The guns were silent, and the silent hills
had bowed their grasses to a gentle breeze
I gazed upon the vales and on the rills,
And whispered, "What of these?' and "What of these?
These long forgotten dead with sunken graves,
Some crossless, with unwritten memories
Their only mourners are the moaning waves,
Their only minstrels are the singing trees
And thus I mused and sorrowed wistfully
I watched the place where they had scaled the height,
The height whereon they bled so bitterly
Throughout each day and through each blistered night
I sat there long, and listened - all things listened too
I heard the epics of a thousand trees,
A thousand waves I heard; and then I knew
The waves were very old, the trees were wise:
The dead would be remembered evermore-
The valiant dead that gazed upon the skies,
And slept in great battalions by the shore.
Notes
For more information use this link:
www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/28/1067233168468.html
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Comments
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I like it...maybe if I knew more about war and all that history I would like it even more... but it made me understand some things. Nice poem keep up the good work.
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Words are not enough to extend what i truly feel about this piece but then it's really a wonderful tribute... I never had or maybe I couldn't do much the same, kinda heavy for the thoughts to deal with, it really touched the whole world I guess.
My salute to Leon Gellert...
Edited on Jan 28, 7:00 p.m. because ''. -
Brings back memories of WWii the beaches of France as told by my father, I often wondered how he could remember in detail all of his fellow soldiers fifty years later...as if it were yesterday... This poem was beautifully written and could relate to any battle ground... Excellent
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This is really good! I like how you talk about how the dead will be remembered though they may be in unmarked graves. Wonderful poem!
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Until reading this I've never considered how haunting and deserted the battle fields must have been for the last of the soldiers to leave. Left with only their fallen comrades unmarked graves and the memory.
Gellert has approaced the battlefield subject with a fresh view in this piece, he has caught the atmosphere and presented it to the reader well.
This opened a new perspective for me.
Another one to add to the 'must be read' list.
Andrew -
This poem was chosen to be an emotional centrepiece of the dedication ceremony at the recently opened (2003) Australian War Memorial at London's Hyde Park. It was written when Gellert was just 23 years old to mark the evacuation of the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915.
It's an extremely evocative poem, speaking of dead soldiers being mourned by the waves, the trees singing for them. It has an all-pervading air of sadness, loss and grief which must have been at the time, an overwhelming emotion.
Sad reading, but beautifully written and one poem that requires return visits.
~Von~
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