Sara Martín Alegre P08/04540/02135

varieties� of� English
spoken in and outside England have entered
contemporary poetry, questioning the privileged position held by standard
English, which is often denounced as an instrument of cultural imperialism.
This common interest in vindicating other varieties of English for poetry links
the work of followers of 
Modernism
, such as David Jones and Basil Bunting,
with that of 
social�realists
such as Douglas Dunn and Tony Harrison.
Outside England, the poets of 
Northern�Ireland
, led by Seamus Heaney, have
fused English with local poetical traditions, whereas the 
post-colonial�poets
–including first and second-generation immigrants as well as poets living
outside Britain– have introduced 
new� rhythms
and 
speech� patterns
into
English poetry.
Recommended Readings
To really get to know the
poetry of this period, we
recommend you read the
works of the following
authors:
W. H. Auden, Wendy Cope,
Roy Fuller, Thom Gunn,
Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes,
Craig Raine, Stevie Smith,
R. S. Thomas and Dylan
Thomas.

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© FUOC
• P08/04540/02135
29
Post-War English Literature 1945-1990
4.1. Romantic and other singular poets
After Auden's exile, 
Dylan�Thomas
became the main poet living in Britain. His
new romanticism exerted an immediate influence on the poets of the 1940s,
from 
W.�S.�Graham
and 
George�Barker
to the poets of 
The�Apocalypse
. These
mixed Thomas' example with the influence of French Surrealism, which was
especially strong in the work of 
David�Gascoyne
.
The poets of The Apocalypse, a movement that soon came to be known as