Here dead lie we
because we did not choose
to live and shame
the land from which we sprung.
Life, to be sure
is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
and we were young.
--A E Housman, 1936, "Here Dead Lie We"
We care for our own
To save your world, you asked this man to die:
Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?
--W H Auden, 1953, "Epitaph for the Unknown Soldier"*****
Memorial Day, 2011
Memorial Day, 2012
Memorial Day, 2013
Few words, powerful meaning. As it should be.
ReplyDeleteNobody asked him to die, not even the pols who created the wars (or our participation in some one else's wars) for their own reasons, hardly in defense of "freedom." More likely in defense of their careers. Whether conscripted or volunteered the troop sure wasn't planning on dying, either. There comes a point where all this poetic hurrah is just so much meaningless twaddle. Intended to make meaningful what was more often than not a thoroughly meaningless event.
ReplyDeleteIf you insist, as do many these days, that their death had no meaning, allow for those who freely lent themselves to a major endeavor and fully understood the inherent risk. In the military they found another family, a primal draw that makes sense to our species. I've known both types, and I have no argument that will sway either one.
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