Yes. I remember Adlestrop— The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June. The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came On the bare platform. What I saw Was Adlestrop—only the name And willows, willow-herb, and grass, And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry, No whit less still and lonely fair Than the high cloudlets in the sky. And for that minute a blackbird sang Close by, and round him, mistier, Farther and farther, all the birds Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
The poem on my heart today: #Adlestrop, by Edward Thomas. A moment of stillness at a deserted railway station in the summer of 1914: written in early 1915, and published in spring 1917, just days after Second Lieutenant Edward Thomas, Royal Garrison Artillery, was killed at the Battle of Arras.
Happy Adlestrop Day!
🚂☀️🌳🎶🐦⬛🥲
"And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire."
#adlestrop #edwardthomas
Sign commemorating the old Ledbury station - junction for #Adlestrop
Close up of the sign, put up by the wonderful Ledbury Poetry Festival
An unexpected encounter with one of my 25 poems in #Ledbury this morning - #Adlestrop, by Edward Thomas. I had to pause several times to gather myself while reading this poem / chapter for the #audiobook last week. So intensely moving.
www.penguin.co.uk/books/461263...
Stylised photo of me sitting on the bench in front of the iconic Adlestrop station platform sign, adapted to read 'ACADEMIC'. The text below is in the style of a crossword clue, reading 'Catherine Alexandra Mary Clarke initially incorporates odd idea resulting in a scholarly career (8)'
Yes, I remember #Adlestrop.
I write about it in a chapter of #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems ('The History of A Moment: 'Adlestrop' by Edward Thomas (1917)'). And, after a mini pilgrimage there a few years ago, my lovely friend (who writes puzzles) made me this, featuring the iconic station sign 👇
#GilroyMere #OliverCherer
#Adlestrop
#ClayPipeMusic @claypipemusic.bsky.social 2020
Música que me hizo viajar, tiempos felices, maravillosos sonidos que no me han abandonado.
claypipemusic.bandcamp.com/album/adlest...
#indie #electronica #folk #alternativo
#Bandcamp @bandcamp.com