Boys go to War, 1914

They went to war, eyes ablaze with hope and pride
But death swept the land and took them in its stride
They loved their country and the paths were paved with gold
But Death's dark grip would soon enfold
Them in his arms and they'd no longer see day's light
They'd lie in the mud and feel the pain of the glory and the fight.

About This Poem

Last Few Words: British? French? German? To the guns of the Western Front all were the same.

Style/Type: Structured: Western

Review Request Direction: How does this theme appeal to you?

Review Request Intensity: I appreciate moderate constructive criticism

Editing Stage: Editing - polished draft

About the Author

Region, Country: London, Culture Capital of the World

Favorite Poets: Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke, Chaucer, Shakespeare to name but a few. And VERY IMPORTANTLY: Erich Fried, a leftwing Austrian of Jewish ancestry who fled the Nazis and became a British citizen in 1949., And, other writers (non-poets mainly): Raymond Chandler, Irvine Welsh, Anthony Burgess, Graham Greene, Charles Bukowski, John le Carré, Anthony Horowitz, Mick Herron, Margaret Attwood, Edna O'Brian, Maeve Binchy., Writers who I find vastly over-rated: TS Eliot, Virgina Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Phil Larkin, E.A. Poe, A. Ginsburg, Longfellow, Gerald Manley Hopkins (actually I LOATHE Hopkins more than damson-dappled words can say).

Comments

Lavender

5 years 4 months ago

Boys Go to War, 1914

Hi, Edna,
You have brought the trenches to light. And you are so correct - they were all the same.
Thank you,
L

Geezer

5 years 4 months ago

Death is death...

no matter whose side you are on. I do have hope for the human race, a slim one. Maybe one day, if we survive long enough, we will decide that the price of war is too much to bear; but I fear that there will always be those who will try to take advantage of those who are reluctant to go to war and we will be forced to do it once again. Nice work. ~ Geezer.
.

Gracy

5 years 4 months ago

Dear Edna, your poemThem in his arms and they'd no longer brings

Dear Edna, your poem brings such sad thoughts. I read All
Quiet on the Western Front. My father's two brothers were lost "somewhere in France" ages about 18 or so. Churchill's name was never mentioned in my home, my father blamed him for such massive slaughter on all sides. Some decades ago, the British soldiers' bodies were found and are now in Britain. Some are NN's.

They went to war, eyes ablaze with hope and pride
Death swept the land and took them in its stride
They loved their country and paths were paved with gold
Death's dark grip would soon enfold.

A few suggestions above, for you to TorT, best, Gracy

Edna Sweetlove

5 years 4 months ago

To Lavender, Geezer, Gracy & Teddy15,

Thank you all for your kind comments.
.

Edna Sweetlove

5 years 4 months ago

I hate war...

..so my thousands of fans here at Neo can expect a few more along these lines!