ADLESTROP

Edward Thomas 1878-1917

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. 

The new blog JOHN'S SCRAPBLOG will be updated tomorrow

http://johnsscrapblog.blogspot.com

-o=0=o-