Annotated Collected Poems

Edward Thomas (1878–1917) called himself ‘mainly Welsh’. He grew up in London, but developed a passion for Nature. Hating the economic forces that had destroyed agricultural communities and expanded cities, Thomas absorbed, as his poetry shows, the literary and folk traditions of the English countryside. After studying history at Oxford, he lived in rural southern England, particularly Steep in Hampshire. He supported his family by writing reviews, country books, biography and criticism. Overwork caused (sometimes suicidal) depression and creative despair. This self-styled ‘hurried & harried prose man’ could not find a ‘form that suits me’. Yet books such as The South Country (1909) and In Pursuit of Spring (1914) fertilised the poetry which – prompted by Robert Frost – Thomas began to write in December 1914. An influential poetry-reviewer, Thomas had praised Frost’s North of Boston as ‘revolutionary’. And its ‘absolute fidelity to the postures which the voice assumes in the most expressive intimate speech’ clarified his own artistic direction. Thomas's poem ‘The sun used to shine’ celebrates the poets’ friendship, but also suggests Thomas’s darker inspiration – the Great War. Although over-age, he enlisted in the Artists’ Rifles (July 1915). He was killed at Arras (April 1917) before his first collection, Poems, appeared. Edna Longley's edition of his poetry, The Annotated Collected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2008), has established the most authoritative text of his work, and has the most comprehensive notes and critical apparatus of any edition.Edna Longley is a Professor Emerita in the School of English, Queen's University Belfast. Her publications include an edition of Edward Thomas's prose writings, A Language Not To Be Betrayed (1981) from Carcanet, and four critical books: Louis MacNeice: A Study (1988) from Faber, and Poetry in the Wars (1986), The Living Stream: Literature & Revisionism in Ireland (1994) and Poetry & Posterity (2000) from Bloodaxe. She also edited The Bloodaxe Book of 20th Century Poetry (2000).

• 11 Introduction25 Note on Text of this Edition 31 Up in the Wind34 November35 March36 Old Man37 The Signpost38 After Rain39 Interval40 The Other43 Birds’ Nests43 The Mountain Chapel45 The Manor Farm46 An Old Song I47 An Old Song II48 The Combe48 The Hollow Wood49 The New Year49 The Source50 The Penny Whistle50 A Private51 Snow51 Adlestrop52 Tears 52 Over the Hills53 The Lofty Sky54 The Cuckoo54 Swedes55 The Unknown Bird56 The Mill-Pond56 Man and Dog58 Beauty58 The Gypsy59 Ambition60 House and Man60 Parting61 First known when lost62 May 2363 The Barn64 Home (‘Not the end’)64 The Owl65 The Child on the Cliffs66 The Bridge66 Good-night67 But these things also68 The New House68 The Barn and the Down69 Sowing70 March the Third70 Two Pewits71 Will you come?72 The Path72 The Wasp Trap73 A Tale73 Wind and Mist75 A Gentleman76 Lob79 Digging (‘Today I think’)80 Lovers80 In Memoriam (Easter, 1915)81 Head and Bottle81 Home (‘Often I had gone’)82 Health83 The Huxter84 She dotes84 Song85 A Cat85 Melancholy86 Tonight86 April87 The Glory88 July88 The Chalk-Pit90 Fifty Faggots90 Sedge-Warblers91 I built myself a house of glass91 Words93 The Word94 Under the Woods94 Haymaking 96 A Dream96 The Brook97 Aspens98 The Mill-Water99 For These99 Digging (‘What matter makes my spade’)100 Two Houses101 Cock-Crow101 October102 There’s nothing like the sun102 The Thrush103 Liberty104 This is no case of petty right or wrong105 Rain105 The clouds that are so light106 Roads108 The Ash Grove109 February Afternoon109 I may come near loving you110 Those things that poets said110 No one so much as you112 The Unknown113 Celandine113 ‘Home’ (‘Fair was the morning’)114 Thaw115 If I should ever by chance115 If I were to own116 What shall I give?117 And you, Helen117 The Wind’s Song118 Like the touch of rain118 When we two walked119 Tall Nettles119 The Watchers120 I never saw that land before120 The Cherry Trees121 It rains121 Some eyes condemn122 The sun used to shine123 No one cares less than I123 As the team’s head-brass124 After you speak125 Bright Clouds126 Early one morning126 It was upon127 Women he liked128 There was a time128 The Green Roads129 The Gallows130 The Dark Forest130 When he should laugh131 How at once131 Gone, gone again132 That girl’s clear eyes133 What will they do?133 The Trumpet134 When first135 The Child in the Orchard135 Lights Out136 The long small room137 The Sheiling138 The Lane138 Out in the dark139 The sorrow of true love 141 Notes323 Biographical Outline325 Abbreviations329 Further Bibliography331 Index of Titles

'Edna Longley's definitive new edition of Edward Thomas's Collected Poems makes a case for the enduring, essential relevance to the 21st century of this English poet who died in World War I. The book is a crowning achievement by Thomas's best advocate, approachable by the beginner and invaluable to the specialist, with a critical apparatus which is at once a biography tracing the growth of the poet's mind and an engrossing anthology of his vivid, melancholy prose' - Seamus Heaney, Sunday Business Post (Dublin)