Soldier poets of the Great War (II): Some soldierly lines of concentrated thought
This epitaph by H.W. Garrod, consisting of just two lines, strikes me as "soldierly" — disciplined and brief. The second line is especially concentrated. I think it was Sen. James Webb who once observed that poetry is like combat in that poetry is compressed thought and combat is compressed action. Tell them at home, there’s ...
This epitaph by H.W. Garrod, consisting of just two lines, strikes me as "soldierly" -- disciplined and brief. The second line is especially concentrated. I think it was Sen. James Webb who once observed that poetry is like combat in that poetry is compressed thought and combat is compressed action.
This epitaph by H.W. Garrod, consisting of just two lines, strikes me as "soldierly" — disciplined and brief. The second line is especially concentrated. I think it was Sen. James Webb who once observed that poetry is like combat in that poetry is compressed thought and combat is compressed action.
Tell them at home, there’s nothing here to hide;
We took our orders, asked no questions, died.
Here’s another soldierly quartet of lines, from F.W.D. Bendall:
Sentry, sentry, what did you say
As you watched alone till break of day?
I prayed the Lord that I’d fire straight
If I saw the man that killed my mate.
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
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