1/12/2012

Shield Of Achilles - W.H. Auden

Excerpt:
Out of the air a voice without a face 
Proved by statistics that some cause was just 
In tones as dry and level as the place: 
No one was cheered and nothing was discussed; 
Column by column in a cloud of dust 
They marched away enduring a belief
Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief. 

4 comments:

  1. It's a remarkable poem, and , of course, so timely.

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  2. We did the whole poem, which is worth checking out, Teresa, at school. In the original shield forging episode in the Iliad, which the poem refers to, the scene on the shield described by Homer is one of a torchlight wedding procession. I remember thinking that this was strange. I studied classics at university later and discovered that the shield picture was intended to represent Greek culture and 'western' civilisation. I fear we have been losing the battle for civilisation since that time, to judge by recent events.

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    1. I read the poem in its entirety not too long ago. I will do so again. The last two days have been tough for me, such a mess we seem to be in and getting messier fast. We are on a hell-bound train, but I still hope that it will lead to something much better. We shall see...

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  3. Are you are regular poetry reader? If you read Auden, I suspect you must be.

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