Inspection
INSPECTION by WILFRED OWEN
'You! What d'you mean by this?' I rapped.
'You dare come on parade like this?'
'Please, sir, it's---' ''Old yer mouth,' the sergeant snapped.
'I takes 'is name, sir?'---'Please, and then dismiss.'
Some days 'confined to camp' he got,
For being 'dirty on parade'.
He told me, afterwards, the damnèd spot
Was blood, his own. 'Well, blood is dirt,' I said.
'Blood's dirt,' he laughed, looking away,
Far off to where his wound had bled
And almost merged for ever into clay.
'The world is washing out its stains,' he said.
'It doesn't like our cheeks so red:
Young blood's its great objection.
But when we're duly white-washed, being dead,
The race will bear Field Marshal God's inspection.'
| Title |
Inspection
|
|---|---|
| Author |
Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918)
|
| Item date |
1983
|
| Content | |
| Copyright |
The Estate of Wilfred Owen. The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto & Windus, 1983. Preliminaries, introductory, editorial matter, manuscripts and fragments omitted.
|
| Digital repository | |
| Repository name |
ProQuest
|
| Repository address URL | |
| First line |
You! What d'you mean by this?' I rapped.
|
| Publication source |
The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen
|
| Publication editor |
Stallworthy, Jon
|
| Publishers |
Chatto & Windus
|
| Publication place |
London
|
Collection
Citation
“Inspection,” by Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918). The Estate of Wilfred Owen. The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto & Windus, 1983. Preliminaries, introductory, editorial matter, manuscripts and fragments omitted. via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed May 3, 2024, http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/3316.
Permitted Use
This item is available for non-commercial educational use under the terms of the Jisc Model Licence. Further details available at: http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/permitteduse
