Ronald S. Thomas
Pen Names: R. S. Thomas（Pen name used for publication）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1913-03-29 （Gabalfa (Llandaff), Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales）
Died
2000-09-25 （Pentrefelin (near Criccieth), Gwynedd, Wales） age 87
Nationality
Welsh
Languages
English, Welsh (learned from age 30)
Religion
Anglican (Church in Wales)
Residence History
Cardiff (birthplace) → Holyhead (childhood) → Chirk (curacy) → Manafon (rector) → Aberdaron / Llŷn Peninsula (vicar) → Y Rhiw (retirement) → Pentrefelin (at time of death)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Anglican priest
Active Years
1936-2000
Affiliations
Church in Wales, Royal Society of Literature, RSPB (former member)
Influenced By
Søren Kierkegaard, T. S. Eliot, John Betjeman
Influenced
Later 20th-century and younger Welsh poets, Gillian Clarke (as a later prominent Welsh poet influenced by his legacy)
Nominations
Nominated for the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature

Education

University College of North Wales (Bangor)
Latin studies / Latin
Period: 1932–1935（奨学金を受けて在学）
Year of Graduation: 1935
Country: United Kingdom
Awarded a bursary in 1932 to read Latin
St Michael's College, Llandaff
Theology / Theology
Period: 1935–1936（聖職者養成）
Year of Graduation: 1936
Country: United Kingdom
Completed theological training and was ordained in 1936

Awards

Heinemann Award (Royal Society of Literature)
1955
Work: Song at the Year's Turning
Organization: Royal Society of Literature
Result: 受賞
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
1964
Organization: The Crown (Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry)
Result: 受賞
Lannan Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement
1996
Category: Lifetime Achievement
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Stones of the Field

1946 Poetry collection

Early collection focusing on rural life and the conditions of farm labourers.

rural lifefaithlabour

Song at the Year's Turning

1955 Poetry collection (collected edition)

A collected edition of his earlier volumes which brought wider critical attention.

Welsh landscapecommunityspirituality

Laboratories of the Spirit

1975 Poetry collection (metaphysical, experimental)

Marks a turn toward metaphysical concerns and experiments with scientific metaphor.

quest for faithscience and spiritualitylaboratories of the spirit

Mass for Hard Times

1992 Poetry collection

A late collection reflecting social, religious and personal harshness.

late-life reflectionreligious questioningsocial critique

Bibliography

  • The Stones of the Field (1946)
  • An Acre of Land (1952)
  • The Minister (1953)
  • Song at the Year's Turning (1955)
  • Poetry for Supper (1958)
  • Judgement Day (1960)
  • Tares (1961)
  • The Bread of Truth (1963)
  • Pietà (1966)
  • The Mountains (1968)
  • H'm (1972)
  • Laboratories of the Spirit (1975)
  • What is a Welshman? (1974)
  • Mass for Hard Times (1992)
  • Collected Poems, 1945–1990 (1993)
  • No Truce with the Furies (1995)
  • Autobiographies (1997, translations)
  • Residues (2002, posthumous)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
concise, spare dictionfusion of landscape and spiritualitysometimes experimental and metaphysical
Recurring Motifs
Welsh landscapecommunity and solitudethe 'Machine' as critique of modernityfaith and doubt

Health

  • heart condition
    晩年（治療を受け、亡くなる数週間前まで入院）
    Treated for a heart condition in his late years; it contributed to his death in 2000

Legacy

R. S. Thomas is regarded as a major 20th-century poet who combined Welsh landscape, national identity and profound spirituality; his dual role as poet and priest and his trenchant voice influenced subsequent generations.

Museums

  • R. S. Thomas Study Centre Bangor

Academic Societies

  • Academic societies for Welsh literature (related groups)

Archives

  • Bangor University (R. S. Thomas archives / Study Centre materials)

In Popular Culture

  • Memorial event at Westminster Abbey with readings by contemporary poets

Quotes

  • R. S. Thomas continues to articulate through his poetry questions that are inscribed on the heart of most Christian pilgrims in their search for meaning and truth.
    Source: Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales (centenary tribute / memorial comment) (2013)

Trivia

  • He and his family lived very simply; he famously refused to keep a vacuum cleaner because it was 'too noisy'.
  • He began learning Welsh at about age 30 and later published works in Welsh.
  • He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996.
  • His first wife was the artist Mildred 'Elsi' Eldridge (d.1991); his son Gwydion died in 2016.
  • Supported CND and wildlife conservation, but also held controversial nationalist views.