Remembering Wilfred Owen
March 18th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Today would have been the poet Wilfred Owen’s birthday. Owen was a British infantry officer during World War 1. He wrote vivid poems about his experiences in war. I connect with his poetry probably because of the 18 years I have spent in law enforcement. Cops spend their careers as witnesses to death and tragedy a lot like soldiers. I found Owen during the darkest period of my struggles with PTSD.
In tribute to Owen, I am posting one of my favorite poems of his.
The Parable Of The Old Man And The Young
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps
and builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him, thy son.
Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns,
A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
Shalom,
Scott D
