Thanks David,
Well, I do love Edward Thomas. "Old Man" is certainly in my poetry Desert Island Discs. It's possible that my dad is somewhere in the background here, though not consciously. Not to sound evasive but this one really did bubble up from the unconscious murk. What it is "about" is as much anyone's guess as mine. Yes, those Christmas presents carried over into my childhood. I would get walnuts and tangerines (along with the Evel Kneivel loop-the-loop track)
Matt,
Ah, I didn't mean to suggest you were saying that. I was more replying to Nemo's points I think. For me, I still think "dreadful" can carry its original charge.
Susan,
Thanks for that Millay poem. I didn't know it and I now love it. What an ending!
Tony,
Thanks. I think in your first example I hear the
ghost of a beat on the final syllable of "vanishes" giving 5 beats. And on your second, yes, I hear BRING NEWS both stressed. If I'm bending the double iamb rule there I'll have to live with it.
Glad you enjoyed the poem.
Thaks again, folks.