Today is Veteran's Day, for a few more hours at least, and tomorrow a state holiday. But somehow, when I think of this day, even in a time of war, I think of it's origins instead (my grandfather was a soldier during this war, but served in NY-I always think of him on this day). World War I, though long past, is still casting its shadow on the world. So I post today a poem by Rupert Brooke, The Soldier:
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
One of my favorite mystery writers is Jacqueline Winspear, and her books about Maisie Dobbs are set around the time of WWI, on her website she wrote an essay about her trip to France to tour the battlefields of The Somme and Ypres. In the course of reading about the war, I discovered that both J.R.R. Tolkein and Adolf Hitler were at the battle, I'm speechless.
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17 comments:
Ok, I'm really starting to think that I'm the only one that didn't wrote something about Rememberance day!!
Weird about Hitler and Tolkein. But you can see how it affected Tolkein in 'The Two Towers'. I'm coming across lots of war poetry today, which I'm so very glad to see. These lines from 'The Soldier' really move me:
'There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love'
Beautiful poem. Hitler and Tolkien, what a contrast...
Very interesting, Ann - about Ypres, because the poem I posted, In Flanders Field, was written about Ypres too.
Jill, don't worry, you're not the only one. and you're poem was awesome.
Julia- The fact about the war that blows me away everytime I think about it was something just tossed out in one of the extras in the LOTR DVDs, one of the historians casually mentioned that Lewis also fought in the war and was left for dead on a battlefield. (C.S. Lewis?)
Hey Charlie, isn't it beautiful?
Hi Wylie- I saw you'd posted that, so I picked a different poem. This one always got to me too.
It is a beautiful poem.
Sweet and sad.
Thanks for sharing this. We all need to read this...
excellent Ann! thanks so much for sharing this.
This is a beautiful, beautiful poem and one of my favorites! THANKS FOR SHARING IT!! ;)
Sobering when you consider the depth of feeling and commitment put to paper.
That's a neat poem. But like everyone else, it seems, it's overshadowed by the whole Hitler/Tolkien thing.
Amazing how we all process the same things so very differently, huh?
thanx for introducing me to this one.
my grandfather also served in WWI. He never spoke of his experience but whatever happened it turned his thick, black Scots-Irish hair pure white practically overnight. He was twenty-something!
his great-grandson, my brother's eldest is serving in Iraq, he just turned nineteen. my heart quakes for him.
Haunting poem. Lovely. Thanks so much for dropping by to visit. :)
Hi Raine, Rhian, Gautami, and Red- Thanks, glad you liked it.
Thanks, Roscoe.
Hi Susan, It's just one of those facts about the war, that I find totally mind boggling.
Hi Joy- My grandfather never saw action, his grandfather however was in the cavalry in the Civil War, was captured in the battle of the Wilderness, and spent the rest of the war in Andersonville and Libby Prison. It's left a lasting impression.
Hi Cora- thanks.
Sorry I'm so late posting. That was a wonderful poem. Excellent.
Hey Amy, glad you stopped by, don't worry if you're late, blogger sends me an email when someone posts a comment, so I'll always get your comments.
It's a beautiful poem. Both the dead and the living who have served deserved to be honored and their deeds never forgotten. Thanks for posting this.
That tidbit on Hitler and Tolkien was also fascinating. I didn't know that.
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