Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

In honor of the fallen

Roman Catholic poet shares wit of G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc

Ed. Note: November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of World War I. The San Diego Reader will devote this month’s poetry columns to the poets who wrote about their experiences of that war.

Rouge Bouquet

  • In a wood they call the Rouge Bouquet
  • There is a new-made grave to-day,
  • Built by never a spade nor pick
  • Yet covered with earth ten metres thick.
  • There lie many fighting men,
  • Dead in their youthful prime,
  • Never to laugh nor love again
  • Nor taste the Summertime.
  • For Death came flying through the air
  • And stopped his flight at the dugout stair,
  • Touched his prey and left them there,
  • Clay to clay.
  • He hid their bodies stealthily
  • In the soil of the land they fought to free
  • And fled away.
  • Now over the grave abrupt and clear
  • Three volleys ring;
  • And perhaps their brave young spirits hear
  • The bugle sing:
  • “Go to sleep!
  • Go to sleep!
  • Slumber well where the shell screamed and fell.
  • Let your rifles rest on the muddy floor,
  • You will not need them any more.
  • Danger’s past;
  • Now at last,
  • Go to sleep!”
  • There is on earth no worthier grave
  • To hold the bodies of the brave
  • Than this place of pain and pride
  • Where they nobly fought and nobly died.
  • Never fear but in the skies
  • Saints and angels stand
  • Smiling with their holy eyes
  • On this new-come band.
  • St. Michael’s sword darts through the air
  • And touches the aureole on his hair
  • As he sees them stand saluting there,
  • His stalwart sons;
  • And Patrick, Brigid, Columkill
  • Rejoice that in veins of warriors still
  • The Gael’s blood runs.
  • And up to Heaven’s doorway floats,
  • From the wood called Rouge Bouquet
  • A delicate cloud of bugle notes
  • That softly say:
  • “Farewell!
  • Farewell!
  • Comrades true, born anew, peace to you!
  • Your souls shall be where the heroes are
  • And your memory shine like the morning-star.
  • Brave and dear,
  • Shield us here.
  • Farewell!”
Joyce Kilmer

Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918) was an American poet best known for his poem “Trees.” While not officially considered one of the War Poets of World War I, Kilmer served and died in World War I. He was considered a leading Roman Catholic poet and writer, often compared to G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc in his wit and expansive knowledge. He was killed by a sniper’s bullet in the Second Battle of the Marne. He wrote “Rouge Bouquet” shortly before his death, in honor of the fallen during a German artillery bombardment of an American position in the Rouge Bouquet forest near Baccarat, France, on March 7, 1918. At several points in the poem, the rhythm imitates that of the elegiac bugle piece “Taps,” traditionally played at a soldier’s funeral.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Downtown thrift shop offers three bands in one show

Come nightfall, Humble Heart hosts The Beat

Ed. Note: November 2018 marks 100 years since the end of World War I. The San Diego Reader will devote this month’s poetry columns to the poets who wrote about their experiences of that war.

Rouge Bouquet

  • In a wood they call the Rouge Bouquet
  • There is a new-made grave to-day,
  • Built by never a spade nor pick
  • Yet covered with earth ten metres thick.
  • There lie many fighting men,
  • Dead in their youthful prime,
  • Never to laugh nor love again
  • Nor taste the Summertime.
  • For Death came flying through the air
  • And stopped his flight at the dugout stair,
  • Touched his prey and left them there,
  • Clay to clay.
  • He hid their bodies stealthily
  • In the soil of the land they fought to free
  • And fled away.
  • Now over the grave abrupt and clear
  • Three volleys ring;
  • And perhaps their brave young spirits hear
  • The bugle sing:
  • “Go to sleep!
  • Go to sleep!
  • Slumber well where the shell screamed and fell.
  • Let your rifles rest on the muddy floor,
  • You will not need them any more.
  • Danger’s past;
  • Now at last,
  • Go to sleep!”
  • There is on earth no worthier grave
  • To hold the bodies of the brave
  • Than this place of pain and pride
  • Where they nobly fought and nobly died.
  • Never fear but in the skies
  • Saints and angels stand
  • Smiling with their holy eyes
  • On this new-come band.
  • St. Michael’s sword darts through the air
  • And touches the aureole on his hair
  • As he sees them stand saluting there,
  • His stalwart sons;
  • And Patrick, Brigid, Columkill
  • Rejoice that in veins of warriors still
  • The Gael’s blood runs.
  • And up to Heaven’s doorway floats,
  • From the wood called Rouge Bouquet
  • A delicate cloud of bugle notes
  • That softly say:
  • “Farewell!
  • Farewell!
  • Comrades true, born anew, peace to you!
  • Your souls shall be where the heroes are
  • And your memory shine like the morning-star.
  • Brave and dear,
  • Shield us here.
  • Farewell!”
Joyce Kilmer

Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918) was an American poet best known for his poem “Trees.” While not officially considered one of the War Poets of World War I, Kilmer served and died in World War I. He was considered a leading Roman Catholic poet and writer, often compared to G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc in his wit and expansive knowledge. He was killed by a sniper’s bullet in the Second Battle of the Marne. He wrote “Rouge Bouquet” shortly before his death, in honor of the fallen during a German artillery bombardment of an American position in the Rouge Bouquet forest near Baccarat, France, on March 7, 1918. At several points in the poem, the rhythm imitates that of the elegiac bugle piece “Taps,” traditionally played at a soldier’s funeral.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Raging Cider & Mead celebrates nine years

Company wants to bring America back to its apple-tree roots
Next Article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader