Exhibition celebrates WW1 poets Hedd Wyn and Edward Thomas

An exhibition commemorating two Welsh poets killed during World War One has opened in Ceredigion.

The display at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, will celebrate "the life, work and legacy" of Hedd Wyn and Edward Thomas.

Both poets died in 1917.

Linda Tomos, the National Library of Wales' national librarian, said: "It is very important that we keep the memory alive."

Hedd Wyn was killed on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele on 31 July 1917.

Some weeks later, his poem won the prestigious chair prize at the National Eisteddfod held in Birkenhead, Wirral.

The exhibition will include original manuscripts of his famous ode "Yr Arwr/The Hero" and memories of his friend and fellow soldier, JB Thomas, about their time in the Army.

Thomas was killed at the Battle of Arras on 9 April 1917 - Easter Monday - just a few months after arriving in France.

The exhibition will feature letters he sent to his wife, Helen, where he describes life on the front, as well as drafts of his poems and the last diary he kept which was still in his pocket when he died.