Edward Thomas

Philip Edward Thomas was born in 1878 Lambeth, London, the eldest of six sons of Welsh parents. As a child, Thomas spent time in Wales and Wiltshire.
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Thomas was educated at Battersea Grammar School and the prestigious St. Paul’s School in London. He acquiesced to his father’s wish that his join the Civil Service, but retained his desire to write and began publishing essays instead of pursuing his career. He published his first book, a collection of essays entitled ‘The Woodland Life’ in 1896.

Thomas married Helen Noble in 1899 and shortly after their first child was born, Thomas won a scholarship to Lincoln College in Oxford, graduating with a degree in history.

For many years, Thomas supported his family as a low-paid book reviewer, but had to sacrifice writing to earn sufficient money — two girls were born after his son. The family moved frequently, but always in the countryside where the inspiration came for Thomas’s poetry.

During this time, Thomas published a number of important critical works and biographies, but was dissatisfied with the work which he felt repressed his creativity. He was also under constant financial stress. He suffered poor physical and mental health and recurrent psychological breakdowns. His unhappiness was a great strain on his marriage, as were his platonic friendships with women, such as the writer, Eleanor Farjeon.

During his time in Hampshire Thomas developed a strong friendship with the American poet Robert Frost, who encouraged his writing. This improved Thomas’s mental well-being. During this time, when World War 1 had just begun, Frost persuaded Thomas to write poetry; his first piece, ‘Up In The Wind’, was published in 1914.

As the literary market collapsed during the war, Thomas found more time to write poetry. He struggled with the choice between moving with his family to New England, as Frost urged, or enlisting as a soldier. In July 1915, though in his late thirties and under no obligation to do so. He joined the Artists’ Rifles and became a Lance Corporal, serving with the poet Wilfred Owen. While at training camp for ten months, Thomas wrote over 40 poems.

In 1916 Thomas was commissioned Second Lieutenant. He volunteered for service overseas and was sent to northern France, where he was stationed at Le Havre and Arras. On the first day of the battle at Arras, April 9, 1917, Thomas was killed by a shell blast. He was buried the following day in Agny military cemetery.

Much of Thomas' work shifts between meditations on the countryside and experiences in battle.