This book is one philosopher's response to the poetry of R. S. Thomas. It examines the poet's struggle with the possibilities of sense in religion: R. S. Thomas has described his poetry as an obsession with the possibility of having 'conversations or linguistic confrontations with ultimate reality'. Some attempts at giving meaning to religious belief cannot withstand the assaults of criticism. In R. S. Thomas's verse, however, there emerges a hard-won celebration of the worship of a hidden God; a rare achievement in contemporary poetry. In plotting the course of the development of the poetry, the book brings out its many similarities with the thrusts and counter-thrusts of argument in the philosophy of religion in the second half of the twentieth century. The book should be of interest not only to admirers of R. S. Thomas, but to philosophers, theologians, students of literature, and to anyone concerned with questions concerning the sense or senselessness of religious belief.

This book is one philosopher's response to the poetry of R. S. Thomas. It examines the poet's struggle with the possibilities of sense in religion: R. S. Thomas has described his poetry as an obsession with the possibility of having 'conversations or linguistic confrontations with ultimate reality'. Some attempts at giving meaning to religious belief cannot withstand the assaults of criticism. In R. S. Thomas's verse, however, there emerges a hard-won celebration of the worship of a hidden God; a rare achievement in contemporary poetry. In plotting the course of the development of the poetry, the book brings out its many similarities with the thrusts and counter-thrusts of argument in the philosophy of religion in the second half of the twentieth century. The book should be of interest not only to admirers of R. S. Thomas, but to philosophers, theologians, students of literature, and to anyone concerned with questions concerning the sense or senselessness of religious belief.

R. S. Thomas is the author of 20 collections of poetry, a writer of international repute, and the subject of increasing critical and academic interest. The Poetry of R.S. Thomas was the first critical work about him, an invaluable volume which has yet to be surpassed. Its author has taken the opportunity to completely revise and update the book reflecting on both the development of Thomas career and the poetry collections of the last ten years. Grouping the books together thematically, Ward examines Thomas growing reputation and discusses the poets concerns and subjects, and the images and techniques he uses to express them as they evolve through the increasing Thomas canon. The result is a fascinating guide to more than 50 years of writing. The breadth of Wards knowledge, together with his own practice as a poet, ensures he is equally at home with theological argument or the use of metaphor; nationalism or naturalism; Romanticism or the philosophy of Wittgenstein. Ward offers stimulating insights into the character and work of the 20th centurys greatest religious poet in English, from the early hill-farmer poems which brought him fame through those allied to visual art, the "lost faith" poems, to the philosophical later work. In the process Ward confirms his own position as one of the most profound thinkers about poetry today.

Volume 4: Modernism - Percy Bysshe Shelley.

With the season of Advent, the coming of Christ is imminent, and following the contours of the season leads through a rich time of preparation for God-with-us in the Incarnation. R. S. Thomas, a poet of waiting and anticipation, can be a profound guide for this season. His spiritual and poetic trajectory of discovering the presence of God - divine ‘frequencies’ - even in apparent absence, can help lead us into an Advent landscape of surrender, open-hearted discovery, epiphany and encounter. This collection of 28 reflections on Thomas’s poetry travels through the season, and follows one of the traditional patterns of themes explored in each Sunday of Advent: a Carmelite pattern of waiting, accepting, journeying and birthing.

Seven essays from the original 1982 edition, plus seven new ones, analyze the work of Thomas, long considered the leading contemporary poet of Wales, from 1946 to 1990. Includes primary and secondary bibliographies. No index. Available from Dufour Editions, Inc., PO Box 449, Chester Springs, PA 1942

In an appraisal of the career of R.S. Thomas, the contributors consider the full range of his poetry and consider his wider cultural significance. These essays offer interpretations of Thomas's central preoccupations as well as discussions of themes and issues that exemplify the rich complexity of his work.

This study examines the theme of vocation in the writing of three poets who were also priests: George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and R.S. Thomas. Although their work spans four centuries, each of these men addressed the vocational conflicts faced by all priest-poets since the Reformation. The a