I didn't want to die - not before I'd finished reading The Return of the Native anyhow. Siegfried Sassoon More Quotes by Siegfried Sassoon More Quotes From Siegfried Sassoon The fact is that five years ago I was, as near as possible, a different person to what I am tonight. I, as I am now, didn't exist at all. Will the same thing happen in the next five years? I hope so. Siegfried Sassoon changepersonalityyears I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust. Siegfried Sassoon partyevilbelieve For it is humanly certain that most of us remember very little of what we have read. To open almost any book a second time is to be reminded that we had forgotten well-nigh everything that the writer told us. Parting from the narrator and his narrative, we retain only a fading impression; and he, as it were, takes the book away from us and tucks it under his arm. Siegfried Sassoon fadingnarratorsbook The dead...are more real than the living because they are complete. Siegfried Sassoon real I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed. Siegfried Sassoon fightingmenwar You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Siegfried Sassoon laughtercheerhome And when the war is done and youth stone dead, Siegfried Sassoon betrayalhomewar In me the tiger sniffs the rose. Siegfried Sassoon dualityoppositesrose Life for the majority of the population. Siegfried Sassoon funeraloddsstruggle Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin they think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives. Siegfried Sassoon gunhomethinking December stillness, teach me through your trees That loom along the west, one with the land, The veiled evangel of your mysteries. While nightfall, sad and spacious, on the down Deepens, and dusk embues me where I stand, With grave diminishings of green and brown, Speak, roofless Nature, your instinctive words; And let me learn your secret from the sky, Following a flock of steadfast-journeying birds In lone remote migration beating by. December stillness, crossed by twilight roads, Teach me to travel far and bear my loads. Siegfried Sassoon landtwilightsky Who's this—alone with stone and sky? It's only my old dog and I— It's only him; it's only me; Alone with stone and grass and tree. What share we most—we two together? Smells, and awareness of the weather. What is it makes us more than dust? My trust in him; in me his trust. Siegfried Sassoon dustdogsky I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it. I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this War, on which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. Siegfried Sassoon militarywarbelieve But I've grown thoughtful now. And you have lost Your early-morning freshness of surprise At being so utterly mine: you've learned to fear The gloomy, stricken places in my soul, And the occasional ghosts that haunt my gaze. Siegfried Sassoon thoughtfulsoulmorning Oh yes, I know the way to heaven was easy. We found the little kingdom of our passion that all can share who walk the road of lovers. In wild and secret happiness we stumbled; and gods and demons clamoured in our senses. Siegfried Sassoon passionsecretheaven The song was wordless; The singing will never be done. Siegfried Sassoon singingdonesong I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. Siegfried Sassoon behalfactingsoldier Across the land a faint blue veil of mist Siegfried Sassoon autumnflamesblue And the wind upon its way whispered the boughs of May, And touched the nodding peony flowers to bid them waken. Siegfried Sassoon flowermaywind His wet white face and miserable eyesBrought nurses to him more than groans and sighs:But hoarse and low and rapid rose and fellHis troubled voice: he did the business well.(First verse of Died of Wounds) Siegfried Sassoon voicewhitenurse
