But These Things Also

Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)



But these things also are Spring's -
On banks by the roadside the grass
Long-dead that is greyer now
Than all the Winter it was;

The shell of a little snail bleached
In the grass; chip of flint, and mite
Of chalk; and the small birds' dung
In splashes of purest white:

All the white things a man mistakes
For earliest violets
Who seeks through Winter's ruins
Something to pay Winter's debts,

While the North blows, and starling flocks
By chattering on and on
Keep their spirits up in the mist,
And Spring's here, Winter's not gone.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
190

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXX XAXA XXXX XXXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 524
Words 99
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Edward Thomas

Philip Edward Thomas was an Anglo-Welsh poet and essayist. more…

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