In the November issue of New English Review, our lyrical doctor considers the life of the British poet, R.S. Thomas, after reading an excellent biography by Byron Rogers.
Wordsworth, Keats, Thomas: were they right? As on many questions, I face both ways. I know what they mean: we need to maintain our wonderment at Creation, and it is terrible if we lose it or never have it in the first place (a condition that social media promotes).
I cannot thank you enough for writing this column ! I have been a longtime fan of yours ever since Life at the Bottom had me laughing my way through the challenges of my life at that time. With brilliant precision you captured everything essential and cured the malaise of the moment. How did I manage to not know about R.S. Thomas ? I am also Welsh – sort of – with learning Welsh on my very long to-do list. Although I have earned a comfortable living in a high tech world my ties to animals, a dog in particular, and the rhythm of life have driven me to live in a book, coffee and dog filled farmhouse on my own animal sanctuary, and to turn a very ordinary old city house with a large yard into an urban ecosystem. Decades of sneers from the fashionable crowd were all healed by reading this lovely column and realizing that I am not the only person who shares that bond with the animals, understands all that is wrong with the commoditization of so much essential life, and that there are kindred souls. Enjoy those dogs on the beach, and know that you have made life ever so much nicer for one dog-walker in the woods of North America, soon to be ensconced in Thomas and Rogers’ biography . Many thanks !