Greetings from Spockgirl Musings, where logic rules, but the frailties of
human nature, genetic inadequacies and hormonal imbalances wreak havoc.



Thursday, September 9, 2010

To honour the fallen.... again


Sorry folks, but once again there seems to be a reason why I could not let the deaths of two soldiers from the U.K. (Captain Andrew Griffiths and Lance Corporal Joseph McFarlane Pool) go unmentioned. A couple days ago I had picked up three books, one of which was a book of poetry published in 1900. I had flipped through the pages reading snippets, and one particular poem caught my eye.

Dust to Dust

The body sinks to earth away,
From whence it came;
The soul ascends the shining way,
A living flame.

The body slumbers in the dust,
For years untold;
The soul companion of the just,
Within the fold.

That heavenly fold, from whence no more
We careless stray;
For earth and all its trials sore
Have passed away.


This poem was written by "John Steele of St. John, N.B., ... born Dumfriesshire, Scotland in 1811", and is from a book published in 1900, the title of which is: Selections from Scottish Canadian Poets, being a Collection of the best poetry written by Scotsmen and their descendants in the Dominion of Canada. So.... what, you may ask, does this have to do with anything? Well, it turns out, according to the British Ministry of Defence, that one of the fallen soldiers (LCpl Pool) was originally from Dumfries, Scotland. Coincidence? Perhaps, but for whatever reason, I'm posting this in their honour, because I.... can. And.... because I have been getting the impression that there is a serious lack of respect and a great deal of disrespect directed towards British soldiers in their own country. I hope this is truly not the case.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I LOVE THIS POEM.... Thank you so much for sharing and putting forth the effort to honor those who die in War, no matter their country.