Rise up, rise up, And, as the trumpet blowing Chases the dreams of men, As the dawn glowing The stars that left unlit The land and water, Rise up and scatter The dew that covers The print of last night's lovers --- Scatter it, scatter it! While you are listening To the clear horn, Forget, men, everything On this earth newborn, Except that it is lovelier Than any mysteries. Open your eyes to the air That has washed the eyes of the stars Through all the dewy night: Up with the light, To the old wars; Arise, arise!
Ten Poems of Edward Thomas
Song Cycle by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)
1. The Trumpet
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "The Trumpet", first published 1917
See other settings of this text.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , David Kenneth Smith2. 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.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "Tall nettles", first published 1917
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. Head and bottle
The downs will lose the sun, white alyssum Lose the bees' hum; But head and bottle tilted back in the cart Will never part Till I am cold as midnight and all my hours Are beeless flowers. He neither sees, nor hears, nor smells, nor thinks, But only drinks, Quiet in the yard where tree trunks do not lie More quietly.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "Head and bottle", first published 1917
Go to the general single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]4. The huxter
He has a hump like an ape on his back; He has of money a plentiful lack; And but for a gay coat of double his girth There is not a plainer thing on the earth This fine May morning. But the huxster has a bottle of beer; He drives a cart and his wife sits near Who does not heed his lack or his hump; And they laugh as down the lane they bump This fine May morning.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "The huxter", first published 1917
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this page: Robbert Muuse5. 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.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "Sowing", first published 1917
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]6. The gallows
There was a weasel lived in the sun With all his family, Till a keeper shot him with his gun And hung him up on a tree, Where he swings in the wind and rain, In the sun and in the snow, Without pleasure, without pain, On the dead oak tree bough. There was a crow who was no sleeper, But a thief and a murderer Till a very late hour; and this keeper Made him one of the things that were, To hang and flap in rain and wind, In the sun and in the snow. There are no more sins to be sinned On the dead oak tree bough. There was a magpie, too, Had a long tongue and a long tail; He could both talk and do -- But what did that avail? He, too, flaps in the wind and rain Alongside weasel and crow, Without pleasure, without pain, On the dead oak tree bough. And many other beasts And birds, skin, bone and feather, Have been taken from their feasts And hung up there together, To swing and have endless leisure In the sun and in the snow, Without pain, without pleasure, On the dead oak tree bough.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "The gallows", first published 1917
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]7. When he should laugh
When he should laugh, the wise man knows full well: For he knows what is truly laughable. But wiser is the man who laughs also, Or holds his laughter, when the foolish do.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "When he should laugh", first published 1917
Go to the general single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]8. 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.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "Like the touch of rain", first published 1917
Go to the general single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]9. In memoriam
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.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "In memoriam", first published 1917
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]10. Will you come?
Will you come? Will you come? Will you ride So late At my side? O, will you come? Will you come? Will you come If the night Has a moon, Full and bright? O, will you come? Would you come? Would you come If the noon Gave light, Not the moon? Beautiful, would you come? Would you have come? Would you have come Without scorning, Had it been Still morning? Beloved, would you have come? If you come Haste and come, Owls have cried; It grows dark To ride. Beloved, beautiful, come.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Thomas (1878 - 1917), as Edward Eastaway, "Will you come?", first published 1917
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this page: David Kenneth Smith