The best poets find a path to unlock the power of language to create beauty and to tell some of the deepest truths of human existence.
Wilfred Owen is one of my favorite poets. His heart-wrenching poems, written from the trenches of World War One, flash in mournful beauty as they decry the folly, pity, and horror of war. This poem uses imagery from the crucifixion and also contrasts the war with Christ’s teaching to love one another, including one’s enemies.
Another thing to note is that it is set in war-ravaged France, where there were often crosses set up at cross roads. In this instance the cross has been damaged and is missing an arm (“He too lost a limb”).
Wilfred Owen was tragically killed just one day before the armistice.
At a Calvary Near the Ancre
One ever hangs where shelled roads part.
In this war He too lost a limb,
But his disciples hide apart;
And now the solider bear with him.
Near Golgotha strolls many a priest,And in their faces there is pride
That they were flesh-marked by the Beast
By whom the gentle Christ’s denied.
The scribes on all the people shove
And bawl allegiance to the state,
But they who love the greater love
Lay down their life; they do not hate.
In a later post I’ll talk about the Wilfred Owen poems that Benjamin Britten selected for his choral masterpiece War Requiem.
We must be soldiers for Art! 