Stanza one.
Now I know that Spring will come again,
Perhaps to-morrow: however late I've patience
After this night following on such a day.
The first stanza is celebrating the coming of spring" I know that spring will come again" and
emphasising the passing of winter " After this night following on such a day." The title
'March' reinforces this idea because March is the beginning of a new season.
The poem is in the Romantic tradition, with Thomas identifying a close connection to nature,
which affects him physically and psychologically : 'while still my temples ached from the
cold burning of hail and wind'
However the 2nd stanza diverts to a very melancholic tone. He complains about the slow
arrival of spring with ''hail and wind'' ''great light" and ''almost warmth''. He also believes that
winter is prolonging the arrival of spring '''twas too late for warmth'' and ''sunset pilled
mountains on mountains of snow''. The poem expresses the volatile nature of March
effectively-with both sunshine and rain.
The noises the birds made were not always attractive '' they sang or screamed" but the singing
to the speaker sounded beautiful "to me all was sweet: they could do no wrong." Maybe
because their music suggested the survival of life , even in winter . The music suggest that
spring will even in the winter and the music hints that spring will soon arrive.
Critic Edna Longley writes ' in celebrating Spring's moral victory here , he celebrates his
own' This refers to his decision to begin writing poetry after a life-time of writing prose. In
common with other poems , there is a prescient sense that he would not have long to write
this poetry and , like the thrushes would 'pack into that hour' (his) ''unwilling hoard of song".
The 'mountains on mountains of snow and ice in the west' the assonance of 'o' makes this
ominous and can be read as a metaphor for the gathering momentum of WW1.
ominous giving the worrying impression that something bad is going to happen; threateningly
inauspicious.
CONTEXT AND OTHER INFORMATION
March was amongst first poems Thomas wrote. It is a lyrical poem , structured in three
stanzas. {CT- WORLD WAR ONE WAS INTO ITS FIFTH MONTH}
'March' mirrors Edwards psychological state. Not only because it is his first poem but
because it highlights themes of doubt, melancholy and depression which was what
Edward was going through at the time. The contrast between his joy at the sounds and
sights of spring and his melancholy is also evident - the refrain of '' spring will come
again'' could mean his own spirits will soon rise from its melancholic state.
The first stanza is celebrating the coming of spring" I know that spring will come again" and
emphasising the passing of winter " After this night following on such a day." The title
'March' reinforces this idea because March is the beginning of a new season.
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or
sentences.
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or
sentences.
The 'mountains on mountains of snow and ice in the west' the assonance of 'o' makes this
ominous and can be read as a metaphor for the gathering momentum of WW1.
ominous giving the worrying impression that something bad is going to happen; threateningly
inauspicious.
However the third stanza could also represent war. The thrushes could symbolize soldiers in
the war and the arrival of spring could also mean the victory in the war and Edwards own
personal victory as said before. '' what did the thrushes know " which could suggest the
blindness of the soldiers in war they didn't know what they were getting into. { refer to Tears
and the subject of innocence}. Common with most poems Thomas sees to posses knowledge
of his own fate - the thrushes could also represent his impact as a poet and the idea that spring
cannot arrive as war raged on. He knew about the blindness and now he finally knows that
spring may not arrive.