(Sweet and proper it is)
A poem by Wilfred Owen – this is one many of you may know.
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 toward 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 tired, outstripped Five-Nines 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 of such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori
(For your country, more)
The essential Great War poem x
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Yes. It brings me to tears every time.
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Me too x
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A powerful poem.
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It is. A classic. And a heartbreaker.
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Yes it is. A poem to remind us of the atrocities of war.
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Powerful words we need to always remember
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Indeed. Thanks, Simon.
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Thank you Meg, it’s good to see you. Hope you’re well! 😃
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Yes, Simon! I hope you are, too! 😀
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I’m OK… Busy, but OK. 😃
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Good! I’m so glad! 😀
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Thank Meg, you too 😃
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WOW!!!!!
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Yeah, it’s a gut puncher.
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Absolutely!
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Such an emotional and hard hitting piece. So often, we do not understand the price of war, though sometimes we must go to war, it is never glorious and in my mind never just. Thanks for sharing this, I hadn’t read it in a while.
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You’re welcome. The poems from this collection are really moving and powerful. Thanks for reading!
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WOW -this reminded me of Brecht’s play mother courage. I could really visualise everything and the sense of uncertainty and the un known.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWApVvqM-W0 .
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I’ve ever seen it. The “trailer” for it looks intriguing, though. Thanks, Daisy!
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I’m dying to see it live on stage!
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How beautiful and sweet it is to die for your country. I remember reading this poem in high school. That Latin phrase has remained with me even to this day…I think I’ve said this before. WWI was a special brand of terror.
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It certainly does. It’s been called the “last romantic war” because the marched marched off willingly, thinking of glorious battle. Those that returned were forever changed… those that were not destroyed.
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I use this poem to shock my students out of the glories of whitewashed war.
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Yes, that would do it… You reminded me of this last time I posted a WWI poem, so thank you.
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So sorry for the repetition; I forget too soon what I said to whom and when!
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Ah! No worries!
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The old lie … and a lie it was for the whole of that war … mustard gas, chlorine, and worse … my grandfather was gassed in 1915 and coughed up the last bit of of his lungs in 1955. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
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Oh Roger, I know, my great grandpa too. Died at 48 from the effects of the gas.
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I remember mine, stooped over the counter top, hanging on with both hands, grey in the face, and coughing. Such things we can never forget.
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Yes, I’m sure. I never knew mine, but Nana used to talk about him (her father) and we shouldn’t forget. 💙
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We can never forget. My grandfather was a wonderful athlete, reduced to a hollow shell. I remember him well.
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I’m so sorry…
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No problem. He was a good man and I learned many things from him.
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The first-hand nature of this makes it that much more intense.
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Yes, like an eyewitness account. Wilfred Owen did fight in the war. He sickened and had to go home for a while but returned to the front in 1917. So he knows from whence he speaks…
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You can tell.
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Wow. Fantastic! Thanks for sharing this, Meg! 🙏🏼😊
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Thank you, Em!
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One of the most powerful poems ever.
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I completely agree.
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As a soldier for 28 years I was once inspired to think that it was, indeed, sweet and honourable to die for your country. My opinion has changed!
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Wow. Isn’t this a powerful poem? It brings me to tears. And I’m glad you’re here to tell. Thank you, Peter!
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