Regret in E.Thomas' Poems

he would do anything for Helen to make up for what he has done, the poet makes reference to a ‘great store’ and the poem itself is written as a list of the things that Thomas would give her if he could. Thomas lists ‘…youth, All kinds of loveliness and truth,’ this reveals that he would like to restore Helens former glory, and give her ‘a clear eye as good as mine (his)’, that she might once again see how beautiful she is. In terms of regret, this reference to the loss of youth is linked to several other poems in the collection, most notably to ‘Old Man’, in which Thomas summarises everything he feels about memory and the loss of innocence with youth. Describes by Robert Frost as ‘the flower of the lot’, the poem is a ponderous one as Thomas watches his daughter in the garden, remembering the herb forgotten from his youth. He contemplates his memory, but struggles to revive certain parts of it. And so, as through the description of the poignant, bittersweet scent of the herb, the poet reveals the regret he feels about the loss of a memory from youth; we are reminded of his regret in ‘And You, Helen’, as he longs to go back to the past and give her back her youth. It is suggested that Helen wanted more children as the poet mentions giving her ‘as many…as your heart might wish for.’ Thomas also makes reference to giving her ‘a far better art than mine can be…’ in this, he acknowledges poetry as his craft, realising that it is through his pursuit of it that he has taken away, ‘all that you have lost upon the travelling waters tossed or given to me…’ We know that Helen gave a lot to help Edward Thomas in his struggle to become a poet, and here we sense his regret and the realisation of his selfishness in taking her time and effort from her. The metaphor is central to the idea of the poem, it represents the passing of time and symbolises that which he has thrown away. The use of water as an image is quite common in Thomas’ poetry, and although not linked directly to the theme of regret, in ‘The Sun Used to Shine’, it is presented as being timeless and without end; representing the great relentlessness of the passage of time. This idea is drawn upon here too, emphasizing the fact that he cannot go back and reverse what he has done and by association, emphasizing his regret. He goes on to list more of the things that he would give back to his wife from the ‘great treasure house’, this time including, ‘yourself and your power to discriminate.’ The reader may interpret this as a suggestion that Helen has lost herself in domesticity; and we see the irony that, in her helping Edward find himself, she is now lost. Thomas wishes that his wife could have recognised what she was losing before it was too late; ‘what you want and want it not too late.’ And the idea that her love was wasted on him is touched upon as he mentions, ‘Many days free from care/And heart to enjoy both foul and fair’. ‘Foul and fair’ being a quote from Macbeth reveals that he is a literary man. In this idea of wasted love is revealed the lovelessness in him: that which he wants to fix but cannot. And the poem ends with his acknowledgment that if he could find what is missing within himself, he would be able to fix what he has done. He objectifies the part missing, by naming it ‘It’ and through this we can see the link to ‘The Other’ as Thomas continues the futile search for the unknown within himself.