posted on 2024-04-19, 17:45authored byFirst World War Poetry Digital Archive Project Team
Ever again to breathe pure happiness, So happy that we gave away our toy? We smiled at nothings, needing no caress? Have we not laughed too often since with Joy? Have we not stolen too strange and sorrowful wrongs For her hands' pardoning? The sun may cleanse, And time, and starlight. Life will sing great songs, And gods will show us pleasures more than men's. Yet heaven looks smaller than the old doll's-home, No nestling place is left in bluebell bloom, And the wide arms of trees have lost their scope. The former happiness is unreturning: Boys' griefs are not so grievous as youth's yearning, Boys have no sadness sadder than our hope.
History
Identifier
3320.txt
Creator
Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918)
Date
1983
Date Created
01/01/1983
Temporal Date
31/12/1983
Type
Poem
Rights
The Estate of Wilfred Owen. The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto & Windus, 1983. Preliminaries, introductory, editorial matter, manuscripts and fragments omitted.