# The Wasp Trap explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Edward Thomas.

## What happens

The poem reflects on how moonlight transforms an ordinary wasp trap into something of extraordinary beauty, surpassing even the loveliest natural scenes and stars. The jar, once meant for wasps, now hangs glistening from a dead apple bough like a star.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and the Seasons

The poem focuses on the natural setting of moonlight over lakes and meadows, and the dead apple bough.

### Transformation and Perception

The wasp trap is transformed by moonlight into a star-like object, highlighting a shift in perception.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker observes the moonlight's effect on the wasp trap.

## Key lines

> This moonlight makes The lovely lovelier Than ever before lakes And meadows were.

The moonlight enhances the beauty of already lovely things like lakes and meadows beyond what they were before.

_Opening lines establish the transformative power of moonlight._

> For pure brightness is worth More than that jar, For wasps meant, now a star—long may it swing From the dead apple-bough, So glistening.

Nothing on earth or in the sky can match the brightness of that jar, originally intended for wasps but now appearing as a star, swinging from a dead apple branch.

_Climax of the poem where the wasp trap is elevated to a celestial object._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters/the-wasp-trap
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters