Sidney Keyes

Sidney Keyes

Sidney Arthur Kilworth Keyes (May 27, 1922, Dartford, Kent — 19 April 1943, Tunisia) was an English poet of World War II.

Life and Work

Keyes was born in Dartford, Kent. His father was an officer in the army, and as a child Keyes was raised by his grandfather. He attended Dartford Grammar School, Tonbridge School and studied at Oxford University where he and the poet John Heath-Stubbs became friends. The outbreak of war curtailed his university career. He joined the army in 1942 and fought in Tunisia as a lieutenant in the West Kent Regiment. He served in action for only two weeks before he was killed in action during a raid, one month before his 21st birthday. Some uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of his death as his body was discovered buried behind enemy lines. It remains unclear whether he was killed in action or died of wounds after being captured.

In 1944, he was posthumously awarded the Hawthornden Prize.

Contemporaries

Aside from his close friendship with poet John Heath-Stubbs, his contemporaries included the poet Keith Douglas who was also born in Kent, also left Oxford to serve in the war, and was also killed in action. Another Oxford contemporary was Philip Larkin who felt considerable animosity towards Keyes. [see Tim Kendall's [http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/review/pr92-2/kendall.htm review] of Keyes' "Collected Poems"]

Works

*"Eight Oxford Poets" (1941) edited with Michael Meyer
*"The Iron Laurel" (1942)
*"The Cruel Solstice" (1943)
*"Collected Poems" (1945)

Notes

External links

* [http://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/reframe.cgi?app=scribe&author=keyess Biographical Note at Carcanet website]
* [http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems/k/keyes-sydney/warpoet.html The poem 'War Poet' plus brief biographical footnote]
* [http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=6223&inst_id=61 University of Greenwich archive note]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8886511 Short biography] at Find A Grave


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