Edward Thomas - The Journey To War

Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's poetry archive and chooses Edward Thomas - The Journey to War. The London Welsh poet was killed during the Battle of Arras, just over 100 years ago. He was 39 years old.

Gwyneth Lewis, Wales' first National Poet, has admired his work greatly over many years. ‘Edward Thomas: The Journey to War’ is her tribute to him.
She presents a comprehensive portrait of Thomas, the man and his work.

The programme features interviews from Cardiff University’s Special Collections and Archives. Amongst the extensive collection are recordings with Edward Thomas’ widow, Helen, and his daughters, Bronwen and Myfanwy.

Thomas was one of the most important poets of the 20th century, influencing poets such as Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin and R.S. Thomas.

Professor Edna Longley, a leading Edward Thomas scholar, tells Gwyneth that Thomas has a unique place in poetry:
“An extraordinary thing is the number of poets today and in the past century who have written poems to or about Edward Thomas. There is no other poet of whom the same is true. So he is ‘a poet’s poet’ in the best sense of that term.”

He isn’t however, an elitist poet. As Edna Longley says, Thomas, to use Virginia Woolf’s phrase, is also read by ‘the common reader’. His most well-known poem, "Addlestrop" is one of the most requested poems on BBC Radio 4’s “Poetry Please”.

Produced by Dinah Jones.

First broadcast on BBC Radio Wales in 2017.