Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)

"Born in Swansea, Wales, son of a schoolteacher, Thomas skipped college, working instead as a writer from the age of twenty until his death, not yet forty years old, in New York. He excelled in both poetry and prose, and in his poetry was comfortable with many different forms (his classic "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a truly exquisite villanelle). Also he was by far the greatest reader and performer of the modern poets. His flourishing, around 1950, happened to coincide with the emergence of the long-playing phonograph record, and many who would not otherwise have experienced any poetry were privileged to hear Thomas read aloud, either in person or on record." Read more 

Fern Hill (audio and text via Columbia Granger's World of Poetry)