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R S Thomas (poet)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.social

4 Following818 Followers

famous Welsh poet in English language 1913-2000
“…catching this / one truth by surprise / that there is everything to look forward to…”
#RSThomas #poetry #barddoniaeth
📍 yng Nghymru, wrth gwrs
facebook.com/groups/RSThomas/
Not a Machine, nor Bot nor AI

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@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 11, 2026, 9:10 PM

Hello, if you like #RSThomas then you might be interested in following this Bluesky account @RSThomaspoet, also facebook.com/groups/RSThomas/
- share his poems, quotes, events, info, Q+A, etc.
- and there’s a Society you can join… rsthomaspoetry.co.uk/rs-thomas-me-eldridge-society/
please re-post?

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 11, 2026, 9:10 PM

‘Pluperfect’ - #RSThomas
(Between Here and Now, Macmillan 1981)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 11, 2026, 7:58 AMReposted by @rsthomaspoet.bsky.social

‘Questions’ - #RSThomas
(Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986)
#Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd
#Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Questions.
She should put off modesty with her shift. Who said that?
Should one, then, put off belief with one's collar? The girl enters the bed, enters the man's arms to be clasped between sheets against the un-love that is all around.
The priest lies down alone face to face with the darkness that is the nothing from which nothing comes. 'Love' he protests, 'love' in spiritual copulation
with a non-body, hearing the echoes dying away, languishing under the owl's curse.
What is a bed for? Is there no repose in the small hours? No proofing of sleep's stuff against the fretting of stars, thoughts?
Tell me, then, after the night's toil of loving or praying, is there nothing to do but to rise tired and be made away with, yawning, into the day's dream?
@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 11, 2026, 12:38 PM

‘Becoming’ - #RSThomas
(The Bread of Truth, Rupert Hart-Davis 1963)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 11, 2026, 8:18 AM

‘When we are weak…’ - #RSThomas
(from AD in Counterpoint, @BloodaxeBooks 1990)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 11, 2026, 7:58 AM

‘Questions’ - #RSThomas
(Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986)
#Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd
#Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Questions.
She should put off modesty with her shift. Who said that?
Should one, then, put off belief with one's collar? The girl enters the bed, enters the man's arms to be clasped between sheets against the un-love that is all around.
The priest lies down alone face to face with the darkness that is the nothing from which nothing comes. 'Love' he protests, 'love' in spiritual copulation
with a non-body, hearing the echoes dying away, languishing under the owl's curse.
What is a bed for? Is there no repose in the small hours? No proofing of sleep's stuff against the fretting of stars, thoughts?
Tell me, then, after the night's toil of loving or praying, is there nothing to do but to rise tired and be made away with, yawning, into the day's dream?
@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 10, 2026, 9:40 PM

‘The Small Country’ - #RSThomas
(Frequencies, Macmillan 1978)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 10, 2026, 9:37 PM

‘Rich’ - #RSThomas
(Residues, @BloodaxeBooks 2002)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 7, 2026, 7:29 AMReposted by @rsthomaspoet.bsky.social

‘Retirement’ - #RSThomas
(Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986)
#Ymddeoliad
#Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd
#Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Retirement.
I have crawled out at last far as I dare on to a bough of country that is suspended between sky and sea.
From what was I escaping There is a rare peace here, though the aeroplanes buzz me, reminders of that abyss,
deeper than sea or sky, civilisation could fall into. Strangers advance, inching their way out, so that the branch bends
further away from the scent of the cloud blossom. Must I console myself with reflections? There are
times even the mirror
is misted as by one breathing over my shoulder. Clinging to my position, witnessing
the seasonal migrations, I must try to content myself with the perception that love and truth have
no wings, but are resident like me here, practising
their sub-song quietly in the face of the bitterest of winters.
@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 7, 2026, 7:37 AM

@j-lbrbsblogs.bsky.social
Diolch, thank you for reposting. If you like #RSThomas then you might be interested in following this Bluesky account @RSThomaspoet.bsky.social
also facebook.com/groups/RSThomas/
- and there’s a Society you can join… rsthomaspoetry.co.uk/rs-thomas-me-eldridge-society/

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 7, 2026, 7:29 AM

‘Retirement’ - #RSThomas
(Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986)
#Ymddeoliad
#Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd
#Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Retirement.
I have crawled out at last far as I dare on to a bough of country that is suspended between sky and sea.
From what was I escaping There is a rare peace here, though the aeroplanes buzz me, reminders of that abyss,
deeper than sea or sky, civilisation could fall into. Strangers advance, inching their way out, so that the branch bends
further away from the scent of the cloud blossom. Must I console myself with reflections? There are
times even the mirror
is misted as by one breathing over my shoulder. Clinging to my position, witnessing
the seasonal migrations, I must try to content myself with the perception that love and truth have
no wings, but are resident like me here, practising
their sub-song quietly in the face of the bitterest of winters.
@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 6, 2026, 7:24 AMReposted by @rsthomaspoet.bsky.social

‘Kneeling’ - #RSThomas
(Not That He Brought Flowers - Rupert Hart-Davis 1968)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 6, 2026, 7:24 AM

‘Kneeling’ - #RSThomas
(Not That He Brought Flowers - Rupert Hart-Davis 1968)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 4, 2026, 9:27 PM

Hello, if you like #RSThomas then you might be interested in following this Bluesky account @RSThomaspoet, also facebook.com/groups/RSThomas/
- share his poems, quotes, events, info, Q+A, etc.
- and there’s a Society you can join… rsthomaspoetry.co.uk/rs-thomas-me-eldridge-society/
please re-post?

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 4, 2026, 9:25 PM

Hello, if you like #RSThomas then you might be interested in following this Bluesky account @RSThomaspoet, also facebook.com/groups/RSThomas/
- share his poems, quotes, events, info, Q+A, etc.
- and there’s a Society you can join… rsthomaspoetry.co.uk/rs-thomas-me-eldridge-society/
please re-post?

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 4, 2026, 7:23 AMReposted by @rsthomaspoet.bsky.social

‘Borders’ - #RSThomas
(Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986)
#Gororau
#Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd
#Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Borders
Somewhere beyond time's curve civilisation lifted its glass rim. There was a pretence of light
for nations to walk by through the dark wood, where history wintered. Following I came to the foretold frontier
where with a machine's instinct the guns' nostrils flared at the blooms held out to them by the flower people.
@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 4, 2026, 7:23 AM

‘Borders’ - #RSThomas
(Experimenting with an Amen, Macmillan 1986)
#Gororau
#Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd
#Poet #Poetry #Poem

Text of poem -

Borders
Somewhere beyond time's curve civilisation lifted its glass rim. There was a pretence of light
for nations to walk by through the dark wood, where history wintered. Following I came to the foretold frontier
where with a machine's instinct the guns' nostrils flared at the blooms held out to them by the flower people.
@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 2, 2026, 9:34 PMReposted by @rsthomaspoet.bsky.social

‘The Prayer’ - #RSThomas
(Laboratories of the Spirit, Macmillan 1975)

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 3, 2026, 7:36 AM

Diolch, thank you 😊

@rsthomaspoet.bsky.socialOct 2, 2026, 9:35 PM

Hello, if you like #RSThomas then you might be interested in following this Bluesky account @RSThomaspoet, also facebook.com/groups/RSThomas/
- share his poems, quotes, events, info, Q+A, etc.
- and there’s a Society you can join… rsthomaspoetry.co.uk/rs-thomas-me-eldridge-society/
please re-post?

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