Elegy in April and September (jabbered among the trees) by Wilfred Owen MC
The Great Poets
Elegy in April and September
(jabbered among the trees)
12 July 2024
Hush, thrush! Hush, missen-thrush, I listen…
I heard the flush of footsteps through the loose leaves,
And a low whistle by the water's brim.
Still! Daffodil! Nay, hail me not so gaily,-
Your gay gold lily daunts me and deceives,
Who follow gleams more golden and more slim.
Look, brook! O run and look, O run!
The vain reeds shook? - Yet search till gray sea heaves,
And I will stray among these fields for him.
Gaze, daisy! Stare through haze and glare,
And mark the hazardous stars all dawns and eves,
For my eye withers, and his star wanes dim.
2
Close, rose, and droop, heliotrope,
And shudder, hope! The shattering winter blows.
Drop, heliotrope, and close, rose…
Mourn, corn, and sigh, rye.
Men garner you, but youth's head lies forlorn.
Sigh, rye, and mourn, corn…
Brood, wood, and muse, yews,
The ways gods use we have not understood.
Muse, yews, and brood, wood…
And I will stray among these fields for him.
For me, this is extraordinarily beautiful. It caught me completely unawares. For here, I find Wilfred's absolute - to set free (Latin) - awareness of Nature, and his understanding of Nature in relation to human nature and humankind and at the age of 23-25 (1893-1918).
His ability to bring to life through the pen, reaching deep within his mind, body and soul.
12 July 2024
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Sources
(i) The Complete Wilfred Owen published by Bybliotech in December 2013
Art Photography of Nature by R.S. von Deutschland
Digital Artwork by KTW
I heard the flush of footsteps through
the loose leaves,
The vain reeds shook? - Yet search till
gray sea heaves,
And I will stray among these fields for
him.
And shudder, hope! The shattering
winter blows.
Lieutenant Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
