Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Armistice Day

It's Armistice Day today and so I thought I'd post a few poems from some of my fave war poets. When I went to the treches in northern France and Belgium, and saw the Menin Gate ceremony on my 17th birthday last year I wrote 'lines written after hearing the last post ceremony at the menin gate' which I think was one of the first poems I posted here. Anyway, here are some more famous examples.


Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html
Futility by Wilfred Owen: http://users.fulladsl.be/spb1667/cultural/owen/futility.html
In Flanders Fields by John McRae: http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/inflanders.htm
Spring Offensive by Wilfred Owen: http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/wowen/bl-wowen-spring.htm
Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen2.html
Peace by Rupert Brooke: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/brooke3.html

The title link is to a recording of what is probably one of the most powerful anti-war songs ever written - The Green Fields of France by Eric Bogle, although the recording has been done by the Dropkick Murphys.
Can you believe that here in England there are only four surviving ww1 vets? can you imagine the loneliness? I can't.
And I haven't got any poems either, I'm still busy with uni, exams and whatnot, lots of midterms which I'm not too happy with. Oh well, it could be worse, and I can't really complain about having exams on a day dedicated to men and women who died for our country.

RIP everyone, hope you have found peace out there, wherever you are.

I remain,
Hopeful.

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