Thursday, October 17, 2013

Imagine his final moments

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of victory

As he defeated – dying –
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break agonized and clear!

~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
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2 comments:

  1. Ducky's hereOctober 17, 2013 at 4:08 PM

    The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

    by Randall Jarrell

    From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
    And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
    Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
    I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
    When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FreeThinkeOctober 17, 2013 at 9:36 PM

    Thank you, Ducky, for that most appropriate contribution. I am familiar with Jarrell's powerful poem -- one of the greatest of the anti-war genre..

    ReplyDelete

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