Anglo-Welsh poetry
Encyclopedia
There is no clear definition of what constitutes Anglo-Welsh poetry, and the term tends to have been replaced by the broader "Welsh writing in English" or Welsh literature in English. It includes poetry written by Welsh people whose first language is English, but it also includes poetry by those born outside Wales
, but of Welsh descent, whose work is influenced by their Welsh roots. Glyn Jones, in The Dragon Has Two Tongues, defines Anglo-Welsh writers as "those Welsh men and women who write in English about Wales" (p. 37).
Welsh poetry in English is not necessarily influenced by the historically much longer, and parallel, tradition of poetry in Welsh, but it may be influenced by the English dialects of Wales.
. Well into the nineteenth century, English was spoken by few in Wales, and prior to the early twentieth century there are only three major Welsh-born writers who wrote in the English language: George Herbert
(1593–1633) from Montgomeryshire, Henry Vaughan
(1622–1695) from Brecknockshire, and John Dyer
(1699–1757) from Carmarthenshire. Such Welsh poets who wrote in the English language tended to imitate the conventions of English verse and only in translations from the Welsh did a national voice succeed in making itself heard.
Some see the beginnings of true Anglo-Welsh poetry in the work of poets such as Gerald Manley Hopkins (1844–89), Edward Thomas
(1878–1917), and Wilfred Owen
(1893–1918).
A memorable twentieth-century poet who initially wrote in Welsh was Idris Davies
(1905–53). But "rebellion against chapel religion", along with the "inspirational influence of English" poets, led him to write in English (Gwalia Deserta (1938); The Angry Summer (1943)).
A major Welsh poet is Swansea's Dylan Thomas
(1914–53) whose first collection, 18 Poems, was published in 1934. His most celebrated work, including Under Milk Wood (first broadcast in 1954), was published after the Second World War. While David Jones
(1895–1974) was born in a London suburb, his father was from North Wales. Jones' epic poem In Parenthesis, which deals with his experience of World War I, was published in 1937, though he too belongs more to the post-war era, as does another Swansea poet Vernon Watkins
(1906–67).
R. S. Thomas
(1913–2000) was the most eminent Welsh poet writing in English throughout the second half of the twentieth century, beginning with The Stones of the Field (1946) and concluding with No Truce with the Furies (1995).
In the latter part of the twentieth century, Welsh poetry in English flourished. A landmark event was the 1967 publication of Bryn Griffith's anthology Welsh Voices. Tony Conran
(1931- ) is an important figure in this so-called second flowering as critic, poet, and translator of Welsh poetry. His Penguin Book of Welsh Verse (1967) has been especially helpful in bridging the gap between the Welsh and English speaking. Swansea poet Harri Webb
's (1920–1994) verse, including The Green Desert (1969), is marked in its themes by his radical and uncompromising commitment to Welsh nationalist politics. Another prominent poet of the late twentieth century is Tony Curtis
(1946- ) from Carmarthen. John Tripp (1927–86), a convinced Welsh nationalist, had worked outside Wales until his early forties. Robert Minhinnick
, born in 1952, is also a notable poet from the second half of the twentieth century and edited Poetry Wales magazine from 1997 to 2008.
Welsh writing in English from the beginning tended to be dominated by men, but the period after World War II produced some distinguished Welsh women poets, including Ruth Bidgood
(1922- ), Gillian Clarke
(1937- ), and Sheenagh Pugh
(1950- )).
Amongst other poets of the second half of the twentieth century, the names of Roland Mathias
(1915–2007), Leslie Norris
(1921–2006), John Ormond
(1923–90), Dannie Abse
(1923- ), Raymond Garlick
(1926- ), Peter Finch
(1947- ), and perhaps also Paul Groves (1947- ) have a significant place.
With regard to the current situation of Welsh poetry in English, Ian Gregson suggests that "much of the most exciting poetry in Britain is being written in Wales." He singles out Oliver Reynolds
(1957- ), Gwyneth Lewis
(1959- ), and Stephen Knight
(1960- ) as having fulfilled "their early promise."
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, but of Welsh descent, whose work is influenced by their Welsh roots. Glyn Jones, in The Dragon Has Two Tongues, defines Anglo-Welsh writers as "those Welsh men and women who write in English about Wales" (p. 37).
Welsh poetry in English is not necessarily influenced by the historically much longer, and parallel, tradition of poetry in Welsh, but it may be influenced by the English dialects of Wales.
Beginnings
The first-known poem in English by a Welshman was Hymn to the Virgin written c.1470 by Ieuan ap Hywel SwrdwalIeuan ap Hywel Swrdwal
Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal was a Welsh poet, from Norman stock. He composed primarily in Welsh, but was also responsible for the first known poem in the English language written by a Welshman....
. Well into the nineteenth century, English was spoken by few in Wales, and prior to the early twentieth century there are only three major Welsh-born writers who wrote in the English language: George Herbert
George Herbert
George Herbert was a Welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest.Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education that led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in...
(1593–1633) from Montgomeryshire, Henry Vaughan
Henry Vaughan
Henry Vaughan was a Welsh physician and metaphysical poet.Vaughan and his twin brother the hermetic philosopher and alchemist Thomas Vaughan, were the sons of Thomas Vaughan and his wife Denise of 'Trenewydd', Newton, in Brecknockshire, Wales...
(1622–1695) from Brecknockshire, and John Dyer
John Dyer
John Dyer was a painter and Welsh poet turned clergyman of the Church of England who maintained an interest in his Welsh ancestry...
(1699–1757) from Carmarthenshire. Such Welsh poets who wrote in the English language tended to imitate the conventions of English verse and only in translations from the Welsh did a national voice succeed in making itself heard.
Some see the beginnings of true Anglo-Welsh poetry in the work of poets such as Gerald Manley Hopkins (1844–89), Edward Thomas
Edward Thomas (poet)
Philip Edward Thomas was an Anglo-Welsh writer of prose and poetry. He is commonly considered a war poet, although few of his poems deal directly with his war experiences. Already an accomplished writer, Thomas turned to poetry only in 1914...
(1878–1917), and Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War...
(1893–1918).
Early Twentieth Century
Welsh writing in English is generally seen as beginning in the twentieth century, following the decline of the Welsh language.A memorable twentieth-century poet who initially wrote in Welsh was Idris Davies
Idris Davies
Idris Davies was a Welsh poet. He was born in Rhymney, near Caerphilly in South Wales, the Welsh-speaking son of colliery chief winderman Evan Davies and his wife Elizabeth Ann. Davies became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English...
(1905–53). But "rebellion against chapel religion", along with the "inspirational influence of English" poets, led him to write in English (Gwalia Deserta (1938); The Angry Summer (1943)).
A major Welsh poet is Swansea's Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
(1914–53) whose first collection, 18 Poems, was published in 1934. His most celebrated work, including Under Milk Wood (first broadcast in 1954), was published after the Second World War. While David Jones
David Jones (poet)
David Jones CH was both a painter and one of the first generation British modernist poets. As a painter he worked chiefly in watercolor, painting portraits and animal, landscape, legendary and religious subjects. He was also a wood-engraver and designer of inscriptions. As a writer he was...
(1895–1974) was born in a London suburb, his father was from North Wales. Jones' epic poem In Parenthesis, which deals with his experience of World War I, was published in 1937, though he too belongs more to the post-war era, as does another Swansea poet Vernon Watkins
Vernon Watkins
Vernon Phillips Watkins , was a British poet, and a translator and painter. He was a close friend of Dylan Thomas, who described him as "the most profound and greatly accomplished Welshman writing poems in English"....
(1906–67).
After World War II
See above for Dylan Thomas, David Jones, & Vernon WatkinsR. S. Thomas
R. S. Thomas
Ronald Stuart Thomas was a Welsh poet and Anglican clergyman, noted for his nationalism, spirituality and deep dislike of the anglicisation of Wales...
(1913–2000) was the most eminent Welsh poet writing in English throughout the second half of the twentieth century, beginning with The Stones of the Field (1946) and concluding with No Truce with the Furies (1995).
In the latter part of the twentieth century, Welsh poetry in English flourished. A landmark event was the 1967 publication of Bryn Griffith's anthology Welsh Voices. Tony Conran
Tony Conran
Tony Conran is a Welsh poet and translator of Welsh poetry. His own poetry is written in English but is very much influenced by Welsh language literature and Welsh culture and history. To some extent there are parallels in Conran's writing with that of R. S...
(1931- ) is an important figure in this so-called second flowering as critic, poet, and translator of Welsh poetry. His Penguin Book of Welsh Verse (1967) has been especially helpful in bridging the gap between the Welsh and English speaking. Swansea poet Harri Webb
Harri Webb
Harri Webb was an Anglo-Welsh poet, journalist and Welsh nationalist.Harri Webb was born on 7 September 1920 at 45 Ty Coch Road on the outskirts of Swansea, but before he was two the family moved to Catherine Street, much nearer the city centre...
's (1920–1994) verse, including The Green Desert (1969), is marked in its themes by his radical and uncompromising commitment to Welsh nationalist politics. Another prominent poet of the late twentieth century is Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
(1946- ) from Carmarthen. John Tripp (1927–86), a convinced Welsh nationalist, had worked outside Wales until his early forties. Robert Minhinnick
Robert Minhinnick
Robert Minhinnick is a Welsh poet, essayist, novelist and translator.Minhinnick was born in Neath, and now lives in Porthcawl. He studied at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and University of Wales, Cardiff. An environmental campaigner, he co-founded the charities Friends of the Earth and...
, born in 1952, is also a notable poet from the second half of the twentieth century and edited Poetry Wales magazine from 1997 to 2008.
Welsh writing in English from the beginning tended to be dominated by men, but the period after World War II produced some distinguished Welsh women poets, including Ruth Bidgood
Ruth Bidgood
Ruth Bidgood is a British poet.She was born at Blaendulais, Seven Sisters near Neath. Her Welsh-speaking father was a priest in Port Talbot, where Ruth was brought up...
(1922- ), Gillian Clarke
Gillian Clarke
Gillian Clarke is a Welsh poet, playwright, editor, broadcaster, lecturer and translator from Welsh.-Life:Clarke was born in Cardiff and brought up in Cardiff and Penarth, though for part of the Second World War she was in Pembrokeshire...
(1937- ), and Sheenagh Pugh
Sheenagh Pugh
Sheenagh Pugh is a British poet, novelist and translator who writes in the English language.-Life:Sheenagh Pugh studied languages at the University of Bristol. She now lives in Shetland but lived for many years in Cardiff and taught creative writing at the University of Glamorgan until retiring in...
(1950- )).
Amongst other poets of the second half of the twentieth century, the names of Roland Mathias
Roland Mathias
Roland Glyn Mathias , was a Welsh writer, known for his poetry and short stories. He was also a literary critic, and responsible with Raymond Garlick for the success of the literary magazine Dock Leaves , later from 1957 The Anglo-Welsh Review. He edited it from 1961 to 1976...
(1915–2007), Leslie Norris
Leslie Norris
George Leslie Norris FRSL , was a prize-winning Welsh poet and short story writer. Up to 1974 he earned his living as a college lecturer, teacher and headmaster...
(1921–2006), John Ormond
John Ormond
John Ormond , was a Welsh poet and filmmaker.Ormond was born in Dunvant, near Swansea, and was educated at Swansea University.He joined the staff of Picture Post in 1945. He returned to Swansea in 1949 and, in 1957, began what was to be a distinguished career with BBC Wales as a director and...
(1923–90), Dannie Abse
Dannie Abse
Daniel Abse, better known as Dannie Abse , is a Welsh poet.-Early years:Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales to a Jewish family. He is the younger brother of politician and reformer Leo Abse and the eminent psychoanalyst, Wilfred Abse...
(1923- ), Raymond Garlick
Raymond Garlick
Raymond Garlick was an Anglo-Welsh poet and editor. Garlick was born in London, but grew up in Llandudno, and studied English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor. Whilst there, he converted to Roman Catholicism, although no longer a practising Catholic...
(1926- ), Peter Finch
Peter Finch
Peter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a...
(1947- ), and perhaps also Paul Groves (1947- ) have a significant place.
With regard to the current situation of Welsh poetry in English, Ian Gregson suggests that "much of the most exciting poetry in Britain is being written in Wales." He singles out Oliver Reynolds
Oliver Reynolds
Oliver Reynolds is a British poet and critic. He studied drama at the University of Hull before returning to Wales to work as an assistant to the Director for Theatre Wales. He won the Arvon Foundation International Poetry Competition in 1985 for his poem 'Rorschach Writing' and the Eric Gregory...
(1957- ), Gwyneth Lewis
Gwyneth Lewis
Gwyneth Lewis is a Welsh poet, and was the first National Poet for Wales.-Biography:Born into a Welsh speaking family, Lewis's father started teaching her English when her mother went into hospital to give birth to her sister....
(1959- ), and Stephen Knight
Stephen Knight (poet)
Stephen Knight is a Welsh poet and writer. He received an Eric Gregory Award in 1987 and won the National Poetry Competition in 1992. He won the 2003 TLS/ Blackwells Poetry Competition for ‘The Long Way Home’. His writing deals with disappointment and decay, albeit with a lightness of...
(1960- ) as having fulfilled "their early promise."