Sunday 10 May 2015
nettles, tall nettles by edward thomas, 113 cowley road, plaque, unveiling
Nettles are looking particularly striking just now.
Puts me in mind of Edward Thomas's poem, Tall Nettles. I remember thinking, when I read it for the first time, how wonderful it was to find a poet who could write so beautifully about such an unregarded plant. I felt that Thomas was my kind of poet.
TALL NETTLES by EDWARD THOMAS
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.
“Tall Nettles,” by Thomas, Edward (1878-1917). Copyright Edward Thomas, 1979, reproduced under licence from Faber and Faber Ltd. via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed May 10, 2015, http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/2951.
Looking forward to the unveiling of the plaque on 113 Cowley Road, the house Edward Thomas moved to as a non-collegiate student at Oxford University in 1897. The unveiling will take place at 2 pm next Saturday, 16th May. See: http://streetbooks.co.uk/edwardthomaseventsspringandsummer2015.html.
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