Sunday, 25 November 2012
Yes, I Remember Adlestrop
I have been reminded twice about Adlestrop recently. First time was sitting in a cafe after I.T. marched at the Remembrance Day parade in Sale and leafing through the magazine of a Sunday paper I don't normally read there was an article on the poem, alongside some First World War poetry. Adlestrop was by Edward Thomas, a poet who volunteered for service (despite being too old) and was killed in 1917. The gist of the article was that Adlestrop is a war poem that does not mention the war. I read it in the cafe and despite all the cafe hubbub and noise and the aftermath of the parade and I.T.'s part in it, for a minute or so there was only me and the poem. I don't recall reading it since studying Thomas during 6th form.
By happy coincidence Davy H provided a link a day or two ago to a Gone West mix he did at Mixcloud, half an hour of pastoral music with some poetry kicking off with, yup, Richard Burton reading Adlestrop and then on to tracks from Chicane, Led Zeppelin, XTC, Villagers and Orbital and back to the poetry with TS Eliot. It's a really well put together mix and I thoroughly recommend it.
Yes, I remember Adlestrop --
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.
The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name
And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
Adlestrop (read by Richard Burton)
Thank you for introducing me to the poems of your language. It's difficult to understand but if you hear the words spoken it makes it easier for meto check the meanings.
ReplyDeleteJeezo, he stopped time with poem.
ReplyDeleteAs you have many times with the music you tell us about>
Great work, the both of you.
Oh SA. I knew nothing of this poem. Thank you. (And to davy h).
ReplyDeleteThe quiet beauty of peace - encapsulated in a brief single moment in time. Contrasted with the stinking desperate hell-hole of WW1.
The words of you three, so much better than mine, make this worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words SA.
ReplyDeleteEdward Thomas is one of my very favourite poets.
My anciente poste about 'Adlestrop' is here - I still haven't visited though.
Sorry...here
ReplyDelete