( Read more... )

Today's poem is one of the most famous war poems, written during the first World War by an Englishman named Rupert Brooke. The poem is a soldier's request, in the event of his death. Brooke wrote the poem in 1914, and died the following year of blood poisoning. His bit of "for ever England" is indeed in a foreign field, on the island of Skyros. He ( Read more... )

Today, one of the best-known war poems of all time. It's also the best-known rondeau in the English language. And although it is Memorial Day in the United States today and this post bears the image of an American flag, this poem was written by a Canadian poet.

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow ( Read more... )

After yesterday's poem by Rupert Brooke, "The Soldier", I thought I'd move on to Wilfred Owen's famous war poem, "Dulce et Decorum Est". The title of the poem comes from one of Horace's Odes, written in Lattin (of course): Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, which is quoted in full at the end of the poem. The translation for the Latin is, ( Read more... )

Yesterday's poems by Christina Rossetti were both about death, and about remembrance of the deceased after death. Today's poem flows naturally from this, being as it is about a person's request if they should die. This is one of the most famous of war poems, written during the first World War by an Englishman names Rupert Brooke.

The Soldierby ( Read more... )

More U.S. troops are being deployed. Again. And the stories of soldiers who have done multiple tours on active duty continue to mount, as do the stories of soldiers injured and killed while on active duty. And with the holidays coming, deployment must be much more difficult for families to endure - all those husbands, wives, children, parents, and ( Read more... )

I know I've posted this poem twice before ( most recently as part of my "Building a Poetry Collection" series for National Poetry Month), but it seemed appropriate for Memorial Day. If you're interested in the biography of the poet and more information about this poem, I hope you'll read my prior post.

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae

In ( Read more... )

How on earth to follow a poem like The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe, particularly after providing you with performances by Christopher Walken and Vincent Price? Well, certainly not with something in the same vein. Rather than focusing on the words or themes of the poem, I decided to focus on a little something in its form: the repetition of a shorter ( Read more... )

Today, because I'm pressed for time, and because I was thinking of this poem, and because today is the start of the Great Backyard Bird Count, I am providing you with an "encore" of a post that I put up in April of 2007. Man, I love this poem. Happy Poetry Friday, everyone!

The Oven Bird
by Robert Frost

There is a singer everyone has heard ( Read more... )

Tomorrow is Veterans Day here in the U.S. And yes, that's the proper way to spell it, per the U.S. government, although Veterans' and Veteran's are frequently used ( Read more... )