Soldiers never do die well;
Crosses mark the places —
Wooden crosses where they fell,
Stuck above their faces.
Soldiers pitch and cough and twitch —
All the world roars red and black;
Soldiers smother in a ditch,
Choking through the whole attack.
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love for poety
From guest emily (contact)
oh my god i loved this poem like really much hemmingway is sooo good like oh my god -
Can't imagine a worse death than dying amidst turmoil and away from family and home. Was surprised to see the two words - crosses, so close together in so few lines. Seem to think we always try to use synonyms and not have repetition of the same word so often. How can anyone disagree with Hemingway though?
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I feel that this is a good example of where the use of the same word adds strength to the piece rather than detracts from it. Had Hemingway adopted the custom of using a synonym for the second cross such as marker, sign etc it would have lost the impact.
Knowing when to break past the guidelines is one of the reasons why hemmingway was such a good writer and poet.
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Champs D'Honneur
Hemmingway writes a short, sharp, concise slice of poetry and serves it without pomp but parades circumstance. He delivers his point via poetic devices and just enough imagery to illuminate. The Poem is timeless. Since time imemorial soldiers haven't been dying in slow motion sequences to movie makers soundtracks but dying in the nitty, gritty, raw, foul reality of combat zones, they don't die unemotionally akin to robotic clones. I admire the way Hemingway voices his feelings for the soldiers without making any kind of political statement but by placing the soldier in his last battle dress he speaks for those now without voices.
Thought provoking and as pertinent to the soldiers of past wars as is present and sadly, of tomorrow's too. -
Not bad
From guest varro (contact)
i love ernest hemingway if anyone would like to chat to me about him or any poetry my msn is voo_man@hotmail.com -
The sentiment is strong in this piece. This poem should be used more by the politicans. Better yet, send the politicans to the front line....
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A good poem.
A good poem, but who really dies well? Being warm in your bed, or cold and dirty in a trench, you still die. And once you are dead will it really matter to you how you came to be that way? -
This is the reason i´ll never tie a yellow ribbon. This is why i´d rather run and be called a coward.
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this piece is unbelievable. the length added to the impact it had.
well done Ernest Hemingway! - ive always loved your works and now i know why!
*shadow -
This poem should be used for the war in Iraq, people are for the war yet they don't know the suffering of what can happen. Only writers and poets are the ones who get the "real" message about war.
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