Apostles of peace always give a loud cry against the war. Why ? Because it kills sensibility, sensitivity and in short all that is humane in us , apart from the overall destruction that it brings about . Again it is only the circumstances that individuals as soldiers are pitted against one another , and killing one brings laurels to the other. These soldiers could have met as friends and not as foes – thirsty for the blood of one another , had they been not soldiers or there had not been war. The sentiments of a soldier ,repentant and full of remorse after killing an enemy soldier in a war are best expressed by Thomas Hardy in the following poem :
The Man He Killed
Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have set us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
I shot him dead because--
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although
He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like--just as I--
Was out of work--had sold his traps--
No other reason why.
Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat, if met where any bar is,
Or help to half a crown.
The readers may like it !
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrea8.
ReplyDeleteA fine piece indeed. Thanks for sharing. But in my humble opinion soldiers are not thirsty for each others blood. They are doing their duty . In order to maintain peace and harmony they are bound to fight , to protect their countrymen.
ReplyDelete@ Jagdish Bali :
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bali ji !
@ Zeal :
Thanks for your honest opinion . Perhaps, the use of expression "thirsty for the blood of one another " by me was not proper .However , soldiers are a highly motivated lot and during war , killing is their dharma.No one blames them for that. The irony is that the call of duty enjoins upon them to kill and get killed or how else to win a war ! Being complete strangers , killer and the killed have no personal scores to settle.
Thanks, again !
Very very nice. I commented before too but my internet died right at that min....so came back
ReplyDelete@ A :
ReplyDeleteThanks !