Sidney Keyes
| Sidney Keyes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 May 1922 |
| Died | 29 April 1943 (aged 20) Tunisia |
| Occupation | War poet |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Notable award(s) | Hawthornden Prize |
Sidney Arthur Kilworth Keyes (27 May 1922 – 29 April 1943, Tunisia) was an English poet of World War II.
Contents |
[edit] Life
[edit] Early years
Keyes was born on 27 May 1922.[1] He attended Tonbridge School for his secondary education and later, for his tertiary, the University of Oxford.[2] While at college, Keyes wrote the only two books of his lifetime, The Cruel Solstice and The Iron Laurel.[3]
[edit] Military service
Keyes left Oxford and joined the army in April 1942,[4] entering active service that same year.[5] He was sent with his regiment to fight in the Tunisia Campaign of World War II.[6] Hitherto his service, Keyes had already written more than half of the 110 poems that would later be gathered in The Collected Poems of Sidney Keyes.[4] During combat, he was reported to have continued writing poetry. However, these works have not survived.[7]
[edit] Death
Keyes fought and died in action on 29 April 1943, shortly before his 21st birthday.[6]
[edit] Recognition
In 1943, Keyes was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for The Cruel Solstice and The Iron Laurel.[8]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Kendall 2009, p. 398
- ^ Berryman 1947, p. 510
- ^ Dickey 2004, p. 256
- ^ a b Hynes 1990, p. 298
- ^ Dickey 2004, p. 259
- ^ a b Kendall 2006, p. 185
- ^ Kendall 2009, p. 401
- ^ Moseley, Merritt. "The Hawthornden Prize". University of North Carolina. http://facstaff.unca.edu/moseley/hawthorn.html. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
[edit] Bibliography
- Berryman, John (1947), "Review: Young Poets Dead", The Sewanee Review (Johns Hopkins University Press) 55 (3)
- Hynes, Samuel (1990), "Review: Sidney Keyes, Poet", The Sewanee Review (Johns Hopkins University Press) 98 (2)
- Dickey, James (March 2004), Donald Greiner, ed., Classes on Modern Poets and the Art of Poetry, University of South Carolina Press, http://books.google.com/books?id=EQogr9JUVD0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Kendall, Tim (2006), Modern English War Poetry, Oxford University Press, http://books.google.com/books?id=TYNWjcm3NbwC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Kendall, Tim; Geoffrey Hill (2009), The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry, Oxford University Press, http://books.google.com/books?id=xLpTxTq4KLQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
