I stood with the dead | I stood with the Dead, so forsaken and still

by Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon (1886 - 1967)

I stood with the dead

Language: English

Our translations: FRE

I stood with the Dead, so forsaken and still:
When dawn was grey I stood with the Dead.
And my slow heart said, 'You must kill, you must kill:
'Soldier, soldier, morning is red'.

On the shapes of the slain in their crumpled disgrace
I stared for a while through the thin cold rain...
'O lad that I loved, there is rain on your face,
'And your eyes are blurred and sick like the plain.'
  
I stood with the Dead ... They were dead; they were dead;
My heart and my head beat a march of dismay:
And gusts of the wind came dulled by the guns.
'Fall in!' I shouted; 'Fall in for your pay!'

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Confirmed with Siegfried Sassoon, PICTURE-SHOW and other poems, E.P. Dutton and company, New York, 1920, page 11

Composition:

Michael Ippolito

Six Sassoon Songs

Text Authorship:

by Siegfried Lorraine Sassoon (1886 - 1967), "I stood with the dead", appears in Picture-Show, no. 7, first published 1919

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-03-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 115