Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on October 27, 1914, in Swansea, South Wales. His father was an English Literature professor at the local grammar school and would often recite Shakespeare to Thomas before he could read. He loved the sounds of nursery rhymes, foreshadowing his love for the rhythmic ballads of Gerard Manley Hopkins , W. B. Yeats , and Edgar Allan Poe . Although both of his parents spoke fluent Welsh, Thomas and his older sister never learned the language, and Thomas wrote exclusively in English. Thomas was a neurotic, sickly child who shied away from school and preferred reading on his own. He read all of D. H. Lawrence ‘s poetry, impressed by vivid descriptions of the natural world. Fascinated by language, he excelled in English and reading but neglected other subjects. He dropped out of school at sixteen to become a junior reporter for the South Wales Daily Post . By December of 1932, he left his job at the Post and decided to concentrate on his poetry f