‘This anthology consists of poems by Welsh authors (from Henry Vaughan
to John Ormond) that Thomas earmarked for public reading between 1938 and
1953 . . . undoubtedly its real raison d’être is in its being
Dylan Thomas’s choice of Welsh poetry, and that is where pleasurable, and
possibly profitable, speculation starts . . . The Introduction, plus notes,
by Ralph Maud, and the brief biographies provided by John Harris, are models
of their kind . . . ’ (Planet)
Dylan Thomas had an active critical mind when it came to contemporary poetry. He was alert to the up-and-coming poets in Wales writing in English, and promoted some of them at every opportunity on the BBC and in reading poems in public. Wales in his Arms is a full record of Thomas's concern for his fellow Anglo-Welsh poets.
The Colour of Saying (ed. Ralph Maud and Aneirin Talfan Davies, 1963, Dent) has been in print for many years. It is 'Dylan Thomas's Choice' from the whole range of English and American poetry. Wales in His Arms adds substantially to the Anglo-Welsh poetry represented in that anthology. It includes the work of nineteen poets, among them Alun Lewis, Robert Graves, W.H. Davies, Vernon Watkins and Idris Davies.