Naming of Parts...

[fajrdrako]

This year, I have been feeling unusually moved by Remembrance Day. Perhaps it is because someone told me about the custom of people putting their poppies on the monument to the Unknown Soldier at Confederation Square. Or maybe it's because I saw Passchendaele a while ago, and was thinking about it. Or because I was wondering about a great-uncle of mine who died in World War I - I don't know anything else about him, not even his first name.

So I was thinking also of war stories I have liked (Sgt. Fury, Enemy Ace, the Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness"), and I started thinking about my favourite war poems. I have several favourites, but this is the one I decided to put on my LJ: Naming of Parts by British poet Henry Reed, which he had called "Lessons of the War".

I. NAMING OF PARTS

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

That's one of my favorites, too.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The Legion of secret Henry Reed fans unite!