I was intending to post a poem today to honor the veterans, but I honestly couldn't even think of what sort of poem would be most appropriate, let alone which poem. My solution, then, is to provide a link to a list of general war poems.
http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/SubjIdx/war.html
They all have different view points on war, so take each one as you will.
As far as those who didn't make it back from the war, I can do little for. I came across a phrase which I suppose fits the occasion well, however, so:
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
Also, my condolances to those family and friends who surive the fallen.
I would like to point out the reason the Veterans' Day is today (well, yesterday now); it was on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 (Nov. 11th at 11am) that the cease fire with Germany came into effect (which by then had gone through the German Revolution, resulting in the creation of the Weimar Republic; the kaiser of Germany and Prussia, Wilhelm II, was also about to be exiled).
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori?
ReplyDeleteI never was that good in my latin classes, but wouldn't that translate to something like: Dear and honerable doing on behalf of their country die? It's latin, so it may not make a whole lot of sense in English, but... that's about as close as I can get it with my limited knowledge.
It was to be the war to end all wars. Not too many people know that, I only know it cause 1stSgt told me, about the 11th hour of the 11th dat of the 11th month of the 11th year. I was in the parade that day and saluted at exactly 11 while still marking and doing a face right, easy enough. Pretty intersting stuff, World War I.
ReplyDeleteAssuming that the poem I found it in is correct, that phrase translates to "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country."
ReplyDeleteIf you've any Latin classes at all, you're doing better than me!
It's a shame that it Wasn't the war to end all wars; World War II took far more lives than WWI did.