IT’S SEVENTY years since the publication of Collected Poems 1934 –1952 celebrated Dylan Thomas as one of the greatest British poets of the 20th century.
The verses were selected by Thomas himself as the ones that best reflected his work. It was a high point in his chaotic literary career. He was in demand as a screenwriter, and his classic play for voices, Under Milk Wood, was taking shape, although perpetually under revision and never quite finished.
Sadly, the poet had little time to build on the critical success of the Collected Poems or get some order to the literary output fuelled by his imagination and creativity. Less than a year after publication he was dead, succumbing to a lifestyle of heavy drinking, smoking and the financial, relationships and “living up to his reputation” pressures.
He died on
