November 11, 2008

Since it is Novemeber 11 - the poem that is the source of all my pacifism


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 gas-shells dropping softly 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 flound'ring 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
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.


4 comments:

joojierose said...

yup. have that one memorized. it's shocking, incredible, amazing. i remember vividly the first time i read it, when i was 16 at the flanders fields museum in belgium. that museum and the experience of wwI changed me completely - no joke. thanks for sharing it. love you.

Unknown said...

yes, thank you for posting this. i actually just taught this in my class on monday--we had an awesome discussion

Ashley C said...

Wow, this definitely brought back memories. I remember reading it back in high school and being so horrified. Brilliant piece.

Lia said...

i believe i read this poem for the first time right after having read all quiet on the western front.
words are so powerful. so important. important enough to help us understand or at least give us the energy to try to understand even the basest horrors of the world.