Gone gone again by Edward Thomas

Hello, i need some help for my essay test. Yes! I still have school (summer school) and sorry for disturbing your vacation. :D. As for the topic, i need to described the Pastoral form to indirectly criticize both modern society and the war itself. I need some help about the pastoral thing and this poem analysis as i got confused. Here is the poem below and what i understood so far... I guess.

Gone, gone again,
May, June, July,
And August gone,
Again gone by,

The first stanza mentioned that the time went very fast and he still waiting again. I was thinking that maybe he was in the trench since there is no battle in the battlefield.

Not memorable
Save that I saw them go,
As past the empty quays
The rivers flow.

The second stanza is a bit confusing me. I know he's talking about the empty houses.

And now again,
In the harvest rain,
The Blenheim oranges
Fall grubby from the trees

Since it is during the war. I expect Harvest rain = incoming shells to the city of Blenheim that cause destruction.

As when I was young
And when the lost one was here
And when the war began
To turn young men to dung.

Look at the old house,
Outmoded, dignified,
Dark and untenanted,
With grass growing instead

Of the footsteps of life,
The friendliness, the strife;
In its beds have lain
Youth. love, age, and pain:

I am something like that;
Only I am not dead,
Still breathing and interested
In the house that is not dark:-

I am something like that:
Not one pane to reflect the sun,
For the schoolboys to throw at -
They have broken every one.

As i keep reading, I am confuse. Now i have to rethink and reread since the poem doesn't talk about the battlefield but somehow about the house or buildings. Can you help me? Thank you.

Good morning.

Pastoral refers to rural or country life and its entrapments. A farmer is said to live in a pastoral landscape, or what we today call a rural landscape or "the country". In poetry, the pastoral form relies upon conveying rural life in a peaceful, idealized way; for example the nicer aspects of the lives of shepherds or dairy farmers.

The direct contrast of the pastoral form in this poem, is of course, the chaos of war. How can one live in perfect harmony with nature when the battle zone is all around?

I think the first stanza simply refers to time going by; I don't think you can really infer anything about the war as of yet, he is just commenting on how much time has gone by.

Can he be talking about the months he mentioned in the first stanza? Nothing much happened during that time, save for the fact that the time passed.

Who do you think the lost one was?
In the next stanza he begins to talk of the old abandoned house; where is it located? In the city or the country? What do the empty shells of the houses and the vulnerability of windows without panes say about those who have experienced war?

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com

Hi Gloria,
Thank you for your quick reply.

As for Who do you think the lost one was? . Is he talking about his old friend?
I think IMO that the fourth stanza, is talking about when he was young he lost one of his best buddy but as the time when the war begin, his best bud (young men) turning into corpse.

I check the definition of dung means excrement. So i'm not sure if i describe properly for corpse.

To answer the next one, In the next stanza he begins to talk of the old abandoned house; where is it located? I think is located in Blenheim and it's in the country.

So the fifth stanza, he just describing about the abandoned house that look like a grave with old style and nobody lived in this building except the grass is still growing.

But i don't understand your last question --> What do the empty shells of the houses and the vulnerability of windows without panes say about those who have experienced war?.

Can you also help me for the 7, 8 ,9 stanza? Thank you

Good afternoon.

The great thing about interpreting poetry is that there is not "right" or "wrong" answer; as long as you support your opinions, you are entitled to them. He could be talking about an old friend, who else is possible? What about the citizens of Blenheim? Your interpretation of dung is correct, therefore the bodies of the dead are decomposed. I am unfamiliar with the town of Blenheim; is it a rural community? Is it a small town? Is it a real place?

As far as the last question, you have already stated that the houses are empty; nothing grows there except wild grass. Therefore, these homes are shells of what they once were; places where life was contained and encouraged, but not anymore. Does this make their constructs more fragile? There is no one there to care for them anymore, and they are left to depend upon their own organic strengths alone to survive as long as they can. What are the ramifications of windows without panes of glass? These homes are shells of their former selves, you have already conceded that; would panes of glass make a difference in their defenses? Would they offer any kind of protection against intruders or the elements? How are the people the war left behind like these empty, helpless, standing shells; are their lives vacant, where no happiness can grow? Try to connect the two.

What are your thoughts on 7,8, and 9? Your immediate, without-too-much-thought, reflexive impressions? Remember, as long as you support your reasoning and tell me why, there is no right or wrong answer.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com