STRANGE MEETING
...... Wilfred Owen......
TEXT:
It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,—
By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.
With a thousand fears that vision's face was grained;
Yet no blood reached there from the upper ground,
And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.
“Strange friend,” I said, “here is no cause to mourn.”
“None,” said that other, “save the undone years,
The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,
Was my life also; I went hunting wild
After the wildest beauty in the world,
Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair,
But mocks the steady running of the hour,
And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here.
For by my glee might many men have laughed,
And of my weeping something had been left,
Which must die now. I mean the truth untold,
The pity of war, the pity war distilled.
Now men will go content with what we spoiled.
Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.
They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress.
None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.
Courage was mine, and I had mystery;
Wisdom was mine, and I had mastery:
To miss the march of this retreating world
Into vain citadels that are not walled.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels,
I would go up and wash them from sweet wells,
Even with truths that lie too deep for taint.
I would have poured my spirit without stint
But not through wounds; not on the cess of war.
Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were.
“I am the enemy you killed, my friend.
I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned
Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.
I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.
Let us sleep now. . . .”
WORD NOTES:
IMPORTANT QUESTION:
1. What kind of poem "Strange meeting" is?
War poem.
2. Which war is spoken of in the poem ?
1st world war.
3. Where does the soldier in Strange meeting find himself?
In Hell
4. Why soldier in Strange meeting believe that he is in Hell?
The dead man's smile
5. What truth about war said by the dead man?
Pity of War
6. The dead man says he used to process...
Courage and wisdom
7. The dead man in the strange meeting wants to ...
Tell the truth about war
8. What does the old man say he is?
The enemy killed by the soldier.
9. What does the dead man in Strange meeting want to do at the very end?
He wants to sleep.
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...... Wilfred Owen......
TEXT:
It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,—
By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.
With a thousand fears that vision's face was grained;
Yet no blood reached there from the upper ground,
And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.
“Strange friend,” I said, “here is no cause to mourn.”
“None,” said that other, “save the undone years,
The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,
Was my life also; I went hunting wild
After the wildest beauty in the world,
Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair,
But mocks the steady running of the hour,
And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here.
For by my glee might many men have laughed,
And of my weeping something had been left,
Which must die now. I mean the truth untold,
The pity of war, the pity war distilled.
Now men will go content with what we spoiled.
Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.
They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress.
None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.
Courage was mine, and I had mystery;
Wisdom was mine, and I had mastery:
To miss the march of this retreating world
Into vain citadels that are not walled.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels,
I would go up and wash them from sweet wells,
Even with truths that lie too deep for taint.
I would have poured my spirit without stint
But not through wounds; not on the cess of war.
Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were.
“I am the enemy you killed, my friend.
I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned
Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.
I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.
Let us sleep now. . . .”
WORD NOTES:
- Profound- deep
- Scooped - dug out
- Groined - cut into deep vaults
- Encumbered - huddled together
- Groaned - making a sound out of pain
- Bestirred - moved
- Pietious - distressing
- Sullen - dark/ Gloomy
- Grained - marked
- Flues - here refers to tunnel
- Undone years - years which has lost in the battlefield
- Hunting wild - seeking joy and rapture
- Braided hair - plated hair
- Distilled - hidden
- Spilled - destroyed
- Track - make a long journey from
- Mastery - full command over the need of the situation
- Retreating - going back
- Vain citadels - false ideals
- Walled - defended
- Stint - restriction
- Parried - avoid
- Loath - unwilled
IMPORTANT QUESTION:
1. What kind of poem "Strange meeting" is?
War poem.
2. Which war is spoken of in the poem ?
1st world war.
3. Where does the soldier in Strange meeting find himself?
In Hell
4. Why soldier in Strange meeting believe that he is in Hell?
The dead man's smile
5. What truth about war said by the dead man?
Pity of War
6. The dead man says he used to process...
Courage and wisdom
7. The dead man in the strange meeting wants to ...
Tell the truth about war
8. What does the old man say he is?
The enemy killed by the soldier.
9. What does the dead man in Strange meeting want to do at the very end?
He wants to sleep.
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