Friday was a rather significant date - not only because it was 11.11.11, but it was also Remembrance Day. Chosen to signify the day Armistice was declared in 1918 bringing the carnage of the First World War to an end. Every Sunday nearest to Armistice Day is Remembrance Sunday and the towns and villages around Britain grind to a halt, roads are closed off and people fall silent at 11am to remember all those who fought and those who fell in not only the First and Second World Wars, but all conflicts since, all around the world.
On this poignant day I would like to share one of the many poems that came out of the horror of warfare. This is a small part of a lesser known poem called Aftermath by Kent born poet, Siegfred Sassoon.
Have you forgotten yet? ...
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same - and War's a bloody game ...
Have you forgotten yet? ...
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.
On this poignant day I would like to share one of the many poems that came out of the horror of warfare. This is a small part of a lesser known poem called Aftermath by Kent born poet, Siegfred Sassoon.
Have you forgotten yet? ...
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same - and War's a bloody game ...
Have you forgotten yet? ...
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.
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