One hundred years ago today one of England's finest poets died at the Battle of
Arras. Edward Thomas didn't write about the Great War per se, but about the
countryside he was fighting for. One hundred and nineteen poems between 1914 and
1917, and those who love poetry will continually go back to them. No computer,
no smartphone, no 'tablet', no Facebook and the only twitter the birds in the
trees outside as he simply put a pen to paper:
By the ford at the town's
edge
Horse and carter rest:
The carter smokes on the bridge
Watching
the water press in swathes about his horse's chest.
From the inn one
watches, too,
In the room for visitors
That has no fire, but a view
And
many cases of stuffed fish, vermin, and kingfishers.
Halifax, West Yorkshire
4 days ago
6 comments:
He could evoke a whole world with a few words. 'Adlestrop' is probably the best-known of his works for that very reason.
Indeed he could Sue. I spent much of yesterday sitting in the garden reading his poems, glancing up now and then to watch jackdaws hopping around the chimney pots.
Lovely Peter - Thomas a true giant of place - I am re-reading The South Country again in his honour, perfect at this time of year - we used to live by Adlestrop and I fished just where the station was originally. TTFN Dickie
Thanks Dickie. I too am about to read one of his books, in my case In Pursuit of Spring.
I, too, love the poem Adlestrop. When I first came across the poem in my teens I was convinced that the name was Portslade spelled backward. It almost is, I didn't look properly!
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