To Edward Thomas
(On visiting the memorial stone above Steep in Hampshire)
I
On the way up from Sheet I met some children *conversational/ anecdotal tone
Filling a pram with brushwood; higher still
Beside Steep church an old man pointed out
A rough white stone upon a flinty spur
Projecting from the high autumnal woods...
I doubt if much has changed since you came here Lewis strives to find an affinity
On your last leave; except the stone; it bears or to assert an affinity with Thomas
Your name and trade: 'To Edward Thomas, Poet.'
II
Climbing the steep path through the copse I knew
My cares weighed heavily as yours, my gift *feels an affiliation/connection
Much less, my hope kindred spirits
No more than yours.
And like you I felt sensitive and somehow apart,
Lonely and exalted by the friendship of the wind
And the placid afternoon enfolding
The dangerous future and the smile.
III
I sat and watched the dusky berried ridge
Of yew-trees, deepened by oblique dark shafts,
Throw back the flame of red and gold and russet
That leapt from beech and ash to birch and chestnut
Along the downward arc of the hill's shoulder,
And sunlight with discerning fingers
Softly explore the distant wooded acres,
Touching the farmsteads one by one with lightness
Until it reached the Downs, whose soft green pastures
Went slanting sea- and skywards to the limits
Where sight surrenders and the mind alone
Can find the sheeps' tracks and the grazing.
And for the moment Life appeared *capitalisation indicates that he is referring
As gentle as the view I gazed upon. to the life of Edward Thomas
IV
Later, a whole day later, I remembered
This war and yours and your weary *by connecting their respective wars
Circle of failure and your striving Lewis is again asserting the affinity
To make articulate the groping voices he feels
Of snow and rain and dripping branches
And love that ailing in itself cried out
About the straggling eaves and ringed the candle
(On visiting the memorial stone above Steep in Hampshire)
I
On the way up from Sheet I met some children *conversational/ anecdotal tone
Filling a pram with brushwood; higher still
Beside Steep church an old man pointed out
A rough white stone upon a flinty spur
Projecting from the high autumnal woods...
I doubt if much has changed since you came here Lewis strives to find an affinity
On your last leave; except the stone; it bears or to assert an affinity with Thomas
Your name and trade: 'To Edward Thomas, Poet.'
II
Climbing the steep path through the copse I knew
My cares weighed heavily as yours, my gift *feels an affiliation/connection
Much less, my hope kindred spirits
No more than yours.
And like you I felt sensitive and somehow apart,
Lonely and exalted by the friendship of the wind
And the placid afternoon enfolding
The dangerous future and the smile.
III
I sat and watched the dusky berried ridge
Of yew-trees, deepened by oblique dark shafts,
Throw back the flame of red and gold and russet
That leapt from beech and ash to birch and chestnut
Along the downward arc of the hill's shoulder,
And sunlight with discerning fingers
Softly explore the distant wooded acres,
Touching the farmsteads one by one with lightness
Until it reached the Downs, whose soft green pastures
Went slanting sea- and skywards to the limits
Where sight surrenders and the mind alone
Can find the sheeps' tracks and the grazing.
And for the moment Life appeared *capitalisation indicates that he is referring
As gentle as the view I gazed upon. to the life of Edward Thomas
IV
Later, a whole day later, I remembered
This war and yours and your weary *by connecting their respective wars
Circle of failure and your striving Lewis is again asserting the affinity
To make articulate the groping voices he feels
Of snow and rain and dripping branches
And love that ailing in itself cried out
About the straggling eaves and ringed the candle
