A NEW month!

As daffodils and cherry blossom pass, the hawthorn (may) takes over spring's rites. Here Edward Thomas reflects on its flowering.

THE POND

Bright clouds of may

Shade half the pond.

Beyond

All but one bay

Of emerald

Tall reeds

Like criss-cross

bayonets

Where a bird once

called,

Lies bright as the sun.

No one heeds.

The light wind frets

And drifts the scum

Of may-blossom.

Till the moorhen calls

Again

Naught's to be done

By birds or men.

Still the may falls.