The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Watkins, Vernon
190667, British poet, b. Maesteg, Wales, educated at Cambridge. Like his close friend Dylan Thomas, Watkins was profoundly influenced by his Welsh background. His poetry combines serious meditation with an ecstatic acceptance of the world. Among his volumes of poetry are The Ballad of Mari Lwyd and Other Poems (1941), Selected Poems (1948), The Death Bell and Other Poems (1954), Affinities (1962), and Uncollected Poems (1969).