Lights Out

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



I have come to the borders of sleep,
The unfathomable deep
Forest where all must lose
Their way, however straight,
Or winding, soon or late;
They cannot choose.

Many a road and track
That, since the dawn's first crack,
Up to the forest brink,
Deceived the travellers,
Suddenly now blurs,
And in they sink.

Here love ends,
Despair, ambition ends,
All pleasure and all trouble,
Although most sweet or bitter,
Here ends in sleep that is sweeter
Than tasks most noble.

There is not any book
Or face of dearest look
That I would not turn from now
To go into the unknown
I must enter and leave alone
I know not how.

The tall forest towers;
Its cloudy foliage lowers
Ahead, shelf above shelf;
Its silence I hear and obey
That I may lose my way
And myself.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
97

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCCB DDEFFE GGHIIH JJKLLK FFMNNM
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 752
Words 141
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Edward Thomas

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

All Edward Thomas poems | Edward Thomas Books

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    Published in 1954, "Fighting Terms" was the first collection of poems by which poet?
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