Alun Lewis (poet)

Alun Lewis (1 July 1915 – 5 March 1944) was a Welsh poet. He is one of the best-known English-language poets of the Second World War

Alun Lewis, was born on 1 July 1915 at Cwmaman, near Aberdare in Cynon Valley in the South Wales Coalfield. His father and mother were school teachers at llanwern; and he had a younger sister, Mair and two brothers. By the time he won a scholarship to attend Cowbridge Grammar School, he was already interested in writing. He went on to study at Aberystwyth University and the University of Manchester. Although he was born in South Wales, he wrote in English only.

Lewis was unsuccessful as a journalist and instead earned his living as a supply teacher. He met the poet Lynette Roberts (whose poem "Llanybri" is an invitation to him to visit her home), but she was married to another poet, Keidrych Rhys. In 1939, Lewis met Gweno Ellis, a teacher, whom he married before the year was out.

After the outbreak of the Second World War Lewis first joined the British army's Royal Engineers in the ranks because he was a pacifist who wanted to help the defeat of fascism. However, he then inexplicably sought and gained a commission in an infantry battalion. In 1941 he collaborated with artists John Petts and Brenda Chamberlain on the "Caseg broadsheets". His first published book was the collection poetry Raider's Dawn and other poems (1942) (in which he makes a reference to Saints Peter and Paul), which was followed up by volume of short stories, The Last Inspection (1942) In 1942 he was sent to India with the South Wales Borderers.

Lewis' poems about his war experiences have been described as showing "his brooding over his army experiences and trying to catch and hold some vision that would illuminate it's desolation with meaning" (see Ian Hamilton "Alun Lewis Selected Poetry and Prose)

Lewis died on 5 March 1944 in Burma, in the course of the campaign against the Japanese. He was found shot in the head, after shaving and washing, near the officers' latrines, with his revolver in his hand, and died from the wound six hours later. Despite it being a case of suicide, an army court of inquiry charitably concluded that he had tripped and that the shooting was an accident.

...
Wikipedia