To a Soldier in Hospital
Winifred M. Letts
Courage came to you with your boyhood's grace
Of ardent life and limb.
Each day new dangers steeled you to the test,
To ride, to climb, to swim.
Your hot blood taught you carelessness of death
With every breath.
So when you went to play another game
You could not but be brave:
An Empire's team, a rougher football field,
The end -- perhaps your grave.
What matter? On the winning of a goal
You staked your soul.
Yes, you wore courage as you wore your youth
With carelessness and joy.
But in what Spartan school of discipline
Did you get patience, boy?
How did you learn to bear this long-drawn pain
And not complain?
Restless with throbbing hopes, with thwarted aims,
Impulsive as a colt.
How do you lie here month by weary month
Helpless, and not revolt?
What joy can these monotonous days afford
Here in a ward?
Yet you are merry as the birds in spring.
Or feign the gaiety.
Lest those who dress and tend your wound each day
Should guess the agony.
Lest they should suffer -- this the only fear
You let draw near.
Greybeard philosophy has sought in books
And argument this truth,
That man is greater than his pain, but you
Have learnt it in your youth.
You know the wisdom taught by Calvary
At twenty-three.
Death would have found you brave, but braver still
You face each lagging day,
A merry Stoic, patient, chivalrous,
Divinely kind and gay.
You bear your knowledge lightly, graduate
Of unkind fate.
Careless philosopher, the first to laugh,
The latest to complain,
Unmindful that you teach, you taught me this
In your long fight with pain:
Since God made man so good -- here stands my creed --
God's good indeed.
Posted by Mark Noonan at May 29, 2006 02:39 AM
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The Death-Bed
He drowsed and was aware of silence heaped
Round him, unshaken as the steadfast walls;
Aqueous like floating rays of amber light,
Soaring and quivering in the wings of sleep.
Silence and safety; and his mortal shore
Lipped by the inward, moonless waves of death.
Someone was holding water to his mouth.
He swallowed, unresisting; moaned and dropped
Through crimson gloom to darkness; and forgot
The opiate throb and ache that was his wound.
Water—calm, sliding green above the weir.
Water—a sky-lit alley for his boat,
Bird- voiced, and bordered with reflected flowers
And shaken hues of summer; drifting down,
He dipped contented oars, and sighed, and slept.
Night, with a gust of wind, was in the ward,
Blowing the curtain to a glimmering curve.
Night. He was blind; he could not see the stars
Glinting among the wraiths of wandering cloud;
Queer blots of colour, purple, scarlet, green,
Flickered and faded in his drowning eyes.
Rain—he could hear it rustling through the dark;
Fragrance and passionless music woven as one;
Warm rain on drooping roses; pattering showers
That soak the woods; not the harsh rain that sweeps
Behind the thunder, but a trickling peace,
Gently and slowly washing life away.
He stirred, shifting his body; then the pain
Leapt like a prowling beast, and gripped and tore
His groping dreams with grinding claws and fangs.
But someone was beside him; soon he lay
Shuddering because that evil thing had passed.
And death, who'd stepped toward him, paused and stared.
Light many lamps and gather round his bed.
Lend him your eyes, warm blood, and will to live.
Speak to him; rouse him; you may save him yet.
He's young; he hated War; how should he die
When cruel old campaigners win safe through?
But death replied: 'I choose him.' So he went,
And there was silence in the summer night;
Silence and safety; and the veils of sleep.
Then, far away, the thudding of the guns.
--Siegfried Sassoon
Posted by: Jon Parker at May 29, 2006 11:10 AM
Excellent poem selection Mark! I just got back from a three week road trip thruout 14 states. It was wonderful, beautiful, encouraging, & inspiring! There is alot of masked strentgh left in this country & altho people are wearied from the conflicts surrounding us there are many, many, many soldiers hearts out there willing to lay down their own desires to serve others! It was special, to finish our trip on memorial weekend and have our country & it's people in the forefront of our minds. Those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the past did so to ensure that we could live our lives to the best of our abilities always striving to do what is right(for all mankind) & to serve others before ourselves. let's not make their sacrifices in vain. Pray, Pray, Pray for those families and friends left behind with the heartache! God bless America, one nation under God! United We stand!!!
Posted by: bearmanUSMC at May 29, 2006 02:53 PM
"For too many Americans, Memorial Day has become just another day off. There's only so much time any of us can spend remembering those we loved who have died, but the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few moments of reflection during which we consider what they did for us.
They died.
We use the phrase "gave their lives," but they didn’t give their lives. Their lives were taken from them.
There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity - war. The goal of war is to cause death to other people ...
Remembering doesn’t do the remembered any good, of course. It's for ourselves, the living. I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don’t find some new way - some new religion maybe - that takes war out of our lives.
That would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating."
- Andy Rooney
Posted by: maf53 at May 29, 2006 04:51 PM
Hey, nice Andy Looney screed, mf13--is it supposed to influence us, or something? Guess what, chump? It didn't...
Posted by: keefer at May 29, 2006 09:11 PM
Keefer,
You proved yourself a nut if you call a hope for peace a chump's screed... agree or disagree with maf53's politics, you just lined yourself up in the death-loving camp. Way to go!
Posted by:
winnowhead at May 30, 2006 02:38 AM
Winnow & Maf, Just 1 question! What are you willing to sacrifice for your "cause"? Money? a little blog bashing? How in the heck are you guys ever going to accomplish a dang thing if all your willing to sacrifice is a little time and brain power to "convince" the mass population that you guys are right! If you won't die for your "cause", then you don't have a "cause"! Go crawl back into those little holes of denial and leave the "causes" for the real men!
Posted by: bearmanUSMC at May 30, 2006 10:17 AM
Maf, this statement in itself show how disconnected Rooney is! Did he ever serve his country in the armed forces? Probably not! Not with an ignorant statement such as this!
We use the phrase "gave their lives," but they didn’t give their lives. Their lives were taken from them. A.R.
We sign on the dotted line as ADULTS well aware of the consequences in a time of WAR! We "choose" this path as clearly as you have chosen your fantasy of world peace! Quit treating the MEN who protect your freedoms like low class ignoramouses that have nowhere to go but the military, escpecially since alot of our best and brightest sacrifice there time & lives to be a part of this magnifiscent "PEACE KEEPING" force!!!
Posted by: bearmanUSMC at May 30, 2006 10:26 AM
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The Death-Bed
He drowsed and was aware of silence heaped
Round him, unshaken as the steadfast walls;
Aqueous like floating rays of amber light,
Soaring and quivering in the wings of sleep.
Silence and safety; and his mortal shore
Lipped by the inward, moonless waves of death.
Someone was holding water to his mouth.
He swallowed, unresisting; moaned and dropped
Through crimson gloom to darkness; and forgot
The opiate throb and ache that was his wound.
Water—calm, sliding green above the weir.
Water—a sky-lit alley for his boat,
Bird- voiced, and bordered with reflected flowers
And shaken hues of summer; drifting down,
He dipped contented oars, and sighed, and slept.
Night, with a gust of wind, was in the ward,
Blowing the curtain to a glimmering curve.
Night. He was blind; he could not see the stars
Glinting among the wraiths of wandering cloud;
Queer blots of colour, purple, scarlet, green,
Flickered and faded in his drowning eyes.
Rain—he could hear it rustling through the dark;
Fragrance and passionless music woven as one;
Warm rain on drooping roses; pattering showers
That soak the woods; not the harsh rain that sweeps
Behind the thunder, but a trickling peace,
Gently and slowly washing life away.
He stirred, shifting his body; then the pain
Leapt like a prowling beast, and gripped and tore
His groping dreams with grinding claws and fangs.
But someone was beside him; soon he lay
Shuddering because that evil thing had passed.
And death, who'd stepped toward him, paused and stared.
Light many lamps and gather round his bed.
Lend him your eyes, warm blood, and will to live.
Speak to him; rouse him; you may save him yet.
He's young; he hated War; how should he die
When cruel old campaigners win safe through?
But death replied: 'I choose him.' So he went,
And there was silence in the summer night;
Silence and safety; and the veils of sleep.
Then, far away, the thudding of the guns.
--Siegfried Sassoon
Excellent poem selection Mark! I just got back from a three week road trip thruout 14 states. It was wonderful, beautiful, encouraging, & inspiring! There is alot of masked strentgh left in this country & altho people are wearied from the conflicts surrounding us there are many, many, many soldiers hearts out there willing to lay down their own desires to serve others! It was special, to finish our trip on memorial weekend and have our country & it's people in the forefront of our minds. Those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the past did so to ensure that we could live our lives to the best of our abilities always striving to do what is right(for all mankind) & to serve others before ourselves. let's not make their sacrifices in vain. Pray, Pray, Pray for those families and friends left behind with the heartache! God bless America, one nation under God! United We stand!!!
"For too many Americans, Memorial Day has become just another day off. There's only so much time any of us can spend remembering those we loved who have died, but the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few moments of reflection during which we consider what they did for us.
They died.
We use the phrase "gave their lives," but they didn’t give their lives. Their lives were taken from them.
There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity - war. The goal of war is to cause death to other people ...
Remembering doesn’t do the remembered any good, of course. It's for ourselves, the living. I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don’t find some new way - some new religion maybe - that takes war out of our lives.
That would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating."
- Andy Rooney
Hey, nice Andy Looney screed, mf13--is it supposed to influence us, or something? Guess what, chump? It didn't...
Keefer,
You proved yourself a nut if you call a hope for peace a chump's screed... agree or disagree with maf53's politics, you just lined yourself up in the death-loving camp. Way to go!
Winnow & Maf, Just 1 question! What are you willing to sacrifice for your "cause"? Money? a little blog bashing? How in the heck are you guys ever going to accomplish a dang thing if all your willing to sacrifice is a little time and brain power to "convince" the mass population that you guys are right! If you won't die for your "cause", then you don't have a "cause"! Go crawl back into those little holes of denial and leave the "causes" for the real men!
Maf, this statement in itself show how disconnected Rooney is! Did he ever serve his country in the armed forces? Probably not! Not with an ignorant statement such as this!
We use the phrase "gave their lives," but they didn’t give their lives. Their lives were taken from them. A.R.
We sign on the dotted line as ADULTS well aware of the consequences in a time of WAR! We "choose" this path as clearly as you have chosen your fantasy of world peace! Quit treating the MEN who protect your freedoms like low class ignoramouses that have nowhere to go but the military, escpecially since alot of our best and brightest sacrifice there time & lives to be a part of this magnifiscent "PEACE KEEPING" force!!!