The Trumpet — Summary

RISE up, rise up, And, as the trumpet blowing Chases the dreams of men, As the dawn glowing The stars that left unlit The land and water, Rise up and scatter The dew that covers The print of last night's lovers-- Scatter it, scatter it!

While you are listening To the clear horn, Forget, men, everything On this earth newborn, Except that it is lovelier Than any mysteries. Open your eyes to the air That has washed the eyes of the stars Through all the dewy night: Up with the light, To the old wars; Arise, arise!

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A speaker blows a trumpet at daybreak, urging everyone to rise and shake off sleep. The insistent music pushes away dreams the way sunlight erases stars, and the voice demands that the dew be scattered—dew that still holds the faint traces of lovers who walked there the night before. There’s a restlessness here, a need to sweep away softness and memory in favor of action.

What follows is a sharp shift: forget everything newly born on earth, the speaker says, and remember only that the world is more beautiful than any secret. Lift your eyes to the morning air that has rinsed the stars clean all night. Then the call hardens into a summons to “the old wars,” drawing listeners into something ancient and grave. The mood is urgent, bracing, and faintly sorrowful—a tug between the loveliness of the world and the demands of duty, between the quiet pleasures left behind and the harsh music that cannot be ignored.

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«The Trumpet» — poem summary Edward Thomas | Poemship