What need to tell...

This post was originally posted for Remembrance Day 2009. I thought it a good time to type out this poem & share it with folks.



My Grandad, Bill Keay, kept this poem:

"D-Day Xmas 1946
Lance Corporal W Keay
Royal Black Watch Highlanders "



"A crescent moon enough to shed
Upon the field where lie our dead
A shimmering, ghostly light to show
Where Britain’s heroes met the foe.

"What need to tell of clash or din
Or the deadly bayonet driven in
The shrieks and cries of those in pain
Or men becoming beasts again.

"To see men fight and, writhing, die -
Though describe like Zola I’ll not try –
But, when all’s over, I could say
The best of mankind died today.

"Ye British wives and daughters too
Hold high your heads. It was for you
Those heroes made their last advance
To find a grave
Somewhere in France."


Thanks to Mum for passing it on to me - we aren't sure who wrote it, though. I used Goggle and found only this page (Link here...you'll need to scroll down to the very base).

• French writer Emile Zola - some of his work found here.

• A great little BBC program which you can hear by visiting this page, it explains why we use Poppies to remember the Great War.

...Lest we forget...