Idris Davies (January 6, 1905 - April 6, 1953), was a Welsh poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English. Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States
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Coal Miner & Poet
He is the only poet to cover significant events in the early 20th century in the South Wales Valleys and the South Wales coalfield and literally from a perspective at the coalface. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The South Wales Valleys (Cymoedd De Cymru are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of South Wales that is rich with Coal deposits
He is now known mostly for The Bells of Rhymney, a ballad on the failure of the 1926 UK General Strike in the South Wales coal mining valleys [1], set to the pattern of the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons that was set to music by Pete Seeger, and became a folk rock standard. The UK General Strike of 1926 was a General strike that lasted nine days from 3 May 1926 to 12 May 1926. Coal mining is the extraction or removal of Coal from the Earth by Mining. A nursery rhyme is a traditional Song or Poem taught to young children originally in the nursery. Oranges and Lemons is an English Nursery rhyme which refers to the bells of several churches all within or close to the City of London. Peter "Pete" Seeger (born May 3 1919 is an American folk singer political Activist, and a key figure in the mid-20th century American Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of Folk music and rock music.
True Socialist
A diary entry of his reads ; 'I am a socialist. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution That is why I want as much beauty as possible in our everyday lives,and so am an enemy of pseudo-poetry and pseudo-art of all kinds. Too many "poets of the Left", as they call themselves,are badly in need of instruction as to the difference between poetry and propaganda. . . . These people should read Blake on Imagination until they show signs of understanding him. Blake is either a surname or a given name It means either black or pale Then the air will be clear again, and the land be, if not full of, fit for song. '
Teacher
He qualified as a teacher through courses at Loughborough College and the University of Nottingham. Loughborough College is a college of Further Education in Leicestershire, England. The University of Nottingham is a Public, Co-educational institution of Higher learning in the city of Nottingham, England. He took teaching posts in London during the Second World War, and then Wales, returning to the Rhymney valley [2] in 1947. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including His second collection of poems was taken by T. S. Eliot for Faber and Faber (1945). Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26 1888 – January 4 1965 was a poet Dramatist, and Literary critic. Faber and Faber, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing
The Bells of Rhymney was covered by The Byrds; and later by many others, including Jimmy Page, Judy Collins, Dick Gaughan, Cher, Robyn Hitchcock, Oysterband and The Alarm. The Byrds were a popular American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964 James Patrick Page, OBE (born 9 January 1944 is an English Guitarist, Composer and record producer Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939 in Seattle, Washington) is an American folk and standards Singer Richard Peter Gaughan (born 17 May 1948 is a Scottish Musician, Singer, and Songwriter. Cher ( IPA: /ʃɛr/ born Cherilyn Sarkisian, May 20 1946 Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born March 3, 1953) is an English Singer-songwriter and guitarist Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British Folk rock band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976 The Alarm are an Alternative rock band that emerged from Wales in the early 1980s Also by Bob Dylan live, and Robin Williamson on an album of readings. Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major John Denver covered this while with the Mitchell Trio, and also performed it live by himself.
Davies died from abdominal cancer in 1953, aged 48. Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled
Works
- Gwalia Deserta (1938)
- The Angry Summer: A Poem of 1926 (1943) Faber and Faber
- Tonypandy and other poems (1945) Faber and Faber
- Selected Poems (1953)
- Collected Poems (1972) Gomerian Press
- Complete Poems (1994) edited by Dafydd Johnston
- A Carol for the Coalfield (2002)
External links
- The poem Rhymney in his own handwriting
- Dictionery of Welsh Biography on Idris
- BBC Wales feature on The Bells of Rhymney
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