R.S.Thomas: a new view for me

This morning I went to a mini lecture on the Anglo-Welsh poet R.S.Thomas. For reasons I cannot accurately recall, I was prepared to dislike his work. From what I knew of 'RS' he was a cantankerous old man with little positive to say about modern Wales; indeed he appeared to dislike so much about modernity that I largely ignored his poems. Further I resented his regret at being an 'Anglo-Welsh' poet - I sense he would have preferred to write in Welsh. Which is all well and good, but regretting that is to regret what a majority of his countrymen and women have - the English language as their mother tongue. Anyway, the lecture this morning forced me to look again; we were introduced to the poems written by 'RS' after the death of his wife in the early 1990s. They were truly moving. I have searched on You Tube for a reading that can give an indication of the power of his poetry and this is the best I can do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TaedssoNfE&feature=related