Unfinished Poem by Dylan Thomas acquired by the National Library of Wales

An unfinished poem by Wales’s most famous poet, Dylan Thomas, will stay in Wales.

The poem, Elegy, begins with the line; ‘An old tormented man three quarters blind’ and is part of a collection of work which has been bought by the National Library for the nation. The collection, by the poet who died in 1953, also includes an extensive word-list for Poem on His Birthday, first published in World Review in 1951, and a collection of very early poems, such as the important poem A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in London (Jeff Towns Collection: Dylan Thomas Poetry and Prose Manuscripts).

An additional collection of manuscripts by, and relating to, the author Jan Morris, have also been acquired by the National Library. These include; typescripts of her novels, together with the publisher’s corrected typescript of her memoir Conundrum, together with correspondence, notebooks and printed material. The collection will be added to the Jan Morris Papers.