Mental Cases
July 6, 2023Inspection
July 6, 2023Maundy Thursday
Between the brown hands of a server-lad
The silver cross was offered to be kissed.
The men came up, lugubrious, but not sad,
And knelt reluctantly, half-prejudiced.
(And kissing, kissed the emblem of a creed.)
Then mourning women knelt; meek mouths they had,
(And kissed the Body of the Christ indeed.)
Young children came, with eager lips and glad.
(These kissed a silver doll, immensely bright.)
Then I, too, knelt before that acolyte.
Above the crucifix I bent my head:
The Christ was thin, and cold, and very dead:
And yet I bowed, yea, kissed – my lips did cling.
(I kissed the warm live hand that held the thing.)
Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was an English poet and soldier who is considered one of the most important voices of the First World War. Owen's poetry often dealt with the horrors of war and the suffering of soldiers, and his most famous works include "Dulce et Decorum Est" and "Anthem for Doomed Youth." Owen was killed in action just one week before the end of the war.