Keep Innocency: Edward Thomas and Fatherhood

Ted Hughes once described Edward Thomas as 'the father' of modern poetry, and those poems in which Thomas adopts a paternal persona reflect a hitherto neglected dimension of his literary achievement, born of his fascination with childhood and the literary forms associated with it. This article charts the trajectory and range of that interest, which was sustained by Thomas's friendships with Robert Frost, Eleanor Farjeon and Walter de la Mare, and above all, by his relationship with his children: his son Merfyn and his daughters, Bronwen and Myfanwy.