Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE GREEN ROADS, by PHILIP EDWARD THOMAS



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE GREEN ROADS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The green roads that end in the forest
Last Line: And hear all day long the thrush repeating his song.
Alternate Author Name(s): Eastaway, Edward; Thomas, Edward
Subject(s): Nature; Roads; Paths; Trails


The green roads that end in the forest
Are strewn with white goose feathers this June,

Like marks left behind by someone gone to the forest
To show his track. But he has never come back.

Down each green road a cottage looks at the forest.
Round one the nettle towers; two are bathed in flowers.

An old man along the green road to the forest
Strays from one, from another a child alone.

In the thicket bordering the forest,
All day long a thrush twiddles his song.

It is old, but the trees are young in the forest,
All but one like a castle keep, in the middle deep.

That oak saw the ages pass in the forest:
They were a host, but their memories are lost,

For the tree is dead: all things forget the forest
Excepting perhaps me, when now I see

The old man, the child, the goose feathers at the edge of the forest,
And hear all day long the thrush repeating his song.






Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net