Take Time To Remember

“How to Die” by Siegfried Sassoon

 

Dark clouds are smouldering into red

  While down the craters morning burns.

The dying soldier shifts his head

  To watch the glory that returns;

He lifts his fingers toward the skies

  Where holy brightness breaks in flame;

Radiance reflected in his eyes,

  And on his lips a whispered name.

 

You’d think, to hear some people talk,

  That lads go West with sobs and curses,

And sullen faces white as chalk,

  Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses.

But they’ve been taught the way to do it

  Like Christian soldiers; not with haste

And shuddering groans; but passing through it

  With due regard for decent taste.