Had I a song
I would sing it here
Four lined square shaped
Utterance dear
But since I have none,
Well, regret in verse
Before the power’s gone
Might be worse, might be worse.
by Ivor Gurney
Had I a song
I would sing it here
Four lined square shaped
Utterance dear
But since I have none,
Well, regret in verse
Before the power’s gone
Might be worse, might be worse.
by Ivor Gurney
If I walked straight slap
Headlong down the road
Toward the two-wood gap
Should I hit that cloud?
by Ivor Gurney
This poem was left on my office door by a colleague many years (and jobs) ago. It led to me discovering the wonderful poetry of Ivor Gurney.
I watched the boys of England where they went
Through mud and water to do appointed things.
See one a stake, and one wire-netting brings,
And one comes slowly under a burden bent
Of ammunition. Though the strength be spent
They ‘carry on’ under the shadowing wings
Of Death the ever-present. And hark, one sings
Although no joy from the grey skies be lent.
Are these the heroes-these? have kept from you
The power of primal savagery so long?
Shall break the devil’s legions? These they are
Who do in silence what they might boast to do;
In the height of battle tell the world in song
How they do hate and fear the face of War.