“Adlestrop” Introduction

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“Adlestrop” Summary

“Adlestrop” Themes

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  The Unexpected Beauty of the Everyday

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  The Tranquil Loveliness of the English Countryside

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Adlestrop”

• Lines 1-4

  Yes. I remember Adlestrop—
  The name, because one afternoon
  Of heat the express-train drew up there
  Unwontedly. It was late June.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  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

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  And for that minute a blackbird sang
  Close by, and round him, mistier,
  Farther and farther, all the birds
  Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

  

  

  

  

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“Adlestrop” Symbols

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  The Birds

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“Adlestrop” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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“Adlestrop” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Adlestrop
• Unwontedly
• Willow-herb
• Meadowsweet
• Haycocks
• No whit
• Cloudlets
• Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Adlestrop”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Adlestrop” Speaker

“Adlestrop” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Adlestrop”

More “Adlestrop” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem in Manuscript — See images of a handwritten draft of "Adlestrop."

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a performance of the poem.

  • Thomas's Legacy — Read about an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of "Adlestrop"—held in Adlestrop itself, of course.

  • Thomas's Literary Afterlife — Read a celebration of Thomas marking the 100th anniversary of his death.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Thomas's life and work via the Poetry Foundation.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Edward Thomas

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