As It Was and World Without End by Helen Thomas

Thirty-seven years ago I wrote a student dissertation on the War Poet, Edward Thomas and these books penned by his widow, not originally written for publication, were obligatory reading. They tell a poignant, heart-rending story of lives caught up in uncertainty and poverty under the shadow of the Great War. It is a world away from the comparative wealth we take for granted in the 21st century: a slow existence punctuated by changing seasons and observing nature in the midst of the daily round.
I particularly love the description of the room in a gamekeeper’s thatched cottage in which the young couple stayed: a small room almost filled by the four-poster… The tiny window was draped with dimity curtains, and the window was kept open by a large dried sunflower head.
Their last night together at the cottage at High Beech before the poet soldier leaves for the Front is made especially poignant by knowing, with hind sight, that he too will be killed in action like so many of his comrades. The snow falls and he writes his final poem Out in the Dark for Helen. Despite all the difficulties they have encountered in their marriage they remain soul mates to the end. Love is enough, much more than the writer’s periods of depression, anxiety about money and being able to provide for his wife and children. Their separation is unbearably sad.
These stories make me count my blessings, slow me down to a more authentic life and make me realise how swiftly time passes. Time spent together, digging the garden or listening to a blackbird singing, must be treasured before it is too late.