Section: «Poems»

Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings: artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.); a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").

France

She triumphs, in the vivid greenWhere sun and quivering foliage meet;And in each soldier’s heart serene;When death stood near them they have seenThe..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Remorse

Lost in the swamp and welter of the pit,He flounders off the duck-boards; only he knowsEach flash and spouting crash,--each instant litWhen gloom..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Morning-Glory

In this meadow starred with springShepherds kneel before their king.Mary throned, with dreaming eyes,Gowned in blue like rain-washed skies,Lifts her..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Battalion-Relief

‘FALL in! Now get a move on.’ (Curse the rain.)We splash away along the straggling village,Out to the flat rich country, green with June...And sunset..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Parted

Sleepless I listen to the surge and droneAnd drifting roar of the town’s undertone;Till through quiet falling rain I hear the bellsTolling and..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Break Of Day

There seemed a smell of autumn in the airAt the bleak end of night; he shivered thereIn a dank, musty dug-out where he lay,Legs wrapped in..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Trench Duty

Shaken from sleep, and numbed and scarce awake,Out in the trench with three hours’ watch to take,I blunder through the splashing mirk; and thenHear..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Fight To A Finish

The boys came back. Bands played and flags were flying,And Yellow-Pressmen thronged the sunlit streetTo cheer the soldiers who’d refrained from..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Lamentations

I found him in the guard-room at the Base.From the blind darkness I had heard his cryingAnd blundered in. With puzzled, patient faceA sergeant..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Dead Musicians

IFrom you, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart,The substance of my dreams took fire.You built cathedrals in my heart,And lit my pinnacled desire.You were the..

© Siegfried Sassoon

David Cleek

I cannot think that Death will press his claimTo snuff you out or put you off your game:You’ll still contrive to play your steady round,Though..

© Siegfried Sassoon

When I’m Among A Blaze Of Lights

When I’m among a blaze of lights,With tawdry music and cigarsAnd women dawdling through delights,And officers in cocktail bars,Sometimes I think of..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Memory

When I was young my heart and head were light,And I was gay and feckless as a coltOut in the fields, with morning in the may,Wind on the grass, wings..

© Siegfried Sassoon

To A Childless Woman

You think I cannot understand. Ah, but I do...I have been wrung with anger and compassion for you.I wonder if you’d loathe my pity, if you knew.But..

© Siegfried Sassoon

The Dragon And The Undying

All night the flares go up; the Dragon singsAnd beats upon the dark with furious wings;And, stung to rage by his own darting fires,Reaches with..

© Siegfried Sassoon

The Imperfect Lover

I never asked you to be perfect—did I?—Though often I’ve called you sweet, in the invasionOf mastering love. I never prayed that youMight stand..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Stretcher Case

He woke; the clank and racket of the trainKept time with angry throbbings in his brain.Then for a while he lapsed and drowsed again.At last he lifted..

© Siegfried Sassoon

At The Cenotaph

I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:Unostentatious and respectful, thereHe stood, and offered up the..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Daybreak In A Garden

I heard the farm cocks crowing, loud, and faint, and thin,When hooded night was going and one clear planet winked:I heard shrill notes begin down the..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Haunted

Evening was in the wood, louring with storm.A time of drought had sucked the weedy poolAnd baked the channels; birds had done with song.Thirst was a..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Wirers

‘Pass it along, the wiring party’s going out’—And yawning sentries mumble, ‘Wirers going out.’Unravelling; twisting; hammering stakes with muffled..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Enemies

He stood alone in some queer sunless placeWhere Armageddon ends. Perhaps he longedFor days he might have lived; but his young faceGazed forth..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Reconciliation

When you are standing at your hero’s grave,Or near some homeless village where he died,Remember, through your heart’s rekindling pride,The German..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Devotion To Duty

I was near the King that day. I saw him snatchAnd briskly scan the G.H.Q. dispatch.Thick-voiced, he read it out. (His face was grave.)‘This officer..

© Siegfried Sassoon

Atrocities

You told me, in your drunken-boasting mood,How once you butchered prisoners. That was good!I'm sure you felt no pity while they stoodPatient and..

© Siegfried Sassoon