Edward Thomas March

1. Title: March, a month when Spring begins and hope of new life blossoms. Poem: first person narrative/viewpoint. It is likely that the vacillation between hope and despondency in the poem mirrors Thomas’s changing emotions in the WW1 trenches Adverb ‘Now’ suggests a sense of certainty… …along with the monosyllabic present tense ‘I know’ Modal auxiliary ‘will’ confirms this certainty ‘Again’ gives sense of repeated cycle and hope for the future ‘Perhaps’ gives both a sense of hope and of uncertainty – the narrative voice vacillates between the two The abstract noun ‘patience’ suggests that the narrator has come to accept this uncertainty The contrast here mirrors the speaker’s contrasting feelings, as explored above – it also suggests a continuous cycle Here, the poem shifts to the past tense, remembering. This verb suggests the pain caused by nature but also hints at the idea of pleasure versus pain This oxymoron reiterates this idea; the concept of the fragility of the primroses and the ferocity of the weather – both born from nature – presents a stark contrast which reflects the contrast between the speaker’s sorrow and hope This image is redolent of the ‘forgetful snow’ in the 1922 TS Eliot poem The Waste Land (Winter kept us warm, covering / Earth in a forgetful snow); Thomas’s and Eliot’s snow may both be covering up potential life in order to preserve it for a time when it will flourish (post WW1). Edward Thomas March NowI know that Spring will come again,Perhaps to-morrow: however late I've patienceAfter this night following on such a day. While still my temples ached from the cold burningOf hail and wind, and still the primrosesTorn by the hail were covered up in it,The sun filled earth and heaven with a great lightAnd a tenderness, almost warmth, where the hail dripped,As if the mighty sun wept tears of joy.But 'twas too late for warmth. The sunset piledMountains on mountains of snow and ice in the west:Somewhere among their folds the wind was lost,And yet 'twas cold, and though I knew that SpringWould come again, I knew it had not come,That it was lost too in those mountains chill. This simile which personifies the sun contains the idea that objects are changing; the tears of joy form another oxymoronic phrase Again, the hope is dashed – the idea of the sun is introduced but it is ‘too late’ for warmth The idea of softening harsh memories, of forgetting, is also contained within the image of the wind being lost within the snow and ice; however, the paradox remains that it is still cold, as if the source of cold stems from elsewhere – maybe the ache of painful memories, such as Edward Thomas’s from WW1. Here, the closing image of this section shows that the speaker’s hope does not die; the speaker ‘knew’ in the past that Spring (hope?) would return, and ‘know[s]’ now but the pain of its absence still remains. The idea of it being ‘lost’ suggests that it can be found but also that the process may be difficult and lengthy – much like the process of recovering from the trauma of war

2. Rhetorical question gives sense of the narrator’s uncertainty The simile is paradoxical; thrushes are renowned for their tuneful singing, yet another aspect of nature – the weather – has caused them to fall silent, against their nature. The types of weather increase in solidity and therefore power, indicating that there will be a storm before the calm, pain before the hope returns This use of a simple sentence encapsulates the idea of carpe diem (seize the day); the thrushes are given the chance to be themselves so they make the most of the opportunity The places that the thrushes sing move progressively downwards; this downwards movement may ironically contrast with the hope signified by the thrushes singing, reminding the reader that hope is temporary here – at least for now The idea of fighting whilst singing brings together two images from WW1 (as if the birds are symbols of the soldiers); the senseless fighting (if they remembered to fight – it is clearly unnatural and must be forced from them) and the Christmas carol singing which briefly united German and British soldiers at the Front This metaphor suggests both that the song (perhaps symbolising hope) is precious, but also that the thrushes resent having to store it; they should be able to sing at will, rather than to time constraints The adverb here suggests the sinister turn of events which follows… What did the thrushes know?Rain, snow, sleet, hail,Had kept them quiet as the primroses.They had but an hour to sing. On boughs they sang,On gates, on ground; they sang while they changed perchesAnd while they fought, if they remembered to fight:So earnest were they to pack into that hourTheir unwilling hoard of song before the moonGrew brighter than the clouds. Then 'twas no timeFor singing merely. So they could keep off silenceAnd night, they cared not what they sang or screamed;Whether 'twas hoarse or sweet or fierce or soft;And to me all was sweet: they could do no wrong.Something they knew--I also, while they sangAnd after. Not till night had half its starsAnd never a cloud, was I aware of silenceStained with all that hour's songs, a silenceSaying that Spring returns, perhaps to-morrow. The contrasting sensory imagery here is disturbing; to sing is to be harmonious; to scream is to express intense pain, fear, anger or frustration. The two sounds are equally valid here and the idea that there is no longer any differentiation between the two (suggested by the co-ordinating conjunction ‘or’) is compelling and troubling Nonetheless, the narrator finds any expression of emotion ‘sweet’’; maybe this reminds the reader that fighting in WW1 could numb any emotion and so the expression of one – any one – could be seen as precious There is a sense here of harmony, of a union between man and beast This sibilant final section brings a calmness to the end of the poem; synaesthesia is used to link the sense of sight (stained) with sound (songs); the ‘silence’ is personified to intensify the return of hope and perhaps to emphasise the consistently paradoxical nature of the speaker’s feelings (how can a silence say anything?). The poems comes full circle, repeating in its final phrase the phrase from the first verse. This could suggest that the speaker will continue to live in hope, despite adversity – but it also reminds us that there may be many more cycles and many more tomorrows