Soldiers of the Great War Known Unto God, Cabaret Rouge Cemetery, Souchez, France. © 2013 by John M. Shea

A Soldier of the Great War Known Unto God

Other views: Front, Front

Monday, April 1, 1918

"From France

The spirit drank the Café lights;

All the hot life that glittered there,

And heard men say to women gay,

'Life is just so in France'.



The spirit dreams of Café lights,

And golden faces and soft tones,

And hears men groan to broken men,

'This is not Life in France'.



Heaped stones and a charred signboard shows

With grass between and dead folk under,

And some birds sing, while the spirit takes wing.

And this is life in France.



— Isaac Rosenberg"

Quotation Context

'From France', by Isaac Rosenberg, killed in action during a night patrol on April 1, 1918 in Fampoux, 8 km east of Arras. Rosenberg was in the King's Own Royal Regiment, sent as reinforcements near the end of the German Somme Offensive, Operation Michael.

Source

Poetry of the First World War, an Anthology by Tim Kendall, page 139, publisher: Oxford University Press, publication date: 2013

Tags

1918-04-01, 1918, April, France, Isaac Rosenberg, Rosenberg, Souchez