Born in Lambeth, London to Welsh parents on 3 March 1878, Philip Edward Thomas
studied at St Paul's school and Oxford before earning a living as a freelance
journalist and author. As a result of his friendship with Robert Frost whom he
met in 1912 (after Thomas's death Frost was to describe him as "the only
brother I ever had") he turned to poetry and his first collection was
published in 1916 under the pseudonyum of Edward Eastaway. Between December
1914 and his death two years and four months later he wrote 142 poems and is
increasingly regarded as among the finest and most influential British poets
of the time. In July 1915 he enlisted in the Artists' Rifles and then was commissioned
in the Royal Artillery in 1916. He volunteered or service overseas and was sent to
France in January 1917. He was killed in the battle of Arras on Easter Monday,
9 April 1917 at 7.36 a.m. He is buried in a military cemetary at Agny, south of Arras.
Collected Poems by Edward Thomas is published by Faber & Faber, ISBN: 0-571-11368-0
Local Links: Collected Poems of Edward Thomas - our growing on-line collection
Global Links: An Internet History of WW1 | Edward Thomas Fellowship - Edward Thomas appreciation page
