SsAttack
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
A Poem by Siegfried Sassoon, from The Old Huntsman
- AT dawn the ridge emerges massed and dun
- In the wild purple of the glow'ring sun,
- Smouldering through spouts of drifting smoke that shroud
- The menacing scarred slope; and, one by one,
- Tanks creep and topple forward to the wire.
- The barrage roars and lifts. Then, clumsily bowed
- With bombs and guns and shovels and battle-gear,
- Men jostle and climb to meet the bristling fire.
- Lines of grey, muttering faces, masked with fear,
- They leave their trenches, going over the top,
- While time ticks blank and busy on their wrists,
- And hope, with furtive eyes and grappling fists,
- Flounders in mud. O Jesus, make it stop!
