With an Identity Disc

Wilfred Owen 1893 (Oswestry) – 1918 (Sambre–Oise Canal)



If ever I dreamed of my dead name
High in the heart of London, unsurpassed
By Time for ever, and the Fugitive, Fame,
There seeking a long sanctuary at last,

I better that; and recollect with shame
How once I longed to hide it from life's heats
Under those holy cypresses, the same
That shade always the quiet place of Keats,

Now rather thank I God there is no risk
Of gravers scoring it with florid screed,
But let my death be memoried on this disc.
Wear it, sweet friend. Inscribe no date nor deed.
But may thy heart-beat kiss it night and day,
Until the name grow vague and wear away.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

34 sec read
122

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB ACAC DEDEFF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 581
Words 114
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 6

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War. more…

All Wilfred Owen poems | Wilfred Owen Books

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    "With an Identity Disc" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/38564/with-an-identity-disc>.

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