Idris Davies
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Idris Davies (6 January 1905 – 6 April 1953) was a Welsh poet. Born in
Rhymney Rhymney (; ) is a town and a community (Wales), community in the county borough of Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshir ...
, near
Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...
in
South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
, he became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English. Davies was the only poet to cover the significant political events of the early 20th century in the South Wales Valleys and the
South Wales Coalfield The South Wales Coalfield () extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales ...
, which was informed from his experience of having worked at the coalface. He is best known for the verses "
Bells of Rhymney "The Bells of Rhymney" is a song by the folk singer Pete Seeger, which consists of Seeger's own music accompanying words written by the Welsh poet Idris Davies. Seeger first released a recording of the song on a live album in 1958, but it is the ...
", from his 1938 ''Gwalia Deserta'' (meaning literally "Wasteland of Wales"), which were adapted into a popular
folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
.


Early life and education

Davies was born at 16 Field Street,
Rhymney Rhymney (; ) is a town and a community (Wales), community in the county borough of Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshir ...
,
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
, the Welsh-speaking son of
colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...
chief winderman (mine
lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...
operator) Evan Davies and his wife Elizabeth Ann. He learned English at school. After leaving school at the age of fourteen, for the next seven years Davies worked underground as a
miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...
in the nearby McLaren Pit at
Abertysswg Abertysswg () is a village in the county borough of Caerphilly, Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Location Situated in the South Wales Valleys, Abertysswg is a small village located to the east of Pontlottyn and south-e ...
and later at the Maerdy Pit in
Pontlottyn Pontlottyn () is a village located in the county borough of Caerphilly, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It is sited just to the south of Rhymney, and to the west of the Rhymney River. History Pontlottyn, initially p ...
. In the autumn of 1925, Davies enrolled in three series of evening classes. First he enrolled in continuation classes in English, arithmetic, drawing and science. Then he enrolled in commercial classes in English and bookkeeping, the latter for a Royal Society of Arts examination, which he passed at elementary level. Finally he enrolled, albeit without any conviction, in another set of evening classes in arithmetic and English grammar,Jenkins, p. 58. during which he became interested in
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
, in particular the
Romantics Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
. He rejected Welsh literature outright because of his accusation of what 'the parsons', as he called them, had done to it. At the time, interest in the Labour Party was at 'white heat'.Jenkins, p. 59. Consequently, Davies became extremely interested in politics, attending a series of weekly lectures in the local Workmen's Library on the application of
Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
to recent economic history which was taught by a graduate of
Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is a higher education institution and part of the University of West London, in Oxford, England. It is not a Colleges of the University of Oxford, college of Oxford University. Named ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. As elsewhere, the political temperature in Rhymney rose considerably in the winter of 1925. However, before the year was out Davies experienced a serious accident underground, his second accident, as a result of which he lost a little finger. In the following year the much-vaunted General Strike of 1926 occurred, the local pit closed and he became unemployed. He spent the next four years following what he called 'the long and lonely self-tuition game'.


Teaching career

In 1929, having passed the Oxford Local Examination at his second attempt, Davies became a pupil-teacher, an honorary post, in his old school, working with his old headmaster. The following year a new teacher training course started at
Loughborough College Overview Loughborough College is a large general further education college in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It provides both further education (FE) and higher education (HE) courses on a single campus. The colleg ...
. He enrolled in the September with handicraft as his main subject. However, it became clear that he didn't have any aptitude for handicraft. Consequently, it was decided that he should also enrol on a course in advanced
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
that was held two days a week at the nearby
University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
and that he should not have one main subject, but two, English and
History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
. He passed the course at advanced level and qualified as a teacher in August 1932. Davies started teaching in that year in ''Laysterne Junior Mixed Primary School'' in
Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...
in
Hackney, London Hackney is a district in East London, England, forming around two-thirds of the area of the modern London Borough of Hackney, to which it gives its name. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross and includes part of the Queen ...
, during which he became friends with
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...
. Also he became acquainted with a group of Welsh litterateurs who frequented ''Griff's Bookshop'', a Welsh bookshop in
Cecil Court Cecil Court is a pedestrian street with Victorian era, Victorian shop-frontages in Westminster, England, linking Charing Cross Road and St Martin's Lane. Since the 1930s, it has been known as the new Booksellers' Row. Early background One of the ...
, off
Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street), which then merges into Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direc ...
, which was kept by the Griffiths brothers. After the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Davies was transferred to ''Wordsworth School'' (which perhaps was in Stoke Newington, London). However, he had become nostalgic for Wales. Consequently, in 1947, with the help of a local councillor, he returned to the Rhymney Valley to teach at the junior school in ''Cwmsyfiog Schools'', New Tredegar. He taught there until 1951 when the abdominal cancer that was to cost him his life began. He died, aged 48, at his mother's house at 7, Victoria Road, Rhymney on Easter Monday, 6 April 1953 and was buried in Rhymney Public Cemetery.


Poetry

Davies was introduced to poetry in the autumn of 1925, after having enrolled in a set of evening classes in arithmetic and English grammar, following which, at the behest of the teacher, he bought a book of poetry by Keats. Then, in the spring, he read Shelley, to whom a friend had introduced him and borrowed a book of poems from him to read, which he followed by reading
Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...
. Davies had his first book ''Gwalia Deserta'' published in 1938. His work had earlier appeared in the '' Western Mail'', the ''
Merthyr Express Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of King ...
'', the '' Daily Herald'', the '' Left Review'' and ''Comment'' (a weekly periodical of poetry, criticism and short stories, edited by Victor Neuburg and Sheila Macleod). Davies had his second book, an anthology of poems, published (by
Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
) in 1945, the poems having been chosen by
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
. Eliot thought that Davies' poems had a claim to permanence, describing them as "the best poetic document I know about a particular epoch in a particular place". Davies' final volume, ''Selected Poems'', was published shortly before his death. Around this time Dylan Thomas wrote him a surprisingly touching letter. Thomas had read "Bells of Rhymney" as part of a Saint David's Day radio broadcast, but told Davies that he did not feel the poem was particularly representative of Davies' work, as it was "not angry enough".


Legacy

There are memorial plaques to Davies at Victoria Road and at the town library.''A Carol for the Coalfield and other poems'' (2002)
Gwasg Carreg Gwalch Gwasg Carreg Gwalch () is a publishing company based in Llanrwst, Wales. They specialise in publishing works in the Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is ...
, Corgi Series (ed. Meic Stephens);
After his death over two hundred of his manuscript poems and a short verse-play, together with the typescripts of his comprehensive wartime diaries, were deposited at the
National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...
at
Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...
. Later, more of his unpublished poems and most of his prose – an unfinished novel, essays, lecture notes and some of his letters – were found. Some of this later material appeared posthumously in ''The Collected Poems of Idris Davies'' (1972); ''Idris Davies'' (1972), and ''Argo Record No. ZPL.1181: Idris Davies'' (1972). There is a modern memorial sculpture for Davies in Rhymney, with an inscription reading "When April came to Rhymney with shower and sun and shower" – the opening line of his poem "Rhymney". In September 2006 a refurbished grave memorial was unveiled, at a re-dedication service, in the town's cemetery.


Views

The editor's frontispiece from ''Gwalia Deserta'' provides a useful summary of Davies' outlook. In a diary entry Davies wrote: "I am a socialist. That is why I want as much beauty as possible in our everyday lives, and so I 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
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
on Imagination until they show signs of understanding him. Then the air will be clear again, and the land be, if not full of, fit for song."


Work

Davies' first published volume was the 1938 extended poetical work ''Gwalia Deserta''. The verses it contained were inspired partly by such mining disasters as that at Marine Colliery at Cwm near
Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...
in 1927, and by the failure of the 1926 UK General Strike, the
Great Depression in the United Kingdom The Great Depression in the United Kingdom also known as the Great Slump, was a period of national economic downturn in the 1930s, which had its origins in the global Great Depression. It was Britain's largest and most profound economic depressi ...
and their combined effects on the South Wales valleys. The "Bells of Rhymney" verses, perhaps Davies' most widely known work, appear as Part XV of the book. The stanzas follow the pattern of the well known
nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...
"
Oranges and Lemons "Oranges and Lemons" is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folksong, and singing game which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No 13190. The earliest ...
". In the late 1950s the verses were adapted into a
folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
by
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
and became a
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
standard. The song, entitled " The Bells of Rhymney", has been
covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...
by many others since. More recently some of the other stanzas from Davies' ''Gwalia Deserta'' have also been set to music by Welsh performer Max Boyce as the song "When We Walked to Merthyr Tydfil in the Moonlight Long Ago". In February 2010 Davies' work was mentioned, by
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
MP David Davies and
Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...
MP Hywel Williams, in a Parliamentary debate concerning health-care in Wales. The 2017 album '' Every Valley'', by London-based
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band
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, includes a version of ''Gwalia Deserta XXXVI'' set to music and re-titled ''Turn No More''. It is sung by
Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...
' singer
James Dean Bradfield James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. His cousin Sean Moore is a ...
.


List of works

In Davies' own lifetime: *''Gwalia Deserta'' (literally ''Wasteland of Wales'') (1938) Dent *''The Angry Summer: A Poem of 1926'' (1943)
Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
*''Tonypandy and other poems'' (1945) Faber & Faber *''Selected Poems'' (1953) Faber & Faber Published posthumously: * * * *


See also

*
Anglo-Welsh poetry Welsh writing in English, (previously Anglo-Welsh literature) is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers. The term 'Anglo-Welsh' replaced an earlier attempt to define this category of writing as 'Anglo- ...


References


External links


The poem and song ''The Bells of Rhymney''

''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' on Idris Davies

BBC Wales feature on "The Bells of Rhymney"
* .
Pens which belonged to the poet Idris Davies at education.gtj.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Idris 1905 births 1953 deaths Anglo-Welsh poets Alumni of the University of Nottingham People from Rhymney Welsh miners 20th-century Welsh poets Proletarian literature Deaths from cancer in Wales