“Du kamst, Du gingst mit leiser Spur,
ein flücht’ger Gast im Erdenland;
woher? Wohin? Wir wissen nur:
Aus Gottes Hand in Gottes Hand.”
(J.L.Uhland in Auf den Tod eines Kindes)
Jodoigne (B)
The withered grave
Gifts for the night of the grave
A rusty sad girl, died seven and a half years old
After the war, leaving only my face into the green
"I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.
In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.
* * * * *
You snug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go."
(S.L. Sassoon in Suicide in the trenches)
Visé (B)