Dylan Thomas was born on October 27, 1914, in Swansea, Wales. At an early age, Thomas learned that he could manipulate situations to his advantage with his good looks, charming character, and weak immune system. He did not like attending school, as he preferred to study and read on his own; Thomas was reciting classical and writing original poetry before he was ten years old. He entered grammar school in 1925 and submitted much of his work to the school’s magazine before he dropped out in 1930 to write for the South Wales Daily Post. His articles and reviews were often offensively severe and required much editing before they could be published. Thomas continued writing poetry and saw his work printed in major magazines and newspapers. His first collection, Eighteen Poems, was published in 1934 and received very favorable reviews, just as his second collection, Twenty-Five Poems, did after its release in 1936.

Thomas met Caitlin Macnamara in 1936 at a pub in London, where he had moved in the early 1930s to pursue his writing career. The two spent almost a week together and by the end of the year were living together. … [Thomas wrote prolifically, mostly under the hospitality of his patron, Margaret Taylor] …After Thomas’ first BBC radio broadcast, he and Caitlin married on July 11, 1937. The pair moved to Laugharne, Wales, where Thomas finished writing poetry and short stories for The Map of Love (1939) and where his first son Llewelyn was born in 1939. The new father evaded the draft at the onset of the First World War when he showed up to his conscription trial fall-down drunk, and the Thomases were forced to leave Laugharne because of the scene. Their marriage continued to deteriorate when Caitlin almost had an affair with another man; the two began spending more and more time apart.

In the late 1940s, Thomas wrote prolifically, mostly under the hospitality of his patron, Margaret Taylor. His collection Deaths and Entrances (1946) brought him to the pinnacle of his fame and after a few years was invited to tour the United States to read his poetry. Thomas accepted and in 1950 began performing at colleges throughout the country. His notoriously crude behavior, including drunkenness, cursing, sexual harassment, and discourteous sense of humor earned him a terrible reputation among college crowds and celebrities, with whom he often kept company. Thomas also engaged in affairs with several American women, his marriage to Caitlin all but evanesced. Critics continually recognized Thomas’ talent and honored his works, but the poet’s life spiraled out of control. After an intense drinking binge, a morphine shot three times the normal dose, and habitual ingestion of copious amounts of prescription pills, Thomas fell into a coma and died on November 9, 1953, in New York City.