"The damned blues are on me and will never let go, I think."
Edward Thomas suffered from acute depression throughout his life, and experimented with everything from opium to vegetarianism in his attempts to relinquish its hold. Diary entries from 1907 make explicit references to suicidal thoughts, and letters to friend Gordon Bottomley articulate his mental anguish in great detail.
In Helen's memoir, she records one dark day, when she waited in agony for Edward's return after he had stormed out of the house with a revolver. Those missing hours are sensitively dramatised, from Edward's perspective, in Adam Scovell's short film on Super-8, The Attempt. |
Cafodd Edward Thomas ei boeni gan iselder gydol ei fywyd, ac arbrofodd â phopeth o opiwm i lysieuaeth wrth geisio atal gafael iselder arno. Mae cofnodion mewn dyddiadur o 1907 yn cyfeirio’n benodol at feddwl am ei ladd ei hun ac mae llythyrau at ffrind, sef Gordon Bottomley, yn mynegi ei boen meddwl yn fanwl tu hwnt.
Yng nghofiant Helen, mae hi'n ysgrifennu am un diwrnod du, pan fu’n aros mewn gwewyr i Edward ddychwelyd ar ôl iddo ruthro o’r tŷ gyda dryll. Caiff yr oriau coll hynny eu dramateiddio’n sensitif, o safbwynt Edward, yn ffilm fer Adam Scovell ar Super-8, The Attempt. |
Letters to Gordon Bottomley and diary entries from 1907, discussing Edward's mental anguish. Read by Dr. James Castell.
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Llythyrau at Gordon Bottomley a chofnodion dyddiadur o 1907, yn trafod poen meddwl Edward. Darllen gan Dr. James Castell.
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Adam Scovell's short film on Super-8, The Attempt.
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Ffilm fer Adam Scovell ar Super-8, The Attempt.
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Trailer of the Almeida Theatre's production of The Dark Earth and the Light Sky by Nick Dear (2012). In this intimate, almost stifling production, pervaded with the scent of damp soil strewn on the stage, the audience was drawn into the interactions between Edward, Helen and their two close family friends, the writers Robert Frost and Eleanor Farjeon.
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Rhaghysbyseb cynhyrchiad Theatr yr Almeida o The Dark Earth and the Light Sky gan Nick Dear (2012). Yn y cynhyrchiad clôs, os nad llethol hwn, gydag arogl y pridd llaith a wasgarwyd ar y llwyfan yn treiddio trwy bopeth, tynnwyd y gynulleidfa i mewn i'r rhyngweithio rhwng Edward, Helen a dau ffrind agos i’r teulu, sef yr awduron Robert Frost ac Eleanor Farjeon.
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