He's gone, and all our plans
Are useless indeed.
We'll walk no more on Cotswolds
Where the sheep feed
Quietly and take no heed.
His body that was so quick
Is not as you
Knew it, on Severn River
Under the blue
Driving our small boat through.
You would not know him now…
But still he died
Nobly, so cover him over
With violets of pride
Purple from Severn side.
Cover him, cover him soon!
And with thick-set
Masses of memoried flowers-
Hide that red wet
Thing I must somehow forget.
Notes
This poem begins on a quiet note, remembering times of his past which were happy times, at home with his friend, who is now lying dead.
The sight of the friends mangled body is expressed by a note of rising hysteria as he tries to blot out the sight and memory of his dead friend.
Gurney mentions the River Severn and Gloucestershire, which together with his friend give two themes to this poem.
During 1917 Gurney published a collection of poems ' Severn and Somme ' a tribute to his beloved Gloucestershire and a direct comparison to the WW1 on the Somme. By 1918 it was clear that his horrific experiences had affected his already fragile mental state.
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Comments
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The contrast of imagery
From guest Caroline Gillinder (contact)
The contrast in the beautiful imagery of the countryside and the horrific imagery of death gives the poem the dramatic feel that Gurney is not only trying to express but going through himself. The fact that the poem explains a real situation makes the reader greive with the narrator of the lost friend. very moving -
Striking
From guest Brenda SilBar (contact)
This poem is simply beautiful. It struck me the first time I heard it. It is quite touching!!! -
this is beautiful
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