Timing is Everything

Owen Wilfred was one of the Great War poets. Inspired and tutored by the likes of Seigfried Sassoon, He managed to capture the pointless horrors of world war one perfectly in prose. He wrote,

Owen Wilfred as a soldier

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?Only the monstrous anger of the guns.Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattleCan patter out their hasty orisons.

The lament for those lost was familiar to those who were on the front lines, but not to the leaders of the world.

 There were those in the period before the first world conflict who romanticized war. The previous wars had lasted only short periods, with a decisive victory for one side, and glory for the conquers. With wars like the 30 days war, the Spanish American war, Serbo Bulgarian war, and the Franco-German war, Europe had seen only relatively short and less heavy casualty fighting. They began to maneuver for more power and set up a system of alliances based on national pride, and designed to help keep there empire secure.

In the dead soldiers debate, Wilfred turned to his poetry to communicate his feelings about the war. I have often wished that I could express my feelings in ways that others could connect to and understand. Like Wilfred, I live in a time of growing nationalism, and leaders that are more concerned with patriotism to a cause than individual utilitarian rights of freedom and the pursuit of happiness.  Shakespeare, an English idol often had his stories revolve around time. The mistiming of Romeo and Juliet is what makes the story so tragic. Wilfred was killed a week before the war ended, the telegram only arriving at his mothers house as the victory bells clanged. I think that he would have liked the poetic irony in his death, and his mother would experience "The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori".

Picture: Wilfred Owen: by unknown, in the public domain