The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Tue 11/11/2008)

[RetroLounge]

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen

************



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7708020.stm

Ninety years ago this week Wilfred Owen, a young officer in the British army, was killed in battle in northern France. He was 25 and though he had planned to be a writer he had published virtually nothing. Yet today he is probably the best-loved British poet of World War One.

************

:hi:

RL

[Chorophyll]

1. ...

Kick. Deserves to be read.

[RetroLounge]

7. ...

:hi:

RL

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. K and R

:patriot: :kick:

[RetroLounge]

8. ...

:hi:

RL

[YankeyMCC]

3. k & r for the day

Well chosen RL, thanks!

[RetroLounge]

9. ...

:hi:

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. My dear Retro!

This poem should be required reading for anyone who things that war is such a fucking good idea!

Or for anyone who wants to enlist!

Heartbreaking, and so appropriate for today...:cry:

What a talent he had, and to have him taken so young...

War's waste is criminal.

Thank you...

[RetroLounge]

10. You are welcome!

:hug:

RL

[Dora]

5. sad kick

[RetroLounge]

11. ...

:hi:

RL

[Gonzo Gardener]

6. Dulcedo est vivo vita in pacis

Bellum est Abyssus

...A toast to all veterans! :toast:

[RetroLounge]

12. ...

:toast:

RL