The herb, described as ‘hoar-green’ is given the sense of an ethenial light, or a soft, silvery green, which can be associated with memory. In this opening stanza, the assonance in words such as ‘tree’ and ‘rosemary’, along with the internal rhyme, gives the sense of ghostliness, or an echo, which can also be linked with the theme of memory. In this poem, Thomas seems to be moving away from the Victorian Imperialist style, and moving towards a more modernist one, in which the unequal stanzas, use of internal rhyme, dialect and free verse are common features. In the second stanza, the poet deliberates about the herb itself. He states; ‘The herb itself I like not, but for certain I love it.’ This suggests that he likes the herb for the memory of his childhood which it brings back, the one that he is searching for.
Thomas observes his daughter as she ‘waits there, snipping the tips and shrivelling the shreds’. The use of assonance on the ‘I’ sound, and alliteration of ‘snipping’ ‘shrivelling’ and ‘shreds’ brings back the sense of a ghostly echo, linked with the theme of remembering. He is describing the scene that she will remember; ‘with that bitter scent of garden rows…ancient damson trees…’ This description reveals to the reader the nostalgia that Thomas feels. We note that there is no regularity in the poem, apart from the slight use of Iambic Pentameter which he uses to keep the poem together. This lack of regularity emphasises the sense of memories lost and the passing of time. Most of the poetry is heard through the sudden use of literary devices: similes, metaphors, alliteration and onomatopoeia.
Thomas uses the fourth stanza to contemplate his own memory, ‘as for myself…’ The reader becomes aware of his struggle to find the lost childhood memory, ‘Sniff them and think and sniff again and try to think what it is I am remembering, always in vain.’ Repetition of the word ‘sniff’ emphasises his struggle and irritation with not finding the memory, ‘I cannot like the scent, yet I would rather give up others more sweet, With no meaning…’ The sentiment here is a poignant one as the bitter scent becomes significant for Thomas in finding his memory; we are reminded that smell can have a powerful effect on our memories. The reader is aware of the guilt that he feels about losing the memory. The poet mentions the scent of the herb in more detail at the end of this stanza, ‘The final stanza is somewhat poignant one, with an effective use of metaphor to open; ‘I have mislaid the key.’ The simple, short sentence is dramatic and reinforces the idea that he cannot unlock the door to the past to revive the memory. He repeats the negatives, such as ‘no’, ‘nor’ and ‘neither’: ‘No path…no child beside…neither father nor mother, nor any playmate.’ This repetition gives a sense of anguish; Thomas seems to be almost beside himself with loss of the memory. The ghostly echo of the words also seems to remind the reader of the theme of remembering and the impact that it has on the writer. The Final line of the poem is somewhat ominous: ‘only an avenue, dark, meaningless, without end.’ This seems to suggest some kind of void to war, Thomas often ends his poems on a more portentous note, introducing a hint of the war. Andrew Motion once observed that ‘His (Thomas’) poetry consistently juxtaposes the ideal past with the troublesome present…’ We can apply this to old man, especially in the contrast between the idyllic image of the garden and this final verse, as Thomas ends with this almost inimical image of the dark avenue: bringing forth the topic of the war in his ever-subtle way.
