11/11

[fox]

My young friend apotropaios posted "Stand in the trench, Achilles" four or five years ago on Remembrance Day and I liked it very much. I'm glad I was able to find it again now that his long-ago entry is locked down.

I saw a man this morning
     Who did not wish to die
I ask, and cannot answer,
     If otherwise wish I.

Fair broke the day this morning
     Against the Dardanelles ;
The breeze blew soft, the morn's cheeks
     Were cold as cold sea-shells

But other shells are waiting
     Across the Aegean sea,
Shrapnel and high explosive,
     Shells and hells for me.

O hell of ships and cities,
     Hell of men like me,
Fatal second Helen,
     Why must I follow thee ?

Achilles came to Troyland
     And I to Chersonese :
He turned from wrath to battle,
     And I from three days' peace.

Was it so hard, Achilles,
     So very hard to die ?
Thou knewest and I know not-
     So much the happier I.

I will go back this morning
     From Imbros over the sea ;
Stand in the trench, Achilles,
     Flame-capped, and shout for me.

patrick shaw-stewart, 1888-1917




Give me your hand, my brother, search my face;
Look in these eyes lest I should think of shame;
For we have made an end of all things base.
We are returning by the road we came.

Your lot is with the ghosts of soldiers dead,
And I am in the field where men must fight.
But in the gloom I see your laurell'd head
And through your victory I shall win the light.

siegfried sassoon, 1918




When you are standing at your hero's grave,
Or near some homeless village where he died,
Remember, through your heart's rekindling pride,
The German soldiers who were loyal and brave.

Men fought like brutes; and hideous things were done;
And you have nourished hatred, harsh and blind.
But in that Golgotha perhaps you'll find
The mothers of the men who killed your son.

siegfried sassoon, november 1918