Abstract

In a 1996 radio broadcast for the popular Radio Cymru series Beti a ‘i Phobol, R. S. Thomas declared his great admiration for a late-medieval cywydd by Siôn Cent, a lacerating attack on the vanity of all things human. By bringing the little that is known about Siôn Cent to bear on his great poem, this article makes it clear why Siôn Cent meant so much to Thomas, and suggests why Thomas came to recognize in Siôn Cent an alter ego. It concludes by suggesting that, for Thomas, Siôn Cent was a forerunner of the ‘warrior poets’ of Wales, to whose company Thomas himself aspired to belong.

Keywords: R.S Thomas, Siôn Cent, Wales

How to Cite:

Thomas, M., (2023) “R. S. Thomas, Siôn Cent, and ‘the buggeration of it.’”, International Journal of Welsh Writing in English 10(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/wwe.10314