The Last Laugh

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'O Jesus Christ! I'm hit,'he said; and died.
Whether he vainly cursed, or prayed indeed,
The Bullets chipped-In vein! vain! vain!
Machine-guns chuckled,-Tut-tut! Tut-tut!
And the Big Gun gunffawed.

Another sighed,-'O Mother, Mother! Dad!'
Then smiled, at nothing, childlike, being dead.
And the lofty Shrapnel-cloud
Leisurely gestured,-fool!
And the falling splinters tittered.

'My Love!' one moaned. Love-languid seemed his mood,
Till, slowly lowered, his whole face kissed the mud.
And the Bayonets' long teeth grinned;
Tables of Shells booted and groaned;
And the Gas hissed.

Wilfred Owen

Poems from the first world warWhere stories live. Discover now