5th November

[seaJane]

I forgot to do this on the day, but 5 November was the 129th anniversary of the birth of James Elroy Flecker (1884-1915). Not a war poet, but a friend of G.L. Cheesman (died Gallipoli 1915). He wrote a few war-related poems, and "November Eves", with its oddly prescient ending:

Is it the mist or the dead leaves,
Or the dead men -- November eves?

Pray excuse a little self-indulgence on my part - he's one of my favourite poets.

[David Ridgus]

'We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go

Always a little further; it may be

Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow

Across that angry or that glimmering sea.'

And even a non war-related text has found its way into a military context: in the above case the bell tower of the SAS's HQ

David