The centenary of the birth of the great Welsh Anglican priest- poet, R.S. Thomas (1913-2000), is on 29th March 2013 and as part of many events to celebrate his life and work, BBC Radio 3 had a fine programme on him yesterday called "Always Seeking Greater Silence. "
The photos of Thomas often show his gaunt figure and scowling face
and many accounts of him relate to his cantankerous nature, confusing ambiguity and contradictions : I see him as a sort of grumpy cat figure with a soft underbelly and his poetry can often be searingly honest and beautiful; a true poet of the via negativa and apophatic "dark night of the soul" search for God.
Luke Coppen's account of why he regarded Thomas as his favourite religious poet can be read here.
I have posted his poems a few times but here again are a few of my favourites....
The R.S. stands for Ronald Stuart by the way !
The photos of Thomas often show his gaunt figure and scowling face
and many accounts of him relate to his cantankerous nature, confusing ambiguity and contradictions : I see him as a sort of grumpy cat figure with a soft underbelly and his poetry can often be searingly honest and beautiful; a true poet of the via negativa and apophatic "dark night of the soul" search for God.
Luke Coppen's account of why he regarded Thomas as his favourite religious poet can be read here.
He was nominated for the Nobel prize in
his 82nd year but he lost out to Seamus Heaney,who later provided Thomas' eulogy at a tribute in Westminster Abbey.
Kneeling
Moments of great calm,
Kneeling before an altar
Of wood in a stone church
In summer, waiting for the God
To speak; the air a staircase
For silence; the sun’s light
Ringing me, as though I acted
A great rôle. And the audiences
Still; all that close throng
Of spirits waiting, as I,
For the message.
Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.
R. S. Thomas, "Kneeling" from The Collected Later Poems: 1988-2000. Copyright © 2004 by R. S. Thomas.
The Other
Thomas's poem "The Other" stands inscribed on slate in the village church of St Hywyn, Aberdaron, where he was parish priest for 11 years:
There are nights that are so still
that I can hear the small owl
calling
far off and a fox barking
miles away. It is then that I lie
in the lean hours awake listening
to the swell born somewhere in
the Atlantic
rising and falling, rising and
falling
wave on wave on the long shore
by the village that is without
light
and companionless. And the
thought comes
of that other being who is
awake, too,
letting our prayers break on him,
not like this for a few hours,
but for days, years, for eternity.
The Bright Field
read by Nicola Davies
Music Spem in alium", by Thomas Tallis
"Spem in alium nunquam habui praeter in te" translates as
"I have never put my hope in any other but in You"
The Other
Thomas's poem "The Other" stands inscribed on slate in the village church of St Hywyn, Aberdaron, where he was parish priest for 11 years:
There are nights that are so still
that I can hear the small owl
calling
far off and a fox barking
miles away. It is then that I lie
in the lean hours awake listening
to the swell born somewhere in
the Atlantic
rising and falling, rising and
falling
wave on wave on the long shore
by the village that is without
light
and companionless. And the
thought comes
of that other being who is
awake, too,
letting our prayers break on him,
not like this for a few hours,
but for days, years, for eternity.
The Bright Field
read by Nicola Davies
Music Spem in alium", by Thomas Tallis
"Spem in alium nunquam habui praeter in te" translates as
"I have never put my hope in any other but in You"
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