Sidney Arthur Kilworth Keyes (27 May 1922 – 29 April 1943) was an English poet of World War II.
Life
Early years and education
Keyes was born on 27 May 1922 at the family home, only child of Reginald Keyes, of The Homestead, West Hill, Dartford, Kent, a flour miller who had been a captain in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, and his second wife, Edith Mary, daughter of Rev. Arthur Blackburn, rector of St Paul's, Bradford. His mother died of peritonitis when he was six weeks old, and he was raised by his paternal grandparents. His grandfather, Sidney Kilworth Keyes, was a wealthy farmer and dominant figure in the family. While at college, Keyes wrote the only two books of his lifetime, The Cruel Solstice and The Iron Laurel. During his time in Oxford, Keyes fell in love with the young German artist Milein Cosman, but his love was not returned. He also befriended fellow poets John Heath-Stubbs and Michael Meyer, edited The Cherwell magazine, and formed a dramatic society. entering active service that same year. He was soon commissioned in the Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment and served with his regiment's 1st Battalion, part of the 4th Division, to fight in the final stages of the Tunisian campaign in March 1943. Prior to his service, Keyes had already written more than half of the 110 poems that would later be gathered in The Collected Poems of Sidney Keyes.
Death
Keyes was killed in action on 29 April 1943, covering his platoon's retreat during a counter-attack,
Recognition
In 1943, Keyes was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for The Cruel Solstice and The Iron Laurel. He has been described as one of the outstanding poets of the Second World War.
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Roy, Pinaki. “Sidney Keyes: The War-poet who ‘groped for Death’”. War, Literature and the Arts (U.S. Air Force Academy) (ISSN 2169-7914), 26 (1), 2014: http://wlajournal.com/wlaarchive/26/Roy.pdf