# The Hollow Wood explained — Poetry > Chapter companion for Poetry by Edward Thomas. ## What happens The poem describes a hollow wood where a goldfinch flits above the thistle-tops, birds swim like fish below, and the trees are kept evergreen by lichen, ivy, and moss, with some trees half-flayed and dying. ## Themes in this chapter ### Nature and the Seasons The hollow wood is depicted with vivid natural imagery of goldfinches, thistles, lichen, ivy, and moss, highlighting the cycle of life and decay. ### The Cycle of Life and Death The contrast between the lively goldfinch and the half-flayed, dying trees underscores the coexistence of vitality and decay in the wood. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown The observer describing the scene in the hollow wood. ### Starlings Birds that swim like fish and laugh and shriek in the hollow wood. ## Key lines > Out in the sun the goldfinch flits / Along the thistle-tops, flits and twits / Above the hollow wood In the sunlight, a goldfinch moves quickly among the thistle tops, chirping as it flies over the hollow wood. _Sets the scene with the goldfinch's activity above the wood._ > Where birds swim like fish⁠— / Fish that laugh and shriek⁠— / To and fro, far below / In the pale hollow wood. Birds move through the air as if swimming, making laughing and shrieking sounds, back and forth deep within the pale hollow wood. _Describes the birds' movement and sounds in the wood._ > Lichen, ivy, and moss / Keep evergreen the trees / That stand half-flayed and dying, / And the dead trees on their knees / In dog’s-mercury and moss: Lichen, ivy, and moss keep the trees green even as they are partially stripped and dying, with dead trees bowed low among dog's-mercury and moss. _Highlights the contrast between the evergreen cover and the decaying trees._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters/the-hollow-wood - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters