11-16-2008, 01:16 AM
Mines has to be Dulce et Decorum Estby Wilfred Owen.
Wont quote the whole poem, go google if you wanna, but particularly:
"If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori."
Although entirely written regarding, and completely and immeasurably relevant to the First World War and the hypocrisy of politicians words compared to the reality of the front-line, I think the same feelings still apply today, both in conflict and at home.
My main example being how there tends to be a tendency for people to condemn war and security services and the police with one hand, while demanding an end to terrorism and bombings in the middle east and the murder of aid workers with the other hand. It seems a lot like the position's been reversed - the people denounce their troops, and their troops defend their people.
I just think it's quite ironic that the coin's been flipped, but ultimately, the song remains the same.
(Here endeth my philosophical input. :tongue
Ky xxx
Wont quote the whole poem, go google if you wanna, but particularly:
"If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori."
Although entirely written regarding, and completely and immeasurably relevant to the First World War and the hypocrisy of politicians words compared to the reality of the front-line, I think the same feelings still apply today, both in conflict and at home.
My main example being how there tends to be a tendency for people to condemn war and security services and the police with one hand, while demanding an end to terrorism and bombings in the middle east and the murder of aid workers with the other hand. It seems a lot like the position's been reversed - the people denounce their troops, and their troops defend their people.
I just think it's quite ironic that the coin's been flipped, but ultimately, the song remains the same.
(Here endeth my philosophical input. :tongue
Ky xxx