May we never forget their sacrifice for our freedom,
And may we be thankful that our generation has not had to fight as they did
for the liberty we enjoy.
from And There Was a Great Calm by Thomas Hardy
(On the Signing of the Armistice, 11 Nov. 1918)
VI
Breathless they paused. Out there men raised their glance
To where had stood those poplars lank and lopped,
As they had raised it through the four years’ dance
Of Death in the now familiar flats of France;
And murmured, ‘Strange, this! How? All firing stopped?’
VII
Aye; all was hushed. The about-to-fire fired not,
The aimed-at moved away in trance-lipped song.
One checkless regiment slung a clinching shot
And turned. The Spirit of Irony smirked out, ‘What?
Spoil peradventures woven of Rage and Wrong?’
VIII
Thenceforth no flying fires inflamed the gray,
No hurtlings shook the dewdrop from the thorn,
No moan perplexed the mute bird on the spray;
Worn horses mused: ‘We are not whipped to-day;’
No weft-winged engines blurred the moon’s thin horn.
IX
Calm fell. From Heaven distilled a clemency;
There was peace on earth, and silence in the sky;
Some could, some could not, shake off misery:
The Sinister Spirit sneered: ‘It had to be!’
And again the Spirit of Pity whispered, ‘Why?’
WordyNerdBird 
Reblogged this on myzania and commented:
97 Years ago today.
Lest we forget.
A shame that so much war and strife still continues. Take a moment to pause and remember today, those who fought and died, or were injured in body or mind. In that war and others since.
11/11, 11:00.
Thank you to all who fought, stood, fell, were left upon the fields, buried nameless and hidden under the brown earth. We remember them, and shall never forget their being. And thank you to the broken, the traumatized, the lucky. I raise my flag and praise them all.