| Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night |
| I See the Boys of Summer |
| Before I Knocked... |
| Once it was the colour of saying |
| When, Like a Running Grave |
His most popular works include the radio play "Under Milk Wood" (posthumously
published, 1954) and the sketch "A Child's Christmas in Wales" (1955),
but his more ambitious work consists of thecomplex poems in which he expressed
a deeply romantic vision. Thomas's first book of verse, 18 Poems (1934),
was praised by a few discriminating critics in spite of its obscurity,
and in 1936 a second volume, Twenty-FivePoems, followed.
Thomas married in 1937 and lived with his wife, Caitlin, in poverty
in England and Wales. During this period he began to write short stories.
His main prose works include Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog (1940),
a collection of autobiographical short stories; Adventures in the Skin
Trade (1955); and Quite Early One Morning (1954), a collection of essays
first given as radio talks.
Rejected for military service during World War II, Thomas became
relatively prosperous as a writer of radio scripts and films. He also published
The Map of Love (1939), a volume of poems and fantastic short stories,
and Deaths and Entrances (1946), another book of verse.
Beginning in 1949, Thomas visited the United States several times,
touring college campuses to read his poetry. Widely known for his powerful
poetry readings over BBC radio, he became a popular, if controversial,
figure. He died at the age of 39 on November 9, 1953 in New York City after
a period of depression and heavy drinking.
Jacob Korg Bibliography: Ackerman, John, Dylan Thomas: His Life and
Work (1964); Cox, Charles B., ed., Dylan Thomas: A Collection of critical
Essays (1966); Ferris, Paul, Dylan Thomas: A Biography (1977); FitzGibbon,
Constantine, The Life of Dylan Thomas (1965); Moynihan, William T., The
Craft and Art of Dylan Thomas (1966).
