June 19, 2006
bent double
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 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 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,
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 1893 – 1918]
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A wee chuckle to start your day off right etc.
Damn right.
I haven’t seen that poem since school. I forgot how good it is. Cheers Hugh.
I agree Mike. Not heard it since school. I was 15, doing my GCSE’s and rememeber the haunting images just as much now as i did then.
The interesting thing is, the gas and its terrifying results can be a suitable metaphor for so many things these days.
Yeah, it’s an awesome poem. Not just the powerful subject matter, his command of language is dazzling.
Even more gut-wrenching than the imagery is the way in which a point such as this.….so beautifully logical, so simple, is perpetually buried under political goals so selfish, discusting and lacking in logic.
Grinds me guys
Thanks, Hugh.