Stand-To: Good Friday Morning
I’d been on duty from two till four.
I went and stared at the dug-out door.
Down in the frowst I heard them snore.
‘Stand to!’ Somebody grunted and swore.
Dawn was misty; the skies were still;
Larks were singing, discordant, shrill;
They seemed happy; but I felt ill.
Deep in water I splashed my way
Up the trench to our bogged front line.
Rain had fallen the whole damned night.
O Jesus, send me a wound to-day,
And I’ll believe in Your bread and wine,
And get my bloody old sins washed white!
Siegfried Sassoon
Which of course Sassoon, the greatest of the World War I soldier war poets, eventually did when he joined the Catholic Church in 1957.
I.ve heard that Sassoon sffered from PTSD as a result of his war experiances. I’m happy to hear he took the faith in the latter years of his life. Since he was from the Jewish Sassoon family he probably payed a high price for his converison.
More things I didn’t know! Thank you!