Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE NEXT WAR, by WILFRED OWEN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE NEXT WAR, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Out there, we walked quite friendly up to death
Last Line: He fights for death, for lives; not men, for flags.
Subject(s): Death; Patriotism; Soldiers' Writings; World War I; Dead, The; First World War


Out there, we walked quite friendly up to Death, --
Sat down and ate beside him, cool and bland, --
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We've sniffed the green thick odour of his breath, --
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't writhe.
He's spat at us with bullets, and he's coughed
Shrapnel. We chorused if he sang aloft,
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.

Oh, Death was never an enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier's paid to kick against His powers.
We laughed, -- knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when every fighter brags
He fights for Death, for lives; not men, for flags.





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