[385] Base Details

Guest poem submitted by Suresh Ramasubramanian <suresh@> :

If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,
  I'd live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
And speed glum heroes up the line to death.
  You'd see me with my puffy, petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
  Reading the Roll of Honour.  'Poor young chap,'
I'd say --- 'I used to know his father well;
  Yes, we've lost heavily in this last scrap.'
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I'd toddle safely home and die --- in bed.

	-- Seigfreid Sassoon

It's the sort of poem which really catches Sassoon's mood, a jaded
contempt for the war and all it stands for.  He's struck the right note
for a John Bull sort of officer - the sort who stays behind the lines
while others (like Spender) have to do all the dirty work of dying for
their country. A refreshing change from the sort of blood and glory
patriotism you'd get in most of the romantic poets like Byron.

Suresh.

From: Dasmells@

i agree, this is a moving poem which displays his great anger

From: John Dunham <dunha007@>

Thanks.  I saw a reference to this poem in another book and wanted to
use it for class I teach.  You made it easy to find.

From: "reeves-sassoon-olive" <reeves-sassoon-olive@>

Hi
I'm Oliver sassoon grandson of george sassoon and great grandson of
seigfreid sassoon. If you need proof  I will tell you where the houses he
left in my grandads hands are.The houses he gave him are on the isle of mull
in scotland.

From: "Cheung, Raymond" <CHEURAY@>

silly...........

From: "jan clarke" <jclarke@>

If you are his grandson why cant you spell Siegfried right? huh?