He dropped, — more sullenly than wearily,
Lay stupid like a cod, heavy like meat,
And none of us could kick him to his feet;
Just blinked at my revolver, blearily;
— Didn’t appear to know a war was on,
Or see the blasted trench at which he stared.
“I’ll do ’em in,” he whined, “If this hand’s spared,
I’ll murder them, I will.”
A low voice said,
“It’s Blighty, p’raps, he sees; his pluck’s all gone,
Dreaming of all the valiant, that AREN’T dead:
Bold uncles, smiling ministerially;
Maybe his brave young wife, getting her fun
In some new home, improved materially.
It’s not these stiffs have crazed him; nor the Hun.”
We sent him down at last, out of the way.
Unwounded; — stout lad, too, before that strafe.
Malingering? Stretcher-bearers winked, “Not half!”
Next day I heard the Doc.’s well-whiskied laugh:
“That scum you sent last night soon died. Hooray!”
(Wilfred Owen)
More Poetry from Wilfred Owen:
Wilfred Owen Poems based on Topics: War & Peace, Home, Smiling, Laughter, Dreaming- A Terre (being the philosophy of many soldiers) (Wilfred Owen Poems)
- Beauty (Wilfred Owen Poems)
- Beauty: [Notes for an unfinished poem] (Wilfred Owen Poems)
- A New Heaven (Wilfred Owen Poems)
- Antaeus: [A Fragment] (Wilfred Owen Poems)
- 1914 (Wilfred Owen Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: War & Peace Poems, Home Poems, Smiling Poems, Laughter Poems, Dreaming PoemsBased on Keywords: trench, stupid, winked, revolver, uncles, whined, hun, hooray, sullenly, blinked, improved