Good-Night
GOOD-NIGHT by EDWARD THOMAS
The skylarks are far behind that sang over the down;
I can hear no more those suburb nightingales;
Thrushes and blackbirds sing in the gardens of the town
In vain: the noise of man, beast, and machine prevails.
But the call of children in the unfamiliar streets
That echo with a familiar twilight echoing,
Sweet as the voice of nightingale or lark, completes
A magic of strange welcome, so that I seem a king
Among man, beast, machine, bird, child, and the ghost
That in the echo lives and with the echo dies.
The friendless town is friendly; homeless, I am not lost;
Though I know none of these doors, and meet but strangers' eyes.
Never again, perhaps, after tomorrow, shall
I see these homely streets, these church windows alight,
Not a man or woman or child among them all:
But it is All Friends' Night, a traveller's good night.
Title |
Good-Night
|
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Author |
Thomas, Edward (1878-1917)
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Item date |
1979
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Content | |
Copyright |
Copyright Edward Thomas, 1979, reproduced under licence from Faber and Faber Ltd.
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Digital repository | |
Repository name |
ProQuest
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Repository address URL | |
First line |
The skylarks are far behind that sang over the down;
|
Publication source |
Edward Thomas Collected Poems
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Publication editor |
Thomas, George
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Publishers |
Faber and Faber
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Publication place |
London
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Collection
Citation
“Good-Night,” by Thomas, Edward (1878-1917). Copyright Edward Thomas, 1979, reproduced under licence from Faber and Faber Ltd. via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed May 3, 2024, http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/2852.
Permitted Use
This item is available for non-commercial educational use under the terms of the Jisc Model Licence. Further details available at: http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/permitteduse