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Article: R.S. Thomas and the Dark Night of the Soul: song, suffering, and silence in a life of faith.(Critical essay)
- Article from:
- Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature
- Article date:
- January 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Marquette University Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Cardiff, 1913. Pain, and a woman bearing it; the child, too, but only half-aware. A difficult birth; the child too large. Then meningitis; the photographs show one only half-sane. All forgotten. How far back can one remember? (Thomas, "Autobiographical Essay" 1).
THESE recollections of R.S. Thomas reach back to his earliest moments in life and highlight his own birth-deep sense that life involves inexplicable pain and dislocation. While some have questioned the authenticity of his earliest memories, few can contest the extent to which he felt all of life was shrouded in suffering and difficulty. Such a view is especially challenging to comprehend when one ...