Seem to be on a bit of a poetry kick at the moment. Yesterday, wandering around a local town, I spotted the name of the local pharmacy - Day Lewis, and it reminded me that I haven't featured any of his works here. This is one of his most meaningful for me, and with it being only a couple of months until Remembrance Day looms large, and the probability of a general election next year, now may be the time to beg people to really think hard before casting their votes.
So anyway, here it is: Will It Be So Again? , written by Sir Cecil Day Lewis
Will it be so again
that the brave, the gifted are lost from view,
and empty, scheming men
are left in peace their lunatic age to renew?
Will it be so again?
Must it be always so
that the best are chosen to fall and sleep
like seeds, and we too slow
in claiming the earth they quicken, and the old usurpers reap
what they could not sow?
Will it be so again -
the jungle code and the hypocrite gesture?
A poppy wreath for the slain
and a cut-throat world for the living? That stale imposture
played on us once again
Will it be as before -
peace, with no heart or mind to ensue it,
guttering down to war
like a libertine to his grave? We should not be surprised: we knew it
happen before.
Shall it be so again?
Call not upon the glorious dead
to be your witness then.
The living alone can nail their promise to the ones who said
it shall not be so again.
