Edward Thomas
Edward Thomas
British war-era poet, essayist, and literary critic of Welsh heritage. His essay collections include The Heart of England and Light and Twilight; his poetry collections include Six Poems and Last Poems.
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth3 March 1878
song dark autumn
To-day I think Only with scents, - scents dead leaves yield, And bracken, and wild carrot's seed, And the square mustard field; Odours that rise When the spade wounds the root of tree, Rose, currant, raspberry, or goutweed, Rhubarb or celery; The smoke's smell, too, Flowing from where a bonfire burns The dead, the waste, the dangerous, And all to sweetness turns. It is enough To smell, to crumble the dark earth, While the robin sings over again Sad songs of Autumn mirth." - A poem called DIGGING.
flower dust losing
As well as any bloom upon a flower I like the dust on the nettles, never lost Except to prove the sweetness of a shower.
love life relationship
The simple lack of her is more to me than others' presence.
loved scent survives
The fairest things have fleetest end,/ Their scent survives their close:/ But the rose's scent is bitterness/ To him that loved the rose!
country character fighting
Some Englishmen, of whom Kitchener was chief, believed that a rebellion of Arabs against Turks would enable England, while fighting Germany, simultaneously to defeat Turkey. Their knowledge of the nature and power and country of the Arabic-speaking peoples made them think that the issue of such a rebellion would be happy: and indicated its character and method. So they allowed it to begin...
war knives soup
Making war or rebellion is messy, like eating soup off a knife.
men june bird
Verse is the natural speech of men, as singing is of birds'The Week's Survey, 18 June 1904
sweet giving-up thinking
I, too, often shrivel the grey shreds,Sniff them and think and sniff again and tryOnce more to think what it is I am remembering,Always in vain. I cannot like the scent,Yet I would rather give up others more sweet,With no meaning, than this bitter one.