The Heart of England

by Edward Thomas

A collection of essays that portray the essence of the England that author, Thomas, knew. The moods and the seasons. To read these essays are to experience what it would have been like to walk with Thomas in Spring when "the larks sing invisible in the white May sky" or in Autumn when "the moon is clear, and the tingling sea is vast and alone".Philip Edward Thomas (3 March 1878 – 9 April 1917) was an Anglo-Welsh writer of prose and poetry. He is commonly considered a war poet, although few of his poems deal directly with his war experiences. Already an accomplished writer, Thomas turned to poetry only in 1914. He enlisted in the army in 1915, and was killed in action during the Battle of Arras in 1917, soon after he arrived in France.

Genres: Nature

238 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 29, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Philip Edward Thomas was an Anglo-Welsh writer of prose and poetry. He is commonly considered a war poet, although few of his poems deal directly with his war experiences. Already an accomplished writer, Thomas turned to poetry only in 1914. He enlisted in the army in 1915, and was killed in action during the Battle of Arras in 1917, soon after he arrived in France.

His Works:

Poetry collections:

Six Poems, under pseudonym Edward Eastaway, Pear Tree Press, 1916.
Poems, Holt, 1917.
Last Poems, Selwyn & Blount, 1918.
Collected Poems, Selwyn & Blount, 1920.
Two Poems, Ingpen & Grant, 1927.
The Poems of Edward Thomas, R. George Thomas (ed), Oxford University Press, 1978
Poemoj (Esperanto translation), Kris Long (ed & pub), Burleigh Print, Bracknell, Berks, 1979.
Edward Thomas: A Mirror of England, Elaine Wilson (ed), Paul & Co., 1985.
The Poems of Edward Thomas, Peter Sacks (ed), Handsel Books, 2003.
The Annotated Collected Poems, Edna Longley (ed), Bloodaxe Books, 2008.

Fiction:

The Happy-Go-Lucky Morgans (novel), 1913

Essay collections:

Horae Solitariae, Dutton, 1902.
Oxford, A & C Black, 1903.
Beautiful Wales, Black, 1905.
The Heart of England, Dutton, 1906.
The South Country, Dutton, 1906 (reissued by Tuttle, 1993).
Rest and Unrest, Dutton, 1910.
Light and Twilight, Duckworth, 1911.
The Last Sheaf, Cape, 1928.

Reviews

[Rowena Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was like wading through treacle. I gave it 2 goes and persevered to about a third of the way through then gave up. Really the most dense prose I've ever come across. Endless pages describing the countryside outside of London. I flipped forward to the second half and it hadn't changed. There is no story, just description. No wonder he was encouraged to try poetry as he is much better at it than prose.

[Duncan Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone wrote 'like wading through treacle' which is not unfair on the whole. Fast forward to Chapter XXV Earth Children, which is quite extraordinary. There must be other parts equally fascinating, if one had the patience to keep on wading.

[Duncan Holmes]

Someone wrote 'like wading through treacle' which is not unfair on the whole. Fast forward to Chapter XXV Earth Children, which is quite extraordinary. There must be other parts equally fascinating, if one had the patience to keep on wading.