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R S Thomas (poet)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social

famous Welsh poet in English language 1913-2000 “…catching this / one truth by surprise / that there is everything to look forward to…” #RSThomas #poetry #barddoniaeth 📍 yng Nghymru, wrth gwrs facebook.com/groups/RSThomas/ Not a Machine, nor Bot nor AI

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R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 16h ago

‘Biography’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Cofiant #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Biography.
A life's trivia: commit them
not to the page, but to the waste-basket of time. What was special
about you? Did you write the great poem? Find the answer to the question:
When a little becomes much?
You made war, campaigning upon the piano that would surrender to the television.
Were you first in the race
for the cup of silver not to be drunk from? You ran fast and came home breathless to the platitudes of the language.
Were you tall? Taller than you your best tales looked over your shoulder.
There was an apple tree with a girl under it loitering as though for you. It was not for you, but she accepted you for want of a better.
Among scanty possessions fear was yours. Courage you borrowed on short loan; set up house for the virtues a wife brings. Venturing abroad among the associated meannesses you had all things in common.
Were you mobile? So was the age; so were your standards, cheering what yesterday was condemned and tomorrow would be forgotten;
turning left, when you should have gone right, to prove determinism to be in error.
And one came to your back door all bones and in rags, asking the kiss that would have transformed both you and him; and you would not, slamming it in his face, only
to find him waiting at your bed's side.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 16h ago

‘Biography’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Cofiant #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 4d ago

‘The Wood’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #yCoed #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

The Wood.
A wood.
A man entered;
thought he knew the way through. The old furies attended. Did he emerge in his right mind? The same man? How many years passed? Aeons? What is the right mind? What does
'same' mean? No change of clothes for the furies? Fast as they are cut down the trees grow, new handles for axes.
There is a rumour from the heart of the wood: brow furrowed, mind smooth, somebody huddles in wide contemplation - Buddha, Plato, Blake, Jung - the name changes, identity remains, pure being waiting to be come at. Is it the self that he mislaid? Is it why he entered, ignoring
the warning of the labyrinth without end? How many times over must he begin again?

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 4d ago

‘The Wood’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #yCoed #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 5d ago

‘The Bright Field’ - #RSThomas (Laboratories of the Spirit, Macmillan 1975)

Annest Gwilym@annestgwilym.bsky.social · 5d ago

One of my favourite poems of all time, by R. S. Thomas. #rsthomas #poem #poetry

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 4d ago

‘The Bright Field’ - #RSThomas (Laboratories of the Spirit, Macmillan 1975)

Paul Connolly@thepaulconnolly.bsky.social · 5d ago

Once @annestgwilym.bsky.social had shared this masterpiece, I started itching to record it for #poemsaloud So here’s my reading of The Bright Field by R.S. Thomas #RSThomas #poetrycommunity

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 5d ago

‘The Bright Field’ - #RSThomas (Laboratories of the Spirit, Macmillan 1975)

Annest Gwilym@annestgwilym.bsky.social · 5d ago

One of my favourite poems of all time, by R. S. Thomas. #rsthomas #poem #poetry

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · last wk.

‘Harvest End’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) - From the Welsh of Caledfryn

Text of poem -

Harvest End.
(From the Welsh of Caledfryn)
The seasons fly; the flowers wither;
the leaves lie on the ground. Listen to the sad song of the reapers: Ripe corn', as over the sea the birds go.
Suddenly the year ends. The wind rages; everything in its path breaks. Dire weather; in front of a stick fire, fetched from
the forest, firm and infirm cower within doors.
The longest of lives too soon slips by.
Careers fold and with them good looks fade.
Spring's bloom is spent, summer is done, too.
With a rush we come to winter in the grave.

Diwedd y Cynhaeaf.
Tymhorau ehedant,
A blodau a wywant, A dail a orweddant Ar hyd y llawr;
Medelwyr a ganant, Ÿd aeddfed a gludant,
Adar ehedant
Dros y môr mawr.
Ar frys daw'r llym Aaea', Ei wynt a ysgythra,
Pob peth o'i flaen wyga, Daw'n dywydd du;
Wrth dân goleuedig
O friwydd o'r goedwig
Bydd sionc a methedig
Yn llechu'n tỷ.
Ar fyr yr ymlithra

Fel hyn yr oes hwya',

Fe dderfydd yr yrfa,

Gwywa'r hardd wedd;

Dy Wanwyn di ddarfu,

Mae d'Haf dithau i fyny,
Down toc i aeafu

I dy y bedd.

William Williams (Caledfryn)

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · last wk.

‘Harvest End’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) - From the Welsh of Caledfryn

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Kneeling’ - #RSThomas (Not That He Brought Flowers - Rupert Hart-Davis 1968)

Cian McCarthy@arealmofwonder.bsky.social · 2w ago

The meaning is in the waiting. R.S. Thomas

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Gift’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Anrheg #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Gift.
Some ask the world and are diminished
in the receiving of it. You gave me
only this small pool
that the more I drink
from, the more overflows me with sourceless light.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Gift’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Anrheg #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Kneeling’ - #RSThomas (Not That He Brought Flowers - Rupert Hart-Davis 1968)

Cian McCarthy@arealmofwonder.bsky.social · 2w ago

The meaning is in the waiting. R.S. Thomas

Scott Wortley @scottwortley.bsky.social · 2w ago

Among my favourite RS Thomas stories is this from the fabulous selection Poems to Elsi (seren, 2013)

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘The Welsh Hill Country’ - #RSThomas (An Acre of Land, Montgomeryshire Printing Co 1952)

"Sources close to" Bob Borsley@bobborsley.bsky.social · 2w ago

The sheep are grazing at Bwlch-y-Fedwen, Arranged romantically in the usual manner On a bleak background of bald stone. (R.S. Thomas, The Welsh Hill Country)

Michael Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Mihangel ap Ifans @michaelcymro.bsky.social · 2w ago

🕊️☮️🙏 Hiroshima August 6, 1945 ‘Pact’ by RS Thomas (published in Uncollected Poems, Bloodaxe Books 2013)

Text of poem -

Pact.
This is my child; that is yours. Let peace be between them when they grow up.
They are far off now; let it not
be through war they are brought near. Their languages
are different. Let them both learn it is peace
in the hand is the translation of peace in the mind.
RS Thomas

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Roles’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Roles.
How old was he, when he asked who he was, and receiving no answer, asked who they were, who projected images of themselves on an unwilling audience. They named him, adding the preliminary politeness, endorsing a claim to gentility he did not
possess. The advance towards Christian terms was to an understanding of the significance of repentance, courtesy put under greater constraint; an effort to sustain the role they insisted that he had written.
Who reaches such straits flees
to the sanctuary of his mirror for re-assurance that he is still there, challenging the eyes to look back into his own and not at the third person over his shoulder.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Roles’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Contradictions’ - #RSThomas (Residues, @BloodaxeBooks 2002)

Mary Earnshaw@maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 3w ago

A little poem from RS Thomas for Sunday morning. From Collected Later Poems 1988-2000 published by Bloodaxe Books and Edited by Thomas's literary executor M Wynn Thomas.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Thus’ - #RSThomas (Laboratories of the Spirit, Macmillan 1975)

John Hughes@johnmelhughes.bsky.social · 3w ago

The gospel according to R S. Thomas.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 3w ago

‘Hebrews 12:29’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Hebrews 12:29.
If you had made it smaller we would have fallen off; larger and we would never have caught up with our clocks. Just right for us to know things are there without seeing them? Forgive us the contempt our lenses breed in us. To be brought near stars and microbes does us no good, chrysalises all, that pupate
idle thoughts. We have stared and stared, and not stared truth out, and your name has occurred on and off with its accompanying shadow. Who was it said: Fear not, when fear is an ingredient of our knowledge of you? The mistake we make, looking deep into the fire, is to confer features upon a presence that is not human; to expect love
from a kiss whose only property is to consume.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 2w ago

‘Contradictions’ - #RSThomas (Residues, @BloodaxeBooks 2002)

Mary Earnshaw@maryearnshaw.bsky.social · 3w ago

A little poem from RS Thomas for Sunday morning. From Collected Later Poems 1988-2000 published by Bloodaxe Books and Edited by Thomas's literary executor M Wynn Thomas.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 3w ago

‘Hebrews 12:29’ - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 3w ago

Elsi Eldridge, the celebrated artist and wife of poet-priest #RSThomas, was born #OnThisDay in 1909. Discover more at: meeldridge.com

The photo is a sepia-toned vintage portrait of a young woman with short, neatly styled hair parted in the middle. She is looking slightly downward and to the side with a calm, thoughtful expression. She is wearing a high-neck knitted sweater, a beaded necklace, and small earrings. The soft focus and aged coloring suggest the photograph dates from the early 20th century.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 3w ago

Elsi Eldridge, the celebrated artist and wife of poet-priest #RSThomas, was born #OnThisDay in 1909. Discover more at: meeldridge.com

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 3w ago

I hear your 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥, that slow singer, alone at my desk yet walking with you through your valleys and hills, that shining stream bubbling notes of your music your pure Welsh music… —Sheila Templeton, “For R.S. Thomas” from New Writing Scotland 30 (ASL, 2012) #BookWormSat #poem #poetry

Sheila Templeton
FOR R. S. THOMAS

I hear your bold blackbird, that slow singer,
alone at my desk yet walking with you
through your valleys and hills, that shining
stream bubbling notes of your music
your pure Welsh music. And I am walking
behind my father, born in your time, but
seeded in his own north land, ploughing,
proud to stride behind his pair o horse;
high cheek-boned, hair rain-flattened
the colour of wet barley, speaking the secret
words to his beasts, turning his park
into a sea of order, yes, with your stiff clods
glinting in the wind, gulls and peesie-weeps
skirling encouragement; above him
only a dark yearning sky.
Another enduring ordinary man,
born to till and toil, to win his wars
to wrestle with his burning under those stars.

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 3w ago

‘Fable’ 1986 - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Chwedl #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Fable.
Winged life - why respect it? A foretaste; heaven dwellers? But look what we do with what
we have - the smashed decibels, the razed cities, all
to the ticking of the unhatched egg in a Spartan temple.

John ‘the importance of ideas & information’ 🦋@wjpme.bsky.social · 3w ago

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social Part 1 of 2 - will post number 2 as well - of Beti George taking with RS in Welsh. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

28/03/2013 - R.S. Thomas - Rhan 1

Podcast Episode · Beti a'i Phobol · 28 March 2013 · 36min

podcasts.apple.com

John ‘the importance of ideas & information’ 🦋@wjpme.bsky.social · 3w ago

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social Part 2 of 2 of interview with Beti George - podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

31/03/2013 - R.S. Thomas - Rhan 2

Podcast Episode · Beti a'i Phobol · 31 March 2013 · 39min

podcasts.apple.com

R S Thomas (poet)@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social · 3w ago

‘Fable’ 1986 - #RSThomas (Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986) #Chwedl #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem