Wednesday, October 04, 2006

THE YOUNG DEAD SOLDIERS

THE YOUNG DEAD SOLDIERS
by Archibald Mcleish

The Young dead soldiers do not speak. Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses: who has not heard them?
They have a silence that speaks for them at night and when the clock counts.
They say: We were young. We have died. Remember us.
They say: We have done what we could but until it is finished it is not done.
They say: We have given our lives but until it is finished no one can know what our lives gave.
They say: Our deaths are not ours; they are yours; they will mean what you make them.
They say: Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say; it is you who must say this.
They say: We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.
We were young, they say. We have died. Remember us.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

yes, the young dead soldiers do speak....they speak thru the sad eyes, the broken hearts and the ongoing tears of their families and friends. my brother, who is a young dead soldier, speaks to me all the time...in the emptiness i feel when i think about what should have been.

they do speak, they are everywhere...and it just amazes me that everyone does not here them.