|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHEN FIRST, by PHILIP EDWARD THOMAS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: When first I came here I had hope
Last Line: At parting than at meeting be.
Alternate Author Name(s): Eastaway, Edward; Thomas, Edward
Subject(s): Hope; Optimism
First Line: When first I came here I had hope
Last Line: At parting than at meeting be.
Alternate Author Name(s): Eastaway, Edward; Thomas, Edward
Subject(s): Hope; Optimism
When first I came here I had hope,
Hope for I knew not what. Fast beat
My heart at sight of the tall slope
Of grass and yews, as if my feet
Only by scaling its steps of chalk
Would see something no other hill
Ever disclosed. And now I walk
Down it a last time. Never will
My heart beat so again at sight
Of any hill although as fair
And loftier. For infinite
The change, late unperceived, this year.
The twelfth, suddenly, shows me plain
Hope now, -- not health, nor cheerfulness,
Since they can come and go again,
As often as one brief hour witnesses, --
Just hope has gone for ever. Perhaps
I may love other hills yet more
Than this: the future and the maps
Hide something I was waiting for.
One thing I know, that love with chance
And use and time and necessity
Will grow, and louder the heart's dance
At parting than at meeting be.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
HOPE IS NOT FOR THE WISE by ROBINSON JEFFERS
SONNET by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
SPRING FLOODS by MAURICE BARING
SONNET: 9. HOPE by WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES
EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT by DEREK MAHON