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*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAR POEMS OF SIEGFRIED SASSOON ***
1919
Dans la tr�ve d�sol�e de cette matin�e, ces hommes qui avaient �t�
tenaill�s par la fatigue, fouett�s par la pluie, boulevers�s par toute
une nuit de tonnerre, ces rescap�s des volcans et de l'inondation
entrevoyaient � quel point la guerre, aussi hideuse au moral qu'au
physique, non seulement viole le bon sens, avilit les grandes id�es,
commande tous les crimes--mais ils se rappelaient combien elle avait
d�velopp� en eux et autour d'eux tous les mauvais instincts sans en
excepter un seul; la m�chancet� jusqu'au sadisme, l'�go�sme jusqu'� la
f�rocit�, le besoin de jouir jusqu'� la folie.
HENRI BARBUSSE.
(_Le Feu._)
NOTE
Of these 64 poems, 12 are now published for the first time. The
remainder are selected from two previous volumes.
CONTENTS
DREAMERS 13
THE REDEEMER 14
TRENCH DUTY 16
WIRERS 17
BREAK OF DAY 18
A WORKING PARTY 21
THE HERO 26
THE ROAD 28
THE DREAM 30
AT CARNOY 32
BATTALION RELIEF 33
THE DUG-OUT 35
THE REAR-GUARD 36
SUICIDE IN TRENCHES 39
ATTACK 40
COUNTER-ATTACK 41
THE EFFECT 43
REMORSE 44
IN AN UNDERGROUND DRESSING-STATION 45
DIED OF WOUNDS 46
II
"THEY" 47
BASE DETAILS 48
LAMENTATIONS 49
THE GENERAL 50
HOW TO DIE 51
EDITORIAL IMPRESSIONS 52
FIGHT TO A FINISH 53
ATROCITIES 54
THE FATHERS 55
"BLIGHTERS" 56
GLORY OF WOMEN 57
THEIR FRAILTY 58
DOES IT MATTER? 59
SURVIVORS 60
JOY-BELLS 61
THE KISS 64
THE TOMBSTONE-MAKER 65
III
SICK LEAVE 72
BANISHMENT 73
AUTUMN 74
TOGETHER 77
CONCERT PARTY 79
A LETTER HOME 83
RECONCILIATION 87
THE DEATH-BED 89
AFTERMATH 91
EVERYONE SANG 95
DREAMERS
THE REDEEMER
TRENCH DUTY
WIRERS
BREAK OF DAY
* * * * *
Hark! there's the horn: they're drawing the Big Wood.
A WORKING PARTY
THE HERO
THE ROAD
THE DREAM
II
III
IV
AT CARNOY
BATTALION RELIEF
THE REAR-GUARD
SUICIDE IN TRENCHES
* * * * *
ATTACK
COUNTER-ATTACK
THE EFFECT
_War Correspondent._
REMORSE
IN AN UNDERGROUND DRESSING-STATION
* * * * *
DIED OF WOUNDS
II
"THEY"
BASE DETAILS
LAMENTATIONS
THE GENERAL
* * * * *
EDITORIAL IMPRESSION
FIGHT TO A FINISH
The boys came back. Bands played and flags were flying,
And Yellow-Pressmen thronged the sunlit street
To cheer the soldiers who'd refrained from dying,
And hear the music of returning feet.
"Of all the thrills and ardours War has brought,
This moment is the finest." (So they thought.)
ATROCITIES
* * * * *
THE FATHERS
"BLIGHTERS"
THEIR FRAILTY
DOES IT MATTER?
CRAIGLOCKHART,
_Oct. 1917._
JOY-BELLS
THE KISS
THE TOMBSTONE-MAKER
III
* * * * *
* * * * *
Yes ... and the War won't end for at least two years;
But we've got stacks of men ... I'm blind with tears,
Staring into the dark. Cheero!
I wish they'd killed you in a decent show.
SICK LEAVE
BANISHMENT
AUTUMN
* * * * *
TOGETHER
* * * * *
CONCERT PARTY
Jaded and gay, the ladies sing; and the chap in brown
Tilts his grey hat; jaunty and lean and pale,
He rattles the keys ... some actor-bloke from town ...
"_God send you home_"; and then "_A long, long trail_";
"_I hear you catting me_"; and "_Dixieland_" ...
Sing slowly ... now the chorus ... one by one
We hear them, drink them; till the concert's done.
Silent, I watch the shadowy mass of soldiers stand.
Silent, they drift away, over the glimmering sand.
KANTARA,
_April, 1918._
(ALEXANDRIA-MARSEILLES)
* * * * *
_May, 1918._
A LETTER HOME
II
III
IV
RECONCILIATION
_November, 1918._
MEMORIAL TABLET
(GREAT WAR)
THE DEATH-BED
* * * * *
AFTERMATH
Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz,--
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench,--
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, "Is it all going to happen again?"
EVERYONE SANG
_April, 1919._
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon
by Siegfried Sassoon
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAR POEMS OF SIEGFRIED SASSOON ***
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