tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post3349990073076702899..comments2023-11-05T07:53:12.708-05:00Comments on Poets United: The Living DeadRosemary Nissen-Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-68477363204392437022017-04-01T21:10:52.090-04:002017-04-01T21:10:52.090-04:00Very interesting. I did not realize that Spike Mi...Very interesting. I did not realize that Spike Milligan wrote poetry - and this is such a powerful and haunting piece. The loss of so many young lives - most on the cusp of adulthood - is an incomprehensible horror than humankind (for reasons that are unfathomable) continues to acquiesce to. Wendy Bourkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09475940407969993348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-76258871652342938722017-04-01T19:03:07.312-04:002017-04-01T19:03:07.312-04:00Overwhelmingly sad, but oh so beautifully written....Overwhelmingly sad, but oh so beautifully written. "Crosses rot and helmets rust" ... profoundly put. Thanks for sharing this one.indybevhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05505539407819784525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-87392154679690949832017-04-01T16:15:51.171-04:002017-04-01T16:15:51.171-04:00War poems have a certain strength, but most I have...War poems have a certain strength, but most I have read are written in anger or angst... This one is somehow even more effective... and I so wonder why a poem can't stop it from happening again and again.brudberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12563403553536472377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-9209125289254697002017-04-01T01:25:27.348-04:002017-04-01T01:25:27.348-04:00I think Owen was the war poet par excellence. And...I think Owen was the war poet par excellence. And how tragic that he himself was killed in battle just before the war ended. I hadn't read Futility. Now that I have, I see why the Milligan poem reminds you of it!Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-20433099929414851392017-04-01T00:52:34.115-04:002017-04-01T00:52:34.115-04:00This particular poem reminds me of Wilfred Owen, k...This particular poem reminds me of Wilfred Owen, killed, shell shocked in the WW-I. In his poem Futility, specially one could identify the same note, the same stunning images and the same sigh over this organized butchery of young lives. Thank you Rosemary.Sumana Royhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17333363799083094084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-55401712505202070022017-04-01T00:35:00.795-04:002017-04-01T00:35:00.795-04:00I can hardly believe I missed out on that!I can hardly believe I missed out on that!Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05723639294340760325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-52076572303284135682017-03-31T19:20:42.605-04:002017-03-31T19:20:42.605-04:00Thank you for sharing a bit about this poet, who w...Thank you for sharing a bit about this poet, who was actually more than a poet. It is sad that the young are sent to war and often die without really living. Here's a gun welcome to reality! Makes my heart grieve.Truedessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09079953417572207613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-52529840992889726812017-03-31T18:55:52.285-04:002017-03-31T18:55:52.285-04:00Thank you...Thank you...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-7420720125666905172017-03-31T16:51:22.406-04:002017-03-31T16:51:22.406-04:00Also it was of an era, and I'm probably older ...Also it was of an era, and I'm probably older than most of you, lol.Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-20373660242224328082017-03-31T16:48:31.590-04:002017-03-31T16:48:31.590-04:00I'm glad you all appreciate the poem so well. ...I'm glad you all appreciate the poem so well. And I get a sense, from what your comments don't say, that the poet's name was unfamiliar to you. What? You didn't all grow up listening to The Goon Show from BBC radio, and falling about laughing? No, I guess if you grew up in America, you didn't. (Not even Canada?) It was standard fare in Australia, via our ABC. We listened to many repeats and never tired of them. Just the title-phrase of the song, 'I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas' makes me smile even now, and I can still do the funny voice for 'Ying-tong ying-tong, Ying-tong ying tong, Ying-tong iddle I po.' (Both can be found on Youtube.) The Goons' humour was characterised by absurdity. You would perhaps only know of one of them, Peter Sellers, who went on to be a film actor, first in England then in Hollywood.Rosemary Nissen-Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05913841031559499568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-91016400469844869512017-03-31T16:13:27.839-04:002017-03-31T16:13:27.839-04:00This is a very powerful and very relevant poem, Ro...This is a very powerful and very relevant poem, Rosemary. A good reminder of the horror that war can bring when a bunch of old man decide to send young men to war.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07366010389846904663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-74569130281102697292017-03-31T13:45:52.963-04:002017-03-31T13:45:52.963-04:00What a wonderful poem! I like to read other poets ...What a wonderful poem! I like to read other poets who write in rhyme and do it well. A very sad write about something that will never change. Sobering.Bekkie Sanchezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16300001421561443693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-75265953945480575262017-03-31T12:42:25.806-04:002017-03-31T12:42:25.806-04:00The poem you selected, unfortunately, seems like o...The poem you selected, unfortunately, seems like one that will be the same a hundred years from now. He writes of truth and it's a truth he lived. I like the apparent simplicity of his words that evoke such strong feeling. Good choice Rosemary. Myrna R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15088915165678737118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-88624378341743587242017-03-31T11:50:26.441-04:002017-03-31T11:50:26.441-04:00What an intriguing poet, Rosemary. The poem is eve...What an intriguing poet, Rosemary. The poem is even more potent for him having been a soldier. He knows whereof he speaks. I really like Bernard Miles' quote about him, so different he cant always communicate with his own species. Smiles. Sounds like a poet to me. The poem is very moving, the more so for being stated simply and starkly. The cutting down of the young men like winter seeds that would not bloom is especially powerful.Sherry Blue Skyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10769154286598233146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139625267522039683.post-18802244003780229792017-03-31T09:52:55.959-04:002017-03-31T09:52:55.959-04:00These lines make this poem most profound:
"As...These lines make this poem most profound:<br />"As crosses rot<br />And helmets rust"<br />An amazingly effective poem! Nothing can grow from such wasted seed.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05723639294340760325noreply@blogger.com