Sidney Keyes
| Sidney Keyes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 May 1922 |
| Died |
29 April 1943 (aged 20) Tunisia |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Notable awards | Hawthornden Prize |
Sidney Arthur Kilworth Keyes (27 May 1922 – 29 April 1943, Tunisia) was an English poet of World War II.
Life
Early years and education
Keyes was born May 27, 1922.[1] His mother died shortly afterwards and he was raised by his paternal grandparents.[2] Keyes started writing poetry when still very young, with Wordsworth, Rilke and Jung among his main influences.[2] He attended Dartford Grammar School and then boarded at Tonbridge School (Hillside, 1935-1940) during his secondary education, after which he won a history scholarship to Queen's College, Oxford.[2][3] While at college, Keyes wrote the only two books of his lifetime, The Cruel Solstice and The Iron Laurel.[4] During his time in Oxford, Keyes fell in love with the young German artist Milein Cosman, but his love was not returned. He also befriended fellow poets John Heath-Stubbs and Michael Meyer, edited The Cherwell magazine, and formed a dramatic society.[2]
The Iron Laurel was published in 1942, when Keyes was 20 years old. His poetry was also published in The New Statesman, The Listener and other poetry journals.[2]
Military service
Keyes left Oxford and joined the army in April 1942,[5] entering active service that same year.[6] He was sent with the Queens Own West Kent Regiment to fight in the Tunisia Campaign of World War II in March 1943.[2][7] Prior to 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.[5] During combat, he was reported to have continued writing poetry. However, these works have not survived.[8]
Death
Keyes fought and died in action on 29 April 1943, covering his platoon's retreat during a counter-attack,[2] shortly before his 21st birthday.[7] It has also been stated that he died at the hands of the enemy, following his capture.[9]
Recognition
In 1943, Keyes was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for The Cruel Solstice and The Iron Laurel.[10] He has been described as one of the outstanding poets of the Second World War.[2]
Footnotes
- ↑ Kendall 2009, p. 398
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Sidney Keyes (1922-1943)". The War Poet Association. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ↑ Berryman 1947, p. 510
- ↑ Dickey 2004, p. 256
- 1 2 Hynes 1990, p. 298
- ↑ Dickey 2004, p. 259
- 1 2 Kendall 2006, p. 185
- ↑ Kendall 2009, p. 401
- ↑ Michael L. Meyer, introduction to Keyes, Collected Poems Routledge (1945).
- ↑ Moseley, Merritt. "The Hawthornden Prize". University of North Carolina. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
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
- Kendall, Tim (2006), Modern English War Poetry, Oxford University Press
- Kendall, Tim; Geoffrey Hill (2009), The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry, Oxford University Press
- Cosman, Milein, Memories of Sidney Keyes
- Roy, Pinaki. “Sidney Keyes: The War-poet who ‘groped for Death’”. War, Literature and the Arts (U.S. Air Force Academy) (ISSN 2169-7914), 26 (1), 2014: http://wlajournal.com/wlaarchive/26/Roy.pdf