In R.S. Thomas - A Stylistic Biography, Daniel Westover traces Thomas's poetic development over six decades, demonstrating how the complex interior of the poet manifests itself in the continually shifting style of his poems.
Daniel Westover is an award-winning poet and literary critic specializing in the English language poetry of Wales. He is currently Assistant Professor of Modern British Literature at East Tennessee State University.
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'This is a landmark in R.S.Thomas studies. Too often, the work of the great priest-poet of Wales has been interpreted according to competing ideologies, with his poetry appropriated by the politicised and co-opted by the committed. Daniel Westover's impressive study clears away the critical accretions of the R.S.Thomas industry and recalls us to attend to the sheer intense craft of this most resourceful poet. He reminds us that Thomas, though apparently a reclusive traditionalist in his life and thought, was nonetheless constantly progressive and experimental in his literary techniques. As we approach the centenary of Thomas's birth, this book lets us see the poet afresh according to the only standard by which his work will ultimately live - his artistry.' Dr Grahame Davies, Honorary Fellow, Cardiff University Westover defends his new 'stylistic biography' by reminding us of the weight of bias that has been invested in previous appraisals of 'the most recognizable literary figure in Wales'. Westover, frustrated by these assumptive texts, has sought to honour 'the ogre of Wales' with a more holistic approach. He follows the chronology of Thomas's poetic development, panning for influences and contexts as he goes and, crucially, resisting the urge to romanticise. Westover gives us a humbling vision of a man discontented with the limits of his 'voice'; somebody constantly evolving. It's an excellent volume that takes us from these nebulous beginnings to the solidifying of Thomas's political consciousness and his desperation 'to waken Wales to put aside her servility'. Westover gives the man himself the same treatment and the resulting work is edifying, and satisfyingly heartfelt. Jemma King, www.gwales.com Ym marn Daniel Westover, Thomas oedd un o feirdd mwyaf eofn a radicalaidd ei syniadau yn ystod yr ugeinfed ganrif as roedd hefyd yn un o'r beirdd mwyaf blaengar o ran datblygiad ei arddul. Dadl Westover yw i ddatblygiad Thomas fel bard adlewyrchu'n agos iawn ei symudiadau daearyddol o le I le. Oredd syniadau'r bard am Gymru'n newid ac yn datblygu gan ddibynnu ar leoliad ei gartref ar y pryd. Dadleua'r awdur yn gyson drwy'r gwaith fod perthynas agos iawn rhwng ffurf, natur a chynnwys y cerddi a lleoliad y bard ar y pryd. Mae'n amlwg I ddiwydiant astudio R S Thomas fynd o nerth inerth bellach, gyda Daniel Westover ar flaen y gad yn y fenter gyffroes a phwysig hon. Dr J Graham Jones, Y Cymro Westover's thesis is that Thomas was a conscious and painstaking stylist and that 'Without a prosody that demands attention, the poems would not affect the reader as they do' - his book is intended to fill a neglected gap, 'the intricacies of his craft'. I think it succeeds; at least I am persuaded he was a far more conscious prosodist than I and others had given him credit for. - Sam Adams, PN Review
