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Today seems like a good day for a poem. To my mind every day is a good day for a poem, but I thought I would share an Edward Thomas poem with you to whet your appetite for when I finish the collection. This one was written in 1915, a very prolific year for Thomas.
There’s nothing like the sun
There’s nothing like the sun as the year dies,
Kind as it can be, this world being made so,
The stones and men and beasts and birds and flies,
To all things that it touches except snow,
Whether on mountain side or street of town.
The south wall warms me: November has begun,
Yet never shone the sun as fair as now
While the sweet last-left damsons from the bough
With spangles of the morning’s storm drop down
Because the starling shakes it, whistling what
Once swallows sang. But I have not forgot
That there is nothing, too, like March’s sun,
Like April’s, or July’s, or June’s, or May’s,
Or January’s, or February’s, great days:
And August, September, October, and December
Have equal days, all different from November.
No day of any month but I have said —
Or, if I could live long enough, should say —
‘There’s nothing like the sun that shines today.’
There’s nothing like the sun till we are dead.
That is a lovely poem. “kind as it can be,” yes, I was just saying that to someone this morning, that it’s impossible to overestimate the good effects of sunshine.
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Jeanne, agreed! We’ve had a series of blustery, cold, gray days here and then other day the sun broke out and for that little while I felt remarkably cheerier.
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The sun on my face this morning, reminding me of spring. And then your Edward Thomas poems as another ray. A good day for both.
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Cath, glad you enjoyed it! Both the sun and the poem π
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Lovely poem–a bit sad, but perfect for today (as we are due to get snow tonight….). I have a couple of books by or about Thomas–a nice reminder that I want to read them soon!
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Thanks for posting this poem. It is the kind of “nature” poem that can never date – as Danielle says, “a bit sad, but perfect for today”.
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Ian, glad you liked the poem. Thomas writes a lot of poems like this that don’t really date. A really lovely nature poet your country turned out π
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Danielle, Glad you enjoyed the poem. Thomas is really wonderful. Did you get snow? We just got a dusting really, enough to make everything slippery.
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We’ve just had two wonderful sunny days – cold and crisp but full of late autumn sun. I do love Thomas. Have you come across Adlestrop yet?
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I’ve read so many I don’t recall if I’ve read that one. It sounds vaguely familiar. I will have to check!
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Come to England and I will take you to Adlestrop. It is so quintessentially English and exactly as he writes about it.
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The poem turns out to be among the first dozen in the book. Between it and your comment I am intrigued about how the place looks! Should I ever make it to England I might have to take you up on the offer π
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Oh this is wonderful! We’ve had lots of gray days lately, which is not typical for us in Texas, so this was a perfect read! π
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Iliana, we’d had lots of gray days lately too and then for a short time on the day of the post, the sun broke out between the clouds and it was so beautiful the poem suddenly took on a fuller meaning. You’ve been getting lots of storms of late it sounds like from the news reports. I hope you are safe and dry!
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Oh yes, I love the sun, though would have to reverse the poem somewhat as our sun gets stronger as the year dies and of course it’s the north wall that warms us!
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whisperinggums, ok, so I know your seasons are opposite from mine but I never stopped to think that it might be the north wall that warms. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around that one all day and it boggles! Obviously I have never been south of the equator π
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A lot of northern hemisphere people don’t really think about just how far the inversion goes. They need to know though if they more here and look for somewhere to live. BTW the sun still rises in the east and sets I. The west thoug!
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Well that’s a relief about the sun still rising in the east! At least some things stay the same π
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LOL Stefanie – glad to have put your mind at rest π (backatcha)
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Stefanie, you are such a great writer, I would love to see an original poem from you on your blog one day!
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Ah Cip, you are such a sweetheart! I’ve tried my hand at poetry before, long ago, and well, let’s just say it is best for me to stick to writing prose and reading poetry. Should the muse ever visit me though, I will be sure to share it π
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