A New Heaven (To --- on Active Service)
A NEW HEAVEN by WILFRED OWEN (To ------ on Active Service)
Seeing we never found gay fairyland (Though still we crouched by bluebells moon by moon) And missed the tide of Lethe; yet are soon For that new bridge that leaves old Styx half-spanned; Nor ever unto Mecca caravanned; Nor bugled Asgard, skilled in magic rune; Nor yearned for far Nirvana, the sweet swoon, And from high Paradise are cursed and banned;
---Let's die home, ferry across the Channel! Thus Shall we live gods there. Death shall be no sev'rance. Weary cathedrals light new shrines for us. To us, rough knees of boys shall ache with rev'rence. Are not girls' breasts a clear, strong Acropole? ---There our own mothers' tears shall heal us whole.
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| Author | Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918) |
|---|---|
| Title | A New Heaven (To --- on Active Service) |
| Item Date | 1983 |
| File type | Text |
| Content | Poem |
| Repository name | ProQuest |
| Repository URL | http://lion.chawyck.co.uk |
| Copyright | The Estate of Wilfred Owen. The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto Windus, 1983. Preliminaries, introductory, editorial matter, manuscripts and fragments omitted. |
| First line | Seeing we never found gay fairyland |
| Publication source | The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen |
| Publication editor | Stallworthy, Jon |
| Publishers | Chatto Windus |
| Publication place | London |
| Digital repository | The First World War Poetry Digital Archive |
| Reference URL | http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/3296 |
