‘The glory invites me.’ How are feelings and ideas inspired by the natural world explored in ‘The Glory’ by Edward Thomas and how does this relate to his other poems?

The poem, ‘The Glory’, explores a number of ideas relating to the natural world. One of which is the simplistic beauty of nature, which is introduced right from the start of the poem. When Thomas lists the aspects of nature that he believes fit into the ‘beauty of the morning’ they’re not the extravagant things you may expect but instead the little things. These include the ‘untouched dew’, the ‘white clouds’ and the more generalised ‘sky and meadow and forest’. It is as if Thomas is telling us that, not only some parts of nature are beautiful but all of nature is. Thomas clearly demonstrates a deeper understanding of nature through his ability to appreciate even the smallest aspects of it. This is shown further in his other poems, such as ‘But These Things Also’. There is a striking difference between this and ‘The Glory’ which the former being a more negative outlook on nature but the thing they both have in common is that both focus on the tiny parts of nature. For example, the poem ‘But These Things Also’ discusses ‘the grass’, a ‘little snail’ and even smaller things like a ‘chip of flint’ and a ‘mite of chalk’. Both poems described highlight the small parts of nature but where ‘The Glory’ uses that to show how simple and beautiful nature is, ‘But These Things Also’ uses it to show the fragility and delicateness of nature. Thomas’ dwelling on the simplicity of nature contrasts to the evident complexity of it, this could be a reflection of him only being able to understand the simple aspects of it so can only describe those while the larger, more complicated, parts of nature elude him and he cannot describe them.

Another idea that Thomas explores in this poem is that everything is insignificant when compared to the ‘glory’ of nature. This is shown when he describes how the glory ‘invites’ him only to leave him ‘scorning/all [he] ever can do’ and be. This shows Thomas’ belief that, no matter what he does, he will never be good enough to accept natures invitation. This links to a definition of the sublime which describes it as something awe-inspiring but could provoke terror. It is possible that Thomas is feeling said terror through his feelings of insignificance, in this way the poem appears to be exploring both definitions of the sublime by showing the reader the terrific beauty that nature can be. The insignificance of things other than Thomas himself are explored in this poem as he describes how even if you ‘seek as far as heaven’ and ‘hell’ you can never gain the ‘wisdom or strength to match’ the beauty of nature. This suggests that Thomas believes humans can never be as strong as nature, nor can they ever be wise enough to fully understand it. This inability to properly comprehend nature is reinforced in the final line when Thomas describes how he ‘cannot bite the day to the core.’ This reflects his dissatisfaction with not being able to grasp the whole concept of nature which is shown earlier with his acceptance that he may have to be ‘content with discontent’. The final line, though, seems to have biblical connotations that further support the idea of the insignificance of humans by making the restriction on human understanding appear necessary and protective – perhaps to prevent human disappointment if the air of mystery surrounding nature fades and what is found is dissatisfying. The idea that humans could not handle the knowledge of nature’s secrets is also present.

Another feeling that comes across through ‘The Glory’ is Thomas’ distress at not being able to explain nature adequately. In the poem there is an undertone of desperation to poetically match nature’s glory but he feels that he fails in that aspect. In actuality, the poem is full of gorgeous imagery that gives the reader an idea of nature being glorious and unimaginable so if that is failing to ‘match’ nature’s glory then we get the suggestion that it must be even more amazing than the poem makes us imagine. The inability to effectively describe something is shown in Thomas’ other poem, ‘Words’, in which Thomas talks about how words must choose the poet. If this idea is still true in ‘The Glory’ then it could be another reflection of his feelings of inadequacy that he does not deserve the words to describe nature – he’s not deemed good enough for such words, perhaps.

Finally, Thomas talks of a ‘sublime vacancy’ which could be reflection of the emptiness or loneliness of nature or perhaps the emptiness of him, as a poet, being unable to comprehend such beauty. This adds a darker tone to the poem, as if Thomas is giving up and feels nothing he ever does will fulfil him. This links to the depression that Thomas experienced in his life. It’s possible that he’s been searching for happiness in the ‘glory’ of nature and is starting to realise he’ll never find it whatever he does or is.

In conclusion, ‘The Glory’ expresses feelings of inadequacy and lack of comprehension of anything other than the simpler aspects of nature.