Dulce et Decorum est

[lostinmiddlemormonism]

Dulce et Decorum est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.—

Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori
-Wilfred Owen

[stuck]

That is a stark poem befitting the day!

[Palerider]

Heaping glory on those who suffered unspeakable pain unnecessarily by way of sheer arrogance and incompetence of their leaders, is the only way that cowards who are far removed from that pain, can mitigate their own approval of continuing the insanity.

To tell the truth would be an act of courage that is beyond them.

[Not Buying It]

I've always loved Dulce et Deocrum est - check out the Zombie's "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" for a similar viewpoint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqr7ohMkuQA.

Heaping glory on those who suffered unspeakable pain unnecessarily by way of sheer arrogance and incompetence of their leaders, is the only way that cowards who are far removed from that pain, can mitigate their own approval of continuing the insanity.

To tell the truth would be an act of courage that is beyond them.

Well said. More people should familiarize themselves with "War is a Racket" by United States Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler: https://www.fadedpage.com/books/20160538/html.php