Thomas’s final collection of poems, published when he was 38, won him the Foyle poetry prize. In the early 1950s, he embarked on lucrative tours of the USA. By now, his health was clearly suffering, with increasingly frequent and serious bouts of gout and lung problems.
In May 1953, Thomas performed a work-in-progress version of Under Milk Wood. In October, he flew to America for a performance of the work. It was a fateful visit. Already suffering from blackouts and heart problems, he became increasingly unwell. Controversy and conjecture surround the precise medical reason for his death, though heavy drinking may have played a part.
His body was brought back to Wales, and he was buried in the churchyard at Laugharne on 25 November. His widow Caitlin died in 1994 and was buried alongside him.
In 1982 a plaque in memory of Dylan Thomas was unveiled in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey.
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