Sunday, September 16, 2007

Anthem for Doomed Youth

owen
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Anthem for Doomed Youth Tripdych
Conte crayon pencil on paper
Inspired by poem of Wilfred Owens


ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstruous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, -
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Wilfred Owen



Disabled


Study for a painting 'Disabled'
18" wide x 24" high
acrylic, ink and collage drawing
Inspired by poem of Wilfred Owen


DISABLED

He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
Voices of play and pleasure after day,
Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.

About this time Town used to swing so gay
When glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees,
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim, -
In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
Now he will never feel again how slim
Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands;
All of them touch him like some queer disease.

There was an artist silly for his face,
For it was younger than his youth, last year.
Now, he is old; his back will never brace;
He's lost his colour very far from here,
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race
And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.

One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg,
After the matches, carried shoulder-high.
It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,
He thought he'd better join. - He wonders why.
Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts,
That's why; and may be, too, to please his Meg;
Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts
He asked to join. He didn't have to beg;
Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years.
Germans he scarcely thought of; all their guilt,
And Austria's, did not move him. And no fears
Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.
And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.

Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.

Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes,
And do what things the rules consider wise,
And take whatever pity they may dole.
To-night he noticed how the women's eyes
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
How cold and late it is! Why don't they come
And put him into bed? Why don't they come?

Wilfred Owen






murder in the arts





Dan Eldon website - a tribute
Gay For Today: Federico Garcia Lorca
Gay For Today: Joe Orton
Wilfred Owen: Poems (1921)
Study for 'Disabled' (1967)
   18" w x 24" h; acrylic, ink and collage drawing
   Inspired by "Disabled," a poem of Wilfred Owen
Disabled (1967)
   36" w x 48" h; acrylic and collage on canvas
   Inspired by "Disabled," a poem of Wilfred Owen)
Wilfred Owen (poem) Dulce et Decorum Est
Wilfred Owen: Anthem for Doomed Youths
   drawing inspired by Wilfred Owen's poem
   Anthem for Doomed Youths (mp3)
Gay For Today: Wilfred Owen
Gay For Today: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Anton von Webern: A soldier in Burg-Mitteril
   a poem, collage and painting
poem: Anton v. Webern - What Difference Can It Make...


• Gay For Today: Death from HIV/Aids
   • Leigh Bowery
   • Keith Haring
   • Peter Hujar
   • Derek Jarman
   • Mark Morrisroe
   • David Wojnarowicz