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Collected Poems
The poems of one of the great British writers of World War II are compiled in this collection of war poetry whose brilliance and scope transcends its genre. Widely considered the last works in the Romantic style, the poetry is characterized by a vivid realism and emotional power. The poems spans the length of its artist's late adolescence and early adulthood, tracing the developing mastery of the poet and serving as a tragic testament to the lost potential of a literary figure whose accidental death at the age of 28 prevented him from reaching the full height of his artistic power.
- GenresPoetry
200 pages, Paperback
First published April 28, 1995
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About the author
Alun Lewis
44 books5 followersAlun Lewis (1915-1944) was born in Cwmaman. When he was 11, he won a scholarship to Cowbridge Grammar School, and it was here that he began to write well-crafted, thought-provoking fiction. A bright and sensitive boy, his talent for writing was evident from a young age and didn’t go unnoticed by his teachers; he had several stories, including ‘The Tale of the Dwarf’ and ‘The End of the Hunt’, published in his school magazine, The Bovian.
At 17 he won another scholarship to study History at Aberystwyth University, achieving first class honours, and in 1935 he moved to Manchester to study for his MA with the intention of becoming a teacher. When his training was complete he taught at Lewis Boys’ School in Pengam.
A pacifist by nature, Lewis appeared to have no intention of joining the army when the Second World War cast its shadow over Britain, but he eventually joined the Royal Engineers and later qualified as a Second Lieutenant despite how unhappy military life made him. He was stationed with the South Wales Borderers until December 1942, where he arrived at a new station in Nira, India. In the same year his poetry collection Raiders’ Dawn was published. It would be the only collection published during his lifetime.
Just over a year later, in February 1944, Lewis was moved to Burma. There he and his men fought the Japanese on the front line, despite Lewis’s rank meaning he could have remained at headquarters. Though he missed his wife, his family and his home, and struggled with severe depression, he was determined to fight for what he believed was right.
A month later, on the 5th March, 1944, Lewis was found shot in the head after shaving and washing, and died from the wound six hours later. He was 28 years old. Though it is widely believed to have been a tragic accident, there are others who believe Lewis’s death was a suicide. One thing we can be certain of is that his premature death was a great loss to Welsh, and indeed British, literature.
In 2015, Lewis's centenary year, Seren reprinted his Collected Poems, Collected Stories and Letters to My Wife, and also published his previously lost novel, Morlais.
At 17 he won another scholarship to study History at Aberystwyth University, achieving first class honours, and in 1935 he moved to Manchester to study for his MA with the intention of becoming a teacher. When his training was complete he taught at Lewis Boys’ School in Pengam.
A pacifist by nature, Lewis appeared to have no intention of joining the army when the Second World War cast its shadow over Britain, but he eventually joined the Royal Engineers and later qualified as a Second Lieutenant despite how unhappy military life made him. He was stationed with the South Wales Borderers until December 1942, where he arrived at a new station in Nira, India. In the same year his poetry collection Raiders’ Dawn was published. It would be the only collection published during his lifetime.
Just over a year later, in February 1944, Lewis was moved to Burma. There he and his men fought the Japanese on the front line, despite Lewis’s rank meaning he could have remained at headquarters. Though he missed his wife, his family and his home, and struggled with severe depression, he was determined to fight for what he believed was right.
A month later, on the 5th March, 1944, Lewis was found shot in the head after shaving and washing, and died from the wound six hours later. He was 28 years old. Though it is widely believed to have been a tragic accident, there are others who believe Lewis’s death was a suicide. One thing we can be certain of is that his premature death was a great loss to Welsh, and indeed British, literature.
In 2015, Lewis's centenary year, Seren reprinted his Collected Poems, Collected Stories and Letters to My Wife, and also published his previously lost novel, Morlais.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 25, 2021
ANZAC Day & so I chose some poems for my husband & I to read together.
Our fathers served in WW2, so I thought it was high time we listened to a poet from that era & Lewis is the best known.
Lewis was an interesting person. A pacifist by nature he originally managed to score a relatively cushy number with the Royal Engineers. He then made an (according to Wikipedia)inexplicable decision to seek and gain a commission in an infantry battalion. I'm going to make the assumption that either Lewis felt his anti- fascist beliefs were more important or he felt guilty about being in safety when others were dying. Whatever the reason he died in Burma in 1944 - a suspected suicide.
His poems are lovely
Postscript: For Gweno is a wistful plea for his wife Gweno not to forget him if he gets sent overseas.
All Day It Has Rained is while he is doing his training with the Royal Engineers in Hampshire. Lewis was a Welshman, but he seems to have found the English countryside (& weather!) comforting & familiar. There is a mention of smoking a Woodbine - all so normal! But there is the bitter (& quite modern) mention of;
Is this the guilt he was feeling about those who have already fallen? There is no mistaking the anger at the celebrities (a very modern expression) urging others to fight while staying comfortably home themselves!
Goodbye This appears to be Lewis's most famous poem. Every time I did a search online, this poem was the first one to show. A final night with his wife, a mixture of the mundane & the loving. So beautiful.
Although the NAB policies have changed on Goodreads have changed, (see https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...) I feel most comfortable assigning my online reads to a book. But I do hope to come back to Lewis's poetry another time.
Lest We Forget.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
Our fathers served in WW2, so I thought it was high time we listened to a poet from that era & Lewis is the best known.
Lewis was an interesting person. A pacifist by nature he originally managed to score a relatively cushy number with the Royal Engineers. He then made an (according to Wikipedia)inexplicable decision to seek and gain a commission in an infantry battalion. I'm going to make the assumption that either Lewis felt his anti- fascist beliefs were more important or he felt guilty about being in safety when others were dying. Whatever the reason he died in Burma in 1944 - a suspected suicide.
His poems are lovely
Postscript: For Gweno is a wistful plea for his wife Gweno not to forget him if he gets sent overseas.
All Day It Has Rained is while he is doing his training with the Royal Engineers in Hampshire. Lewis was a Welshman, but he seems to have found the English countryside (& weather!) comforting & familiar. There is a mention of smoking a Woodbine - all so normal! But there is the bitter (& quite modern) mention of;
And thought of the quiet dead and the loud celebrities
Exhorting us to slaughter,
Is this the guilt he was feeling about those who have already fallen? There is no mistaking the anger at the celebrities (a very modern expression) urging others to fight while staying comfortably home themselves!
Goodbye This appears to be Lewis's most famous poem. Every time I did a search online, this poem was the first one to show. A final night with his wife, a mixture of the mundane & the loving. So beautiful.
Although the NAB policies have changed on Goodreads have changed, (see https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...) I feel most comfortable assigning my online reads to a book. But I do hope to come back to Lewis's poetry another time.
Lest We Forget.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
March 2, 2016
Alun is a poet genius. Last of the romantics and wow, I'm in love! He transfers words into emotion with the Midas touch. One to savour and immerse yourself into, completely.
October 10, 2016
I picked up this collection of Alun Lewis' work while on vacation in Wales, and while I highly enjoyed reading it I also have mixed feelings on it.
Alun Lewis' poems are filled with all the things that make people want to write poetry. Lewis clearly looked at the world and saw the beauty of a bird singing or the glory of a sunrise. He also could not look away from the way men age and die, or how war seemed never to end. Lewis' work is full of profound imagery and I think to really get the best idea of how much thought he must have put into it, it must be read aloud. The rhyming is really creative and wonderful.
I'm not sure if part of the friction I felt while reading his poetry is because of the time gap between then and now, or if it has to with Wales and the references that he makes, but at times I found him to be long winded. But then I would turn the page and be immersed again.
I give this collection four stars because it clearly all has a purpose and has the ability to tug at your soul if read at the right time.
Alun Lewis' poems are filled with all the things that make people want to write poetry. Lewis clearly looked at the world and saw the beauty of a bird singing or the glory of a sunrise. He also could not look away from the way men age and die, or how war seemed never to end. Lewis' work is full of profound imagery and I think to really get the best idea of how much thought he must have put into it, it must be read aloud. The rhyming is really creative and wonderful.
I'm not sure if part of the friction I felt while reading his poetry is because of the time gap between then and now, or if it has to with Wales and the references that he makes, but at times I found him to be long winded. But then I would turn the page and be immersed again.
I give this collection four stars because it clearly all has a purpose and has the ability to tug at your soul if read at the right time.
April 3, 2023
For a poet of World War II, Alun Lewis definitely paints a clear yet scattered picture of death and longing, but it's laced with so many erotic undertones that you find yourself, as a reader, wondering which sexually-charged words he'll use in the next verse. At that point, it begins to feel too predictable and familiar, too over the top and hyperbolic. In the mind of a lonely soldier, it certainly makes sense that isolation would breed a sense of throbbing urgency, but it gets very old very fast, like the poet can't see anything in the world beyond phallic symbols.
August 19, 2024
A classic collection of one of Wales best poets.
January 6, 2013
More people should read him.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews