Vernon Watkins

Vernon Watkins (June 27, 1906 — October 8, 1967), was a Welsh poet, commonly known for his friendship with his fellow Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, and considered to be both a great but somewhat underexposed writer of his age. Throughout his lifetime he published 8 volumes of poetry in addition to another which was released after his death, and his lyrical writing style named him worthy of praise from peers and fame within his genre of poetry as a Welshman. Contrarily he spent much of his life working at a banking job accredited to him by his father, working on poetry all the while, but despite such distraction, Watkins' ambitions acquired him a spot among some of the most influential poetic figures of the 1900's. It wasn't until Watkins' later life, however, that he truly began to receive his share of recognition, and he died having been awarded with a few major poetry prizes as well as being considered for poet laureate.

Life

Early Life

Vernon was born June 27, 1906, in the Welsh town, Maesteg, Southern Wales, and was also raised in that same area, his home being located in Redcliffe, Caswell Bay, a large Victorian house about four miles from one of the county's largest cities, Swansea. His mother was Sarah and his father, William Watkins, a bank manager, and in addition to Vernon, the couple had two daughters, Marjorie and Dorothy.

Vernon was educated at a preparatory school in Sussex and later at Repton School in Derbyshire for his earlier years. He then attended Magdalene College, Cambridge from 1924 to 1925 where he studied modern languages, leaving before having acquired a degree as that time was the start of a troubled period in his life. He was said to have been unable to manage a self-sufficiency as a university student, and at the time was still somewhat immature in that regard. He took a job under his father as a bank clerk at Lloyds Bank, and around that time suffered a nervous breakdown, coming to the conclusion that he could control time and destiny after observing a motorcyclist crash in his front yard, which he claimed to have been due to his accord and will.

Career and Later Life

After Watkins' recovery, he started work again at Lloyds Bank in Cardiff and would remain there, with little responsibility, for much of his life. He used the job for steady basis for income while focusing on his poetry on the side, and throughout his career there, he continually dismissed the several promotions offered to him as his first priority and concern was with having enough time to work on his poems. He wrote some 1000 poems prior to publishing his first volume The Ballad of the Mari Lwyd and Other Poems, and continued to publish his works, primarily under Faber & Faber, for the remainder of his life.

Throughout his pursuit of poetry, Vernon began to develop several relationships with his poetic peers of the time—some of the most significant including W.B. Yeats, T.S. Elliot, Kathleen Raine, and Dylan Thomas. The latter was specifically one of interest as the two were in consistent consultation of each other's poetry and each held the other in high regard. Later when Vernon met his future wife, Gwen, the two were married in 1944 with Dylan Thomas even being nominated by Watkins for best man, which was actually a position that Thomas abandoned and didn't attend to. The couple had five children: Rhiannon Mary, Gareth Vernon, William Tristran David, Dylan Valentine, and Conrad Meredith.

As Watkins aged, he finally began to come out of his state as a under-appreciated as a poet, having written 8 published volumes of poetry, and was recognized with a few poetry prizes including the Levinson prize in 1953 and the Guinness Poetry Prize in 1957. He was also a visiting professor of poetry at the University of Washington in 1963 and 1967 died while consideration for selecting him as poet laureate was pending. He suffered a heart attack on October 8, 1967, after playing a game of tennis, which was known to be a preferred hobby of his, and he died as a result. Afterwards another volume of poetry of his was published, making a total of 9 volumes to comprise the portrayal of his poetic brilliance.

Poetry

His ambitions were for his poetry; in critical terms they were not to be fulfilled. On the other hand, he became a major figure for the Anglo-Welsh poetry tradition, and his poems were included in major anthologies. During the war he was for a time associated with the New Apocalyptics group. With his first book Ballad of the Mari Llwyd (1941) accepted by Faber and Faber, he had a publisher with a policy of sticking by their authors. In his case this may be considered to have had an adverse long-term effect on his reputation, in that it is generally thought that he over-published. He wrote poetry for several hours every night and by way of contrast, Caitlin, Dylan Thomas's wife, could not recall her husband staying in even for one night during their whole married life! Vernon knew William Butler Yeats, T.S.Eliot and Philip Larkin. He was awarded a degree of Doctor of Literature from Swansea University in 1966 after retiring from the Bank. He was being considered for poet laureate at the time of his death.

That July morning when the poet's widow Stayed here, at breakfast looking through the window We saw young rabbits leap, and in a pother Frisk, dance and scurry, dodging one another, Returning always to the selfsame corner Between low beech-trees and the grassy border. They scattered when my children running out Found a young Redpoll injured on the ground. This sacrifice had made the rabbits dance. It had fallen from the fuschia bush or branch Of beech that shook down dewdrops on my head. I for a moment thought the brilliant red Of breast and crest had come from a hawk's wound, But found no blood. The heart beat faintly. Soon We had laid it in a box, propped upon silk. I touched the twig-like leg. White bread and milk We gave it, but the beak at once refused, After one drop, to drink, and the eyes closed. It woke when my warm hand, encircling, took it, Straining to perch; but whether claw was crooked Or the wing hurt, it could not fly or stand. We left it where life's ember might be fanned By sunlight through a window. It revived A little. But the warmth on which it lived Diminished then, in the late afternoon. It was so small, so quiet in my room, That when I turned to lift it from the sill And feel its weight upon my fingers, still I counted to awaken it, nor saw What breath had chilled the feathers, gripped the claw; Nor did the dainty bird with that red stain Seem dead at all, until I looked again. Watkins, The Redpoll, a later poem, never fully revised.

A poem by Vernon Watkins from the Anglo-Welsh Review. The widow mentioned may be Caitlin Thomas.

Friendship with Dylan Thomas and other poets

He met Dylan Thomas, who was to be a close friend, in 1935 when Watkins had returned to a job in a bank in Swansea. Dylan would come to Vernon's parents house, situated on the very top of the cliffs of the beautiful Gower peninsula, about once a week. Vernon was the only person from whom Dylan took advice when writing poetry and he was invariably the first to read his finished work. They remained life-long friends, despite Thomas's failure, in the capacity of best man, to turn up to the wedding of Vernon and Gwen in 1944. Dylan used to laugh affectionately at his friend's gossamer-like personality and extreme sensibility. A story is told that one evening in Chelsea, during the war time blackout, they were walking along and Vernon tripped over something and fell to the ground. Dylan looked with a torch to see what the offending object was and to his delight all that they could find was a small, black feather (FitzGibbon 1966). Vernon was godfather to Dylan's son Llewelyn, the others being Richard Hughes and Augustus John. Letters to Vernon Watkins by Thomas was published in 1957. The 1983 book Portrait of a Friend by Watkins' wife Gwen(doline) (nee Davies) deals with the relationship.

Others in the Swansea group known as the 'Kardomah boys' were the composer Daniel Jenkyn Jones, writer Charles Fisher and the artists Alfred Janes and Ceri Richards. Vernon wrote the obituary for Dylan Thomas and when he died, Philip Larkin wrote his obituary.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Evans, Philip, A History of the Thomas family, Privately published, 1994
• Fitzgibbon, Constantine, The Life of Dylan Thomas, Boston, Readers Union, 1965, OCLC 367245
• Watkins, Vernon, The Anglo-Welsh Review, Unpublished

External links

• Janes, Alfred, Portrait of Vernon Watkins, Swansea Heritage, Accessed March 16, 2007
• Webster, Loren, The Real Job, Lorenwebster, Accessed March 16, 2007

cy:Vernon Watkins

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