Edward Thomas (March 3, 1878 - April 9, 1917) was one of the best-known English poets of World War I. March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... 1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Many regard William Shakespeare as the greatest English poet ever. ... Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World...

Thomas was of Welsh extraction but was born in London as Philip Edward Thomas. He was educated at Battersea Grammar School, St. Paul's School and Lincoln College, Oxford. Unusually he married while still an undergraduate and determined to live his life by the pen. He was already a seasoned writer before the outbreak of war, and had worked as a journalist before becoming a poet, with the encouragement of Robert Frost. He initially published some poetry under the name Edward Eastaway. He also wrote a novel and some works of non-fiction. For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom and England, see British Isles (terminology). ... This article is about the British city. ... College name Lincoln College Named after Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln Established 1427 Sister College Downing College Rector Prof. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Poetry (from Ancient Greek: (poiéo/poió) = I create) is traditionally a written art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Portrait of Frost c. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ...

When war broke out, Thomas joined the Artists' Rifles, despite being a mature married man who could have avoided enlisting. In fact, few of his poems deal directly with his war experiences. His poems are noted for their attention to the English countryside. He was killed in action at Arras on April 9, 1917, soon after he arrived in France. The 21st Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Volunteers) is a special forces regiment of the British Territorial Army. ... Arras is a town and commune in northern France, préfecture (capital) of the Pas-de-Calais département. ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...

A short poem of Thomas's serves as an example of how he blends war and countryside throughout his poetry:

In Memoriam

The flowers left thick at nightfall in the wood

This Eastertide call into mind the men,

Now far from home, who, with their sweethearts, should

Have gathered them and will do never again.

Edward Thomas' Collected Poems was one of Andrew Motion's ten picks for the poetry section of the "Guardian Essential Library" in October [2002].[1] Professor Andrew Motion (born October 26, 1952) is an English poet, novelist and biographer who is the current Poet Laureate. ...

In his 2002 novel Youth, J.M. Coetzee has his main character, intrigued by the survival of pre-modernist forms in British poetry, ask himself: "What happened to the ambitions of poets here in Britain? Have they not digested the news that Edward Thomas and his world are gone for ever?" (London: Secker & Warburg. 2002, p. 58). Y ... J.M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee (pronounced coot-SEE-uh) is a South African author. ...

On the contrary, Irish critic Edna Longley writes that Thomas's "Lob", a 150-line poem, "strangely preempts The Waste Land" through verses like: "This is tall Tom that bore / The logs in, and with Shakespeare in the hall / Once talked". See Sherry, Vincent (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the First World War, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 67. T. S. Eliot (by E. O. Hoppe, 1919) The Waste Land is a highly influential 433-line modernist poem by T. S. Eliot. ...

Poems

• Adlestrop
• Celandine
• The Manor Farm - evoking a longing for the English countryside.
• Melancholy
• A Private
• Tall Nettles

Poetry

• (Under pseudonym Edward Eastaway) Six Poems, Pear Tree Press, 1916.
• Poems, Holt, 1917.
• Last Poems, Selwyn & Blount, 1918.
• Collected Poems, Selwyn & Blount, 1920.
• Two Poems, Ingpen & Grant, 1927.
• The Poems of Edward Thomas, edited by R. George Thomas, Oxford University Press, 1978.
• Edward Thomas: A Mirror of England, edited by Elaine Wilson, Paul & Co., 1985.

Essays

• Horae Solitariae, Dutton, 1902.
• Beautiful Wales, Black, 1905.
• The Heart of England, Dutton, 1906.
• The South Country, Dutton, 1906, Tuttle, 1993
• Rest and Unrest, Dutton, 1910.
• Light and Twilight, Duckworth, 1911.
• The Last Sheaf, Cape, 1928.

External links

• Edward Thomas' Grave
• Text of Thomas' poems
• Works by Edward Thomas at Project Gutenberg