Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Vernon Watkins" - New World
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=== Career and Later Life === | === 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 | + | 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 a steady basis of 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—such promotions being seen as possible intereferences. 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. | 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 | + | As Watkins aged, he finally began to come out of his state as an under-appreciated 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, and he died while consideration for selecting him as poet laureate was pending. He suffered a heart attack on October 8, 1967, which was the cause of his death, after playing a game of tennis. Afterwards another volume of poetry of his was published, making a total of 9 volumes to comprise the portrayal of his poetic brilliance. |
== Poetry == | == Poetry == |
Revision as of 17:54, 12 April 2007
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 a steady basis of 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—such promotions being seen as possible intereferences. 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 an under-appreciated 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, and he died while consideration for selecting him as poet laureate was pending. He suffered a heart attack on October 8, 1967, which was the cause of his death, after playing a game of tennis. 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.
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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.
ReferencesISBN 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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