The flowers left thick at nightfall in the wood This Eastertide call into mind the men, Now far from home, who, with their sweethearts, should Have gathered them and will do never again.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker reflects on how spring flowers remind him of soldiers far from home who will never return to pick them with their loved ones.
- In plain terms
- Nature's beauty highlights the loss of men who will not come back to share it with their families.
- What can you take from it?
- Beauty in nature can deepen the pain of remembering those lost to war.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What does nature remind you of when you are sad?
- How do you remember those who are gone?
Another view
The quote assumes the reader knows the historical context of World War I soldiers.
More from Edward Thomas
Yes. I remember Adlestrop - The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June.
Permalink to quote #1 I built myself a house of glass: It took me years to make it: And I was proud. But now, alas! Would God someone would break it.
Permalink to quote #3 I like to think how easily Nature will absorb London as she absorbed the mastodon, setting her spiders to spin the winding-sheet and her worms to fill in the g…
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
Sweet April-time - O cruel April-time! Year after year returning, with a brow Of promise, and red lips with longing paled, And backward-hidden hands that clutc…
Dinah CraikDinah Craik quote #1 In a wood they call the Rouge Bouquet, There is a new-made grave today, Built by never a spade nor pick, Yet covered with earth ten meteres thick. There lie ma…
Joyce KilmerJoyce Kilmer quote #2 It was the elision of the weaker element--the survival of the fittest; and some, indeed very many, mothers must lose their sons that way.
Zane GreyZane Grey quote #2