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Hekate

(90,496 posts)
17. Dulce Et Decorum Est -- from 101 years ago
Sun May 26, 2019, 05:25 PM
May 2019
Dulce et Decorum Est
Wilfred Owen - 1893-1918


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.
K&R. n/t rzemanfl May 2019 #1
I'm too young to have fought (or be drafted) Dennis Donovan May 2019 #2
One of the first guys to figure that out was General Smedley Butler. 3Hotdogs May 2019 #3
Precisely Sherman A1 May 2019 #4
And, General Butler blew the whistle on the attempted coup against FDR Dennis Donovan May 2019 #5
Thank you for your honesty FakeNoose May 2019 #6
Excellent post. I really don't think we've had a war about freedom since WWII. Hoyt May 2019 #7
The warmongers drape themselves in the flag ... Martin Eden May 2019 #8
Yes TimeToGo May 2019 #9
It is all the more sad because those we morn would still wasupaloopa May 2019 #12
Truly TimeToGo May 2019 #13
Bullshit Dutchman99 May 2019 #10
Ah, I see you failed to actually read wasupaloopa's post. Try again. nt Hekate May 2019 #16
This message was self-deleted by its author HopeAgain May 2019 #11
Message auto-removed Name removed May 2019 #14
Thanks, upa, for making it home and for reminding us of the truth... Hekate May 2019 #15
Dulce Et Decorum Est -- from 101 years ago Hekate May 2019 #17
Ever notice that we now only ever pick on people we think won't fight back? Aristus May 2019 #18
You should post it on Veteran's day pintobean May 2019 #19
I do wasupaloopa May 2019 #20
But what if they could speak to you from the grave. wasupaloopa May 2019 #21
You don't speak for them. pintobean May 2019 #22
Maybe the dead like for him to speak for them, you don't know Beringia May 2019 #24
USAF 1974 - 1982. akraven May 2019 #23
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