Soldier poets of the Great War: Hodgson’s nobility vs. Sassoon’s realism
During the summer, the Best Defense is in re-runs. Here are some favorites that ran in late 2012 and in 2013. This item originally ran on Feb. 26, 2013. William Noel Hodgson prayed ambivalently in his poem “Before Action”: By all delights that I shall miss, Help me to die, O Lord. At about the ...
During the summer, the Best Defense is in re-runs. Here are some favorites that ran in late 2012 and in 2013. This item originally ran on Feb. 26, 2013.
During the summer, the Best Defense is in re-runs. Here are some favorites that ran in late 2012 and in 2013. This item originally ran on Feb. 26, 2013.
William Noel Hodgson prayed ambivalently in his poem “Before Action”:
By all delights that I shall miss,
Help me to die, O Lord.
At about the same time, Siegfried Sassoon’s thoughts were running colder as he marched past a corps commander:
‘Eyes right!’ The corpse-commander was a Mute;
And Death leered round him, taking our salute.
More from Foreign Policy


Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?
The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.


Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World
It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.


It’s a New Great Game. Again.
Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.


Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing
The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.