Edward Thomas Short Poems

Famous Short Edward Thomas Poems. Short poetry by famous poet Edward Thomas. A collection of the all-time best Edward Thomas short poems

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The Cherry Trees  

 The cherry trees bend over and are shedding,
On the old road where all that passed are dead,
Their petals, strewing the grass as for a wedding
This early May morn when there is none to wed.

The New House  

 NOW first, as I shut the door, 
I was alone 
In the new house; and the wind 
Began to moan.
 

Old at once was the house, 
And I was old; 
My ears were teased with the dread 
Of what was foretold, 

Nights of storm, days of mist, without end; 
Sad days when the sun 
Shone in vain: old griefs and griefs 
Not yest begun.
 

All was foretold me; naught 
Could I foresee; 
But I learnt how the wind would sound 
After these things should be

Thaw  

 OVER the land half freckled with snow half-thawed 
The speculating rooks at their nests cawed, 
And saw from elm-tops, delicate as a flower of grass, 
What we below could not see, Winter pass.

A Cat  

 She had a name among the children;
But no one loved though someone owned
Her, locked her out of doors at bedtime
And had her kittens duly drowned.


In Spring, nevertheless, this cat
Ate blackbirds, thrushes, nightingales,
And birds of bright voice and plume and flight,
As well as scraps from neighbours’ pails.


I loathed and hated her for this;
One speckle on a thrush’s breast
Was worth a million such; and yet
She lived long, till God gave her rest.

Sowing  

 IT was a perfect day 
For sowing; just 
As sweet and dry was the ground 
As tobacco-dust.
 

I tasted deep the hour 
Between the far 
Owl's chuckling first soft cry 
And the first star.
 

A long stretched hour it was; 
Nothing undone 
Remained; the early seeds 
All safely sown.
 

And now, hark at the rain, 
Windless and light, 
Half a kiss, half a tear, 
Saying good-night.

A Private  

 This ploughman dead in battle slept out of doors
Many a frozen night, and merrily
Answered staid drinkers, good bedmen, and all bores:
"At Mrs Greenland's Hawthorn Bush," said he,
"I slept.
" None knew which bush.
 Above the town,
Beyond `The Drover', a hundred spot the down
In Wiltshire.
 And where now at last he sleeps
More sound in France -that, too, he secret keeps.

The Dark Forest  

 Dark is the forest and deep, and overhead
Hang stars like seeds of light
In vain, though not since they were sown was bred
Anything more bright.


And evermore mighty multitudes ride
About, nor enter in;
Of the other multitudes that dwell inside
Never yet was one seen.


The forest foxglove is purple, the marguerite
Outside is gold and white,
Nor can those that pluck either blossom greet
The others, day or night.

Tall Nettles  

 TALL nettles cover up, as they have done 
These many springs, the rusty harrow, the plough 
Long worn out, and the roller made of stone: 
Only the elm butt tops the nettles now.
 

This corner of the farmyard I like most: 
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.

Like the Touch of Rain  

 Like the touch of rain she was
On a man's flesh and hair and eyes
When the joy of walking thus
Has taken him by surprise:

With the love of the storm he burns,
He sings, he laughs, well I know how,
But forgets when he returns
As I shall not forget her 'Go now'.


Those two words shut a door
Between me and the blessed rain
That was never shut before
And will not open again.