292. Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
b"W Owen read by Classic Poetry Aloud:\\nhttp://www.classicpoetryaloud.com/\\n \\nGiving voice to the poetry of the past.\\n \\n---------------------------------------------------\\n \\nAnthem for Doomed Youth \\nby Wilfred Owen (1893 \\u2013 1918)\\n \\n What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? \\n Only the monstrous anger of the guns. \\n Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle \\n Can patter out their hasty orisons. \\n No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; \\n Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, \\u2013 \\n The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; \\n And bugles calling for them from sad shires. \\n What candles may be held to speed them all? \\n Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes \\n Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. \\n The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; \\n Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, \\n And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.\\n \\n \\n \\nFirst aired: 6 September 2007\\n\\nFor hundreds more poetry readings, visit the Classic Poetry Aloud index.\\n\\nReading \\xa9 Classic Poetry Aloud 2008"