EDWARD THOMAS
Adlestrop
Yes. I remember Adlestrop-
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.
The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop-only the name
And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
1. The poem has four stanzas, called quatrains (made up of four lines). Work out the rhyme scheme and then the line lengths by syllable count.
2. What differences do you see between stanzas 1-2 and stanzas 3-4?
3. We don't usually stop to think much about a word like "and." But count the uses of "and" in stanzas 1-2 and in stanzas 3-4. How would you explain that difference in frequencyof "and" between the two halves of the poem?
4. What is listed in stanzas 3-4? How does listing change our sense of the lines?
5. Contrast the platform scene with the scene of the surrounding natural world.
6. Why change from what can be seen (stanza 3) to what can be heard (stanza 4)? Note that hearing is involved in stanza 2: "hissed"; "cleared his throat."
7. The poem concerns names. How do we weigh the name "Adelstrop" against the names "Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire"? ["Gloucestershire" is pronounced as Glos-ter-sher.]
8. What role is played by remembering?
9. Why is the poem "Adelstrop" and not "All the Birds of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire"?
4 pages, double space, standard margins. 250 words per page. 1000 words total. Due 20th.
Analyze it. Paper should be different.
What do you say about a poem? What do you have to do to set up a paper.
What's involved in the paper?
To make it a good paper:
Organization: Start by introducing the reader to my way of thinking this poem.
What is the poem about? About a train? About birds?
What needs explanation in the poem?
The poem almost begins in the mist of conversation.
Sometimes comma, period, no punctuations. Analyze it.
Yes, he remembers the name of the Adelstruck. He remembers an afternoon that is very hot, platform, station. He wouldn't see anything unless the sun is there. The train he takes.
For some reason, the express train which doesn't stop in that little stop stopped. ----unusual
It was late June, summer, time when afternoon gets hot.
The next stanza deals with the experience of the stop. Hissed: some words can mean what they sound like. Someone cleared their throat, the sound of steam engine, sound quite musical. No one left, no one came, nothing seem to happened. Then we come to an end of a stanza, no punctuation, no strong ending.
The use of and, only the names.
Haycocks don't move. The train isn't there for long, and for that minute, one thing he remembers is the name of Adlestruck and Willow, grass.
One of the things we see about short poem is about shortness, brevity.
English blackbirds do not sound like American blackbirds, they are more like sound birds. They sang.
The brevity, stillness, quirkily coming to an end is maybe why this poem is widely appreciated after the war.
The second part of the poem is about what would be missed if the train does not stop at the small station.
It is a very subtle implication at the end of the poem for some
Oxford: the city
Oxford shire: the county
We can use contrast for approaching the poem.