Oberon and Puck

Chapter 46: ON READING THE POEMS OF EDITH THOMAS.

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About This Book

A lyrical volume of poems alternating serious and playful tones, presented in two complementary groupings that range from meditative pieces steeped in faery and classical allusion to lighter, sprightly verse about nature, music, and childhood. Rich natural imagery—woods, flowers, birds, and seasonal change—permeates many lyrics, while occasional elegies and critical tributes honor other artists. Short ballads and children’s songs add narrative and comic sketches, and several occasional pieces contemplate rites of passage and parting. The poems employ varied stanza forms to balance romantic imagination, attentive observation, and gentle humor.

ON READING THE POEMS OF EDITH THOMAS.

Then will I, tasting, say—

This is arbutus’ gift,

Reached from the leafy drift

On a glistening April day.

Wild Honey.

Arbutus’ gift, in very truth, I deem

These gathered, golden songs that keep the gleam

Of early sunlight through the awakened wood;

The vernal spirits of the sisterhood

There cloistered, rosy-cool and vestal-shy,

Are in these lucent cells enforced to lie;

Here bides the baffling fragrance, here the charm.

Henceforth I fear not frosty Hiems’ harm,

Though all his bluff besiegers he should bring;

Behold, my bookshelf lodges Ver, the Spring!