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HAPPINESS by WILFRED OWEN
Ever again to breathe pure happiness, So happy that we gave away our toy? We smiled at nothings, needing no caress? Have we not laughed too often since with Joy? Have we not stolen too strange and sorrowful wrongs For her hands' pardoning? The sun may cleanse, And time, and starlight. Life will sing great songs, And gods will show us pleasures more than men's.
Yet heaven looks smaller than the old doll's-home, No nestling place is left in bluebell bloom, And the wide arms of trees have lost their scope. The former happiness is unreturning: Boys' griefs are not so grievous as youth's yearning, Boys have no sadness sadder than our hope.
| Author | Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918) |
|---|---|
| Title | Happiness |
| Item Date | 1983 |
| Repository name | ProQuest |
| 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. |
| Digital repository | The First World War Poetry Digital Archive |
| Reference URL | http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/3310 |