“ADELSTROP”

BY EDWARD
THOMAS
by 4aG
Edward Thomas
Edward Thomas was a British poet and novelist. He
wrote during the war and is consequently considered to
be a war poet (though this poem is not about war but
conversely a moment of great peace and tranquillity.)
and ironically this is the case with most of his poetry.
He did however serve in the first world war and actually
lost his life in the Battle of Arras during World War One.
He is a well-remembered poet whose legacy lives on in
Great Britain through various plaques and
commemorations. Generally, his poem is inspired by
romantic poetry and relies heavily on images of the
countryside and the occasional use of colloquial
language. He released no fewer than ten poetry
collections. However, the number of novels he created
was considerably fewer, managing just one. Perhaps
this number would have been greater had his life not
been cut short due to the war.
Thomas is buried in Agny military cemetery on the outskirts of Arras. He was survived by his wife
Helen and three children, Bronwen, Merfyn and Myfanwy. Thomas did not live to see Poems (1917),
published under his pseudonym, Edward Eastaway. In just under two years he had written over 140
poems.
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.
B Y VYAC HE SL AV C HISTYAKOV
FR OM HTTP S:/ /S TIHI. RU/ 2019/08/26/ 2294

Припоминаю Эдлстроп, -
Название его, - и зной:
В конце июня как-то раз
К нему подъехал поезд мой.

Шипел и кашлял паровоз,

Пошла платформа, а на ней
Нет ни души, и я глядел
На надпись «Эдлстроп», кипрей,

Сухие копны сена, луг,

Шиповник, заросль ивняка,
И, что нельзя ни с чем сравнить, -
В высоком небе облака.

А рядом чёрный дрозд запел

И вслед за ним вдруг зазвенели
И Оксфордшир и Глостершир -
Все птицы Англии запели.
НАШ ПЕ РЕ В ОД ОТ АЛИНЫ
ИВАНОВ ОЙ
О, Эйдлстроп, ты не забылся
Лишь потому, что как-то днём
Наш поезд там остановился.
Горел июнь тогда огнём.

Пар зашипел. Был кашель хриплый.

Никто не вышел, не зашёл.
Я смог увидеть твоё имя,
И поезд дальше тот пошёл.

Смешалось все - и листья ивы,

И запах скошенной травы.
Ровней, спокойней, выше неба
Во век не отыскали б вы.

Дрозда я пение услышал,

С собой позвал он голоса,
И в Оксфордшире, Глостершире
Запели трелью небеса.
Foregrounding

Foregrounding is the most important part of our whole work.

Here, in this literary work, we can see that the author uses clearly
2 major types of foregrounding. There are coupling, which we can
find in poetry, aphorisms and proverbs and the principle of strong
position in the title, the first and the last lines of this poem.
Scheme of communication
SOUR C E OF M ESSAGE
INFOR MATION
The scenery around now-closed station in
The beauty of nature and the moment in
the Gloucestershire village of Adlestrop
time around little station by the name of
perceived by Edward Thomas on 24’th
Adlestrop.
June 1914.

C ODE AND SIGN SIGNAL

Thomas’s variant of early 20’th century
Standard British English language.
A vivid image of the reality once
experienced by Edward Thomas, formed
Latin letters of English Lalphabet
with the help of multiple stylistic devices.
organizing themselves into more complex
meaningful codograms.
Scheme of communication
E NCODING
The process of Edward Thomas writing
this work using a specifi c code with the
intent of sharing information.
C OMMUNIC AT ION
C HANNE L
Hard-copy collection Poems, published
by Henry Holt and Company.
DE C ODING
Us, the readers, perceiving the work and
decoding it with the use of our thesaurus,
knowledge of the code and stylistic
devices.
SOUR C E OF NOISE
The distance in time and cultural
background between the reader and the
author.
REPETITIONS
 Phonemic
The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
repetitions
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
ALLITERATION: S; W; L; B; TH Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name
 Phonemic
repetitions
Yes, I remember Adlestrop --
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

ASSONANCE: E; A; O No one left and no one came

On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name
 Phonemic
repetitions
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,

PERFECT SINGLE TAIL RHYME
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
 Morphemic
repetitions

willows, willow-herb; blackbird, bird

ROOT-REPETITION
postfix-repetition: Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

POSTFIX-REPETITION
 Lexical
repetitions

JUXTAPOSED LEXICAL REPETITION No one left and no one came; Farther and farther
 Lexical
repetitions
Yes, I remember Adlestrop --
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.
DISTANT REPETITION
THROUGHOUT THE TEXT 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
 Syntatic
repetitions

CATALOGUE, POLYSYNDETON And willows, willow-herb, and grass, And

SERIES meadowsweet, and haycocks dry.
 Syntatic
repetitions

COMPLETE PARALLEL PATTERN No one left and no one came

 Semantic
repetitions

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,

And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry. ( Notion: Greenery)
SEMIC REPETITION
Cohesion and coherence
YES. I REMEMBER ADLESTROP—
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late JUNE.
Cohesion and coherence
R EFER E NCE
I – it is an item of referential
cohesion, realized through
Personal Pronouns
(determinative, gender, neuter).
It – it is an item of referential
cohesion, realized through
Personal Pronouns
(determinative, gender, neuter).
There – it is an item of
referential cohesion, realized
through demonstratives
(specific, remote).
The – an item of referential
cohesion, realized through
demonstratives (non-specific).
Cohesion and coherence
SUB ST ITUT ION

The substitution of the word

«Adelstrope», to avoid the
repetition.
I remember Adlestrop—
The name, because one
afternoon
Cohesion and coherence
C ONJUNC TION

There – it is an item of
conjunctive coherence, domain
– respective, type – positive,
general meaning – «here».
 Cohesion and coherence
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
Cohesion and coherence
R EFER E NCE

«the» – an item of referential «his» - an item of referential

cohesion, realized through cohesion, realized through
demonstratives: non-specific personal pronoun: possessive
Cohesion and coherence
EL L IPSIS

(…) only the name - ellipsis,

gapping, the verb is missed to
avoid repetition
Cohesion and coherence
LE XICAL C OHESION:

Collocation: -
Hiss - to make a noise like a
Repetition:
long s sound:
No one left and no one came
- Clear one’s throat - to make a
noise in the throat for attention
or to be able to speak more
clearly
Cohesion and coherence
C ONJUNC TION

«and» - an item of conjunction.

Domain: extension, addition;
type: positive, meaning “and”.
Cohesion and coherence
C ONJUNC TION

«and» - an item of conjunction.

Domain: extension, addition;
type: positive, meaning “and”.
 Cohesion and coherence
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.
Cohesion and coherence
R EFER E NCE
− «the» – an item of referential
cohesion, realized through
demonstratives: non-specific
It – it is an item of referential
cohesion, realized through
Personal Pronouns
(determinative, gender, neuter).
There – it is an item of
referential cohesion, realized
through demonstratives
(specific, remote).
The – an item of referential
cohesion, realized through
demonstratives (non-specific).
Cohesion and coherence
LE XICAL C OHESION

Repetition
series, catalogue - And willows,
willow-herb, and grass, And
meadowsweet, and haycocks
dry
Cohesion and coherence
C ONJUNC TION

“and”— an item of conjunction. “than”-an item of

Domain: extension, addition; conjunction.Domain:compariso
type: positive, meaning “and”. n, type: positive Meaning “than”
 Cohesion and coherence
AND FOR THAT MINUTE A BLACKBIRD SANG
CLOSE BY, AND ROUND HIM, mistier, Farther and
farther, all thebirds Of Oxfordshireand
GloucesterSHIRE.
Cohesion and coherence
R EFER E NCE

«the» – an item of referential «him» - an item of referential

cohesion, realized through cohesion, realized through
demonstratives: non-specific; personal pronoun: object.
Cohesion and coherence
LE XICAL C OHESION

Repetition
farther and farther (lexical
repetition);
Cohesion and coherence
EL L IPSIS

…a blackbird sang (…) and round

him, all the birds… - ellipsis,
gapping, the verb is missed to
avoid repetition.
Cohesion and coherence
C ONJUNC TION

«and» - an item of conjunction.

Domain: extension, addition;
type: positive, meaning “and”
 Tropes
ONOMATOPOEIA PERSONIFICATION
The steam hissed No whit less still and lonely
fair Than the high cloudlets in
the sky.
Tenor – still and lonely fair
Vehicle – human being
express-train drew up, the
steam hissed
Tenor - express-train, steam
Vehicle – drew up, hissed
PERSONIFICATION HYPERBOLE
Of heat the express-train drew And for that minute a
up there blackbird sang Close by,
Unwontedly and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all
the birds Of Oxfordshire
and Gloucestershire.
 TH E MESSA GE

The idea of this poem lies in the significance,

uniqueness and charm of the moment of human
life. All of Edward Thomas ' attention is focused
on the beauty of the world around him, realized
only in the moment of a sudden stop. All the
stylistic devices, the concatenation in the poem,
give us the opportunity to see that a minute here
is equal to an eternity.
The train, symbol of modernity and
movement, stops and allows Thomas to
stop, contemplate, observe, and admire
the surroundings. The increasingly busy
and fast-moving world suddenly slows
right down to allow a brief moment –
‘that minute’ – to enjoy nature and
stillness, peace and beauty. This is,
suddenly, a world of stillness and
slowness again, not the bustling modern
world: ‘No one left and no one came /
On the bare platform.’
For Edward Thomas, this deserted station is a symbol of peace and tranquility. Addlestrop, a small
railway station where no one stops, became in this poem the place of his spiritual harmony for a
moment.
Conclusion
All the sweetness of the moment is in the calmness, the peace of the
world.
Anaphora and alliteration emphasize the repetitive sounds: soft,
insinuating, demonstrating Thomas ' fascination with nature near this
abandoned station.
Just as the blackbirds gave the sky a"song"with their voices, so Edward
Thomas allows the reader to realize the awesomeness of each moment
and notice the fascinating beauty of our world.
Links
• The translation: https://stihi.ru/2019/08/26/2294
• The biography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Thomas_(poet)
 The project was made by
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Thank you for your attention!