The Owl by Edward Thomas

By: Edward Thomas

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.

Paraphrase

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.

The man had been outdoors for a while, and had reached a point where he had had enough. He was hungry, cold and tired and could not stay outdoors for a moment more.

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

Even though he has everything he wanted in the first place, he hasn't recovered from the cold. And this is all that he thinks about until he hears the depressing cry from ouside in the cold.

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.

The owl's depressing cry echoed across the hills, and it emphasized to the man how lucky he was to escape the dreadful cold. Nothing other than the owl's cry could have depicted the conditions outdoors.

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.

The night was seasoned with the owl's melancholy cry, as he rested throughout the bitter night. The man's mood was dampened, and the owl's cry reminded him how lucky he was to be in his cozy inn.

Literary Elements

Imagery

Structure

4 Stanzas

16 lines

Theme

References

owl

The owl is a reoccuring theme reference throughout the poem, the owl's cry was the only reason the man realized the theme.

Hungry

The man focuses on his hunger at the beginning of the poem, this is one of the things that distracted him from the beauty of the world.

Tired

another distraction from the world

Cold

the feeling that both the owl and the man go through, and yet another distraction from the beauty of the world

Theme/Thesis

Appreciate the life you have, because the people and animals around you may not have the same privileges you do.

THE END :D

"the night quite barred out"

Visual imagery;

the night was very distant

from inside the man's room

"owl's cry, a most melancholy cry"

"Salted and sobered, too, by the bird's voice"

Auditory imagery;

the owl's cry was

very gloomy.

Gustatory imagery;

the night was seasoned by

the bird's gloomy cry

The Owl

1878 - 1917