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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
LOSSES, by RANDALL JARRELL Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: It was not dying: everybody died Last Line: We are satisfied, if you are, but why did I die?" Subject(s): Death; World War Ii; Dead, The; Second World War | |||
In our new planes, with our new crews, we bombed The ranges by the desert or the shore, Fired at towed targets, waited for our scores-- And turned into replacements and worke up One morning, over England, operational. It wasn't different: but if we died It was not an accident but a mistake (But an easy one for anyone to make.) We read our mail and counted up our missions-- In bombers named for girls, we burned The cities we had learned about in school-- Till our lives wore out; our bodies lay among The people we had killed and never seen. When we lasted long enough they gave us medals; When we died they said, "Our casualties were low." The said, "Here are the maps"; we burned the cities. It was not dying --no, not ever dying; But the night I died I dreamed that I was dead, And the cities said to me: "Why are you dying? We are satisfied, if you are; but why did I die?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PORT OF EMBARKATION by RANDALL JARRELL GREATER GRANDEUR by ROBINSON JEFFERS FAMILY GROUP by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH THE BRITISH COUNTRYSIDE IN PICTURES by JAMES MCMICHAEL READING MY POEMS FROM WORLD WAR II by WILLIAM MEREDITH A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL |
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