The “fallows’ may also to be seen to represent the graves of the soldiers which are being turned into the earth at the trenches, just as the seeds are being turned into the earth in the farm back home. The ploughing is being done so that seed are able to prosper and grow into a new generation, just as the graves are being dug in the trenches for those who have sacrificed their life in order to preserve the future for the generations which are to follow.
The text in both stanzas is simple and fluent, and even though there are pauses caused by enjambment it still goes with the flow of the poem. The pauses themselves represent naturality, to make it sound almost like a prose. The use of punctuation is also less formal making it seem more natural. The enjambment can also be seem as a technique to make the reader read on and imitates the movement of the plough moving up and down a field.
The lovers which appear in the beginning and end of the poem represent a sense of hope and optimism for Edward reminding him of his own youthful past memories and loves. They represent something which is positive, and this triggers something in Edwards’s mind which helps him to realise that although he may die in war, the “lovers” will still continue to “come out of the wood”. Edward decided to enlist at the end of this poem, and this moment is shown as he says: “for the last time” as this was the last time he ever did watch “the clods crumble and topple over”
In connection to this poem, “Easter Monday” is a poem written by Eleanor Frajon in memorial to Edward Thomas, who was a close friend of hers. This is obvious as she throughout the poem reflects of past memories and intimate details of Edwards. She is aware of his likes and dislikes, “apples, you liked to munch beyond all other fruit.”
The poem can be almost seen as a sonnet, but instead of having 8 and 6 lines, it has 9 and 5. It is reflective as many sonnets are, and the two stanza focus of different parts of the experience. The fact that the poem is named “Easter Monday” is very significant in itself as this was a day of Sacrifice in the Christian religion. It is believed to be the day in which Jesus sacrificed his own life for that of the peoples and the generations to follow. This can be likened to the actions of Edward Thomas who also forfeited his own life for the sake of the youth which were to follow. Jesus was said to have been crucified on this day and became a martyr, just as Edward Thomas himself become one of the “fallen”. The poem almost symbolises the stages in the last week of Jesus’ death. The “eve” representing Good Friday and the “coming battle” representing the ‘struggle’ which he was to face the following day.
Many things in the poem can be likened to that in ‘As the Teams Head Brass”. Both are representing the life of the people and the effects war had on the family and friends on the home front, and also both show contrast between loss and gain and evidence that nature will always take its course, even though one may die, he will be replaced by another and life will continue as it is. Nature will always take its course on the people and the “apple-bud(s)” will still continue to “ripe”, along with the growth of the “charlock”. Dialogue is also used in both poems, although in Easter Monday in the form of letters. The extracts in both make it seem more real, vivid and personal, making the reader feel more involved.
Phrases such as “we sowed our earliest seed’s” can be likened to those in “As the teams Head Brass” to the bodies being “ploughed” into the earth, turning the seeds, so that a new generation is able to cultivate The movement represents the cyclical nature of the world.
Edward Thomas’s admirations and sacrifice made for the countryside, brings love and respect into the equation with death, as their destruction becomes a point of honour and bravery that confirms Edwards heroic qualities. Although Edward was killed on Easter Monday during the First World War, his lack of victory was not a prerequisite for honour. The inevitability of death and destruction as represented by the “fallen elm” is certain, although from every loss there is a gain, and that is the reason why Edward felt so passionately about sacrificing his own life for those generations which are to follow. Although he is no longer existent, his place in the war is helping nature take its course and in somewhat is helping to preserve the future of the “lovers” which are to follow.