Inspection
Wilfred Owen 1893 (Oswestry) – 1918 (Sambre–Oise Canal)
'You! What d'you mean by this?' I rapped.
'You dare come on parade like this?'
'Please, sir, it's-' ''Old yer mouth,' the sergeant snapped.
'I takes 'is name, sir?'-'Please, and then dismiss.'
Some days 'confined to camp' he got,
For being 'dirty on parade'.
He told me, afterwards, the damnèd spot
Was blood, his own. 'Well, blood is dirt,' I said.
'Blood's dirt,' he laughed, looking away,
Far off to where his wound had bled
And almost merged for ever into clay.
'The world is washing out its stains,' he said.
'It doesn't like our cheeks so red:
Young blood's its great objection.
But when we're duly white-washed, being dead,
The race will bear Field-Marshal God's inspection.'
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 193 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CXCD EDEDDFDF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 676 |
Words | 128 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 8 |
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"Inspection" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/38517/inspection>.
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