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Prose & Poetry - War Poetry of S J Robinson - Now Poppies Grow

British fleet heading out to sea, HMS Iron Duke leading Reproduced within this area of the site are present-day First World War poems written by S. J. Robinson.  Click here for an introduction to the poems.

Now Poppies Grow

Here, once, a soldier died in stalemate slow
Now where he fell, bright poppies grow.
Once horror reigned and death was rife,
Missing comrades haunted soldier's life

The shells, the noise, the battle throng,
A whistle foretold sleep eternal long;
For, over the top, he rejoined dead friends
In that sweet peace which never ends

Eighteen or twenty, maybe less,
Soldier's age of death, upon that crest.
A wasteful loss, a generation flown -
There, lie many, still Unknown

A chilling hush fills the mourning air
They rest here, safe, without age or care
Beneath long grass, under air so still
Peace hides their graves, in trench, on hill

The most worthy monument? A poppied field.
To the carnage? The Iron Harvest yield
But from where the birds in war have flown,
The ghosts of Ypres and Somme live on...

A "dope can" was a metal syringe containing petrol for priming an aircraft engine.

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