The Sun Used to Shine
Item
Title
The Sun Used to Shine
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Description
The sun used to shine while we two walked
Slowly together, paused and started
Again, and sometimes mused, sometimes talked
As either pleased, and cheerfully parted
Each night. We never disagreed
Which gate to rest on. The to be
And the late past we gave small heed.
We turned from men or poetry
To rumours of the war remote
Only all both stood disinclined
For aught but the yellow flavorous coat
Of an apple wasps had undermined;
Or a sentry of dark betonies,
The stateliest of small flowers on earth,
At the forest verge; or crocuses
Pale purple as if they had their birth
In sunless Hades fields. The war
Came back to mind with the moonrise
Which soldiers in the east afar
Beheld then. Nevertheless, our eyes
Could as well imagine the Crusades
Or Cæsar's battles. Everything
To faintness like those rumours fades---
Like the brook's water glittering
Under the moonlight---like those walks
Now---like us two that took them, and
The fallen apples, all the talks
And silences---like memory's sand
When the tide covers it late or soon,
And other men through other flowers
In those fields under the same moon
Go talking and have easy hours.
Slowly together, paused and started
Again, and sometimes mused, sometimes talked
As either pleased, and cheerfully parted
Each night. We never disagreed
Which gate to rest on. The to be
And the late past we gave small heed.
We turned from men or poetry
To rumours of the war remote
Only all both stood disinclined
For aught but the yellow flavorous coat
Of an apple wasps had undermined;
Or a sentry of dark betonies,
The stateliest of small flowers on earth,
At the forest verge; or crocuses
Pale purple as if they had their birth
In sunless Hades fields. The war
Came back to mind with the moonrise
Which soldiers in the east afar
Beheld then. Nevertheless, our eyes
Could as well imagine the Crusades
Or Cæsar's battles. Everything
To faintness like those rumours fades---
Like the brook's water glittering
Under the moonlight---like those walks
Now---like us two that took them, and
The fallen apples, all the talks
And silences---like memory's sand
When the tide covers it late or soon,
And other men through other flowers
In those fields under the same moon
Go talking and have easy hours.
Identifier
2958.txt
Creator
Thomas, Edward (1878-1917)
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Date
1979
Date Created
1979-01-01
Temporal Coverage
1979-12-31
Type
Poem
Publisher
The First World War Poetry Digital Archive
