posted on 2024-04-19, 17:45authored byFirst World War Poetry Digital Archive Project Team
One knotted a rope with an evil knout, And flogged me till I fell; And he is picking the rope end out In a land-locked prison-cell. One tied my wrist with a twisted cord While I lay asleep on deck. But his reward was overboard, With the string around his neck. One bound my mouth with her hands of silk, And drew me backward so. Her skin that was foul as curdled milk Is fouler today, I trow. One clogged my feet with a heavy wine, And my tongue with a tangling drug. But now his tongue is thicker than mine And black as any slug. One bound my thighs with his muscled arm, Whose weight was good to bear. O may he come to no worse harm Than what he wrought me there.
History
Identifier
3351.txt
Creator
Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918)
Date
1917-11
1918-01
Source
The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto & Windus, 1983. (#134, CPF vol. 1, p. 131, vol. 2, p. 285)
BL 1. 179
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.