# When First explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Edward Thomas.

## What happens

The speaker reflects on the loss of hope after twelve years in a place that once promised discovery and renewal. Walking the hill for the last time, they acknowledge that hope has permanently departed, though they recognize that love can grow through time and necessity, and that parting stirs the heart more than meeting.

## Themes in this chapter

### Place and Belonging

The hill is a central symbol of attachment and the speaker's evolving relationship with the landscape over twelve years.

### Love and Loss

The poem explores the loss of hope and the bittersweet nature of love that grows through time and parting.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who recounts the loss of hope and the final walk down the hill.

## Key lines

> When first I came here I had hope, Hope for I knew not what.

Upon arriving, I was filled with an undefined sense of hope.

_Opening lines establish the initial optimism that has since faded._

> And now I walk Down it the last time. Never will My heart beat so again at sight Of any hill although as fair And loftier.

Now I descend the hill for the final time; no other hill, no matter how beautiful, will ever stir my heart like this one did.

_The speaker acknowledges the finality of this departure and the unique emotional significance of this place._

> Hope now⁠—not health, nor cheerfulness, Since they can come and go again, As often one brief hour witnesses⁠— Just hope has gone for ever.

It is not health or cheerfulness that is lost—those can return—but hope itself is gone permanently.

_Clarifies that the loss is specifically of hope, not of transient moods or conditions._

> One thing I know, that love with chance And use and time and necessity Will grow, and louder the heart’s dance At parting than at meeting be.

I understand that love deepens through circumstance, habit, time, and need, and that the heart beats more intensely at farewell than at first encounter.

_Final insight: love is strengthened by duration and necessity, and parting amplifies emotion more than meeting._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters/when-first
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters