The Owl
Downhill I came, hungry, and yet not starved;
Cold, yet had heat within me that was proof
Against the North wind; tired, yet so that rest
Had seemed the sweetest thing under a roof.
Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest,
Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I.
All of the night was quite barred out except
An owl's cry, a most melancholy cry
Shaken out long and clear upon the hill,
No merry note, nor cause of merriment,
But one telling me plain what I escaped
And others could not, that night, as in I went.
And salted was my food, and my repose,
Salted and sobered, too, by the bird's voice
Speaking for all who lay under the stars,
Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.
Commentary
Here’s a holiday poem of sorts. There are a few poems by Edward Thomas on the website, but not this one. I once read “The Owl” in an anthology and then lost track of it for years, but every once in a while one of its well-turned lines would come back to haunt me: “An owl’s cry, a most melancholy cry”.
Reading the poem again, I was especially taken with the rich, ambiguous image of the owl’s cry “salting” the narrator’s food and repose. Throughout, the economy of language is exceptional – consider the phrase “soldiers and poor”, which says all that needs to be said and no more.
Best regards,
David McKay
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Frank O'Shea · 20 December 2004
Your owl poem today sent me looking for this beauty which I have on a recording somewhere. Needs to be read/recited to appreciate it properly. I don’t know much about James T Fields (1817-81) except that he published many American and British writers and that the publishing house he joined became Ticknor and Fields, but is now Houghton and Mifflin.
Frank O’Shea
Matt Chanoff · 21 December 2004
Thanks, I really enjoyed this one. My other hobby is long distance bicycle riding. This poem perfectly describes that feeling of coming in from an epic ride. It’s a feeling of accomplishment, giving way to a certain humility.
Matt Chanoff
Firdaus Janoos · 4 January 2005
What is the context of this poem? Specifically what does he mean by the line “Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice” - was this poem written in reference to a particular war?
-firdaus
Ashley Carpenter · 7 April 2005
its in reference to ww1 and the author is trying to describe how different it is to go from warfare back into civilization.