Never Forget
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.
-Aftermath, Siegfried Sassoon 1918
Today, I posted the above lines on Facebook and I just wanted to say a little but more about it.
The first reason I did so was simply because everyone was posting "For the Fallen" and I wanted to be different but the main reason I chose those particular lines was because they resonated with something I have been thinking about a lot recently.
About a week ago I read a letter in a newspaper saying how we should not observe (I won't say celebrate because it is not a celebration) Armistice Day because it glorified war. I think by saying this, the particular person who wrote the letter was completely missing the point. Armistice Day does not glorify war, rather it simply remembers the people who have sacrificed their lives to give us the freedoms we know today. We might not like the fact we are currently in a war with dubious beginnings but that does not mean we should not remember the brave men (and women) who have given up their lives so that we can live ours.
We should never forget because that breeds complacency and that will allow the same thing to happen time and time again. It doesn't matter that everyone who fought in World War I is dead now and that most people from World War II is, the fact of the matter is there are still soldiers dying today and they should be remembered just like those who fell before them.
Also, I want to say to everyone who seems to think that the Poppy is a political statement and that certain groups (not saying which) should not wear it because of certain things, IT IS NOT. The poppy is about remembrance and to make it a political statement dishonours those who died.
Just to end, I thought I would post For the Fallen in its entirety. Everyone posts the most famous verse but it should be read fully in my opinion because it is a wonderful poem.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
-Aftermath, Siegfried Sassoon 1918
Today, I posted the above lines on Facebook and I just wanted to say a little but more about it.
The first reason I did so was simply because everyone was posting "For the Fallen" and I wanted to be different but the main reason I chose those particular lines was because they resonated with something I have been thinking about a lot recently.
About a week ago I read a letter in a newspaper saying how we should not observe (I won't say celebrate because it is not a celebration) Armistice Day because it glorified war. I think by saying this, the particular person who wrote the letter was completely missing the point. Armistice Day does not glorify war, rather it simply remembers the people who have sacrificed their lives to give us the freedoms we know today. We might not like the fact we are currently in a war with dubious beginnings but that does not mean we should not remember the brave men (and women) who have given up their lives so that we can live ours.
We should never forget because that breeds complacency and that will allow the same thing to happen time and time again. It doesn't matter that everyone who fought in World War I is dead now and that most people from World War II is, the fact of the matter is there are still soldiers dying today and they should be remembered just like those who fell before them.
Also, I want to say to everyone who seems to think that the Poppy is a political statement and that certain groups (not saying which) should not wear it because of certain things, IT IS NOT. The poppy is about remembrance and to make it a political statement dishonours those who died.
Just to end, I thought I would post For the Fallen in its entirety. Everyone posts the most famous verse but it should be read fully in my opinion because it is a wonderful poem.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.