[RD] Is observance of Remembrance Day (or your nation's equivalent) a civil obligation?

[Arakhor]

In a similar vein, one of the most famous anti-war poems is Dulce et Decorum Est, written by Wilfred Owen, who died in battle just a week before the end of the First World War.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST¹

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares² we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest³ began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots⁴
Of tired, outstripped⁵ Five-Nines⁶ that dropped behind.
Gas!⁷ Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets⁸ just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime⁹...
Dim, through the misty panes¹⁰ and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,¹¹ choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud¹²
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest¹³
To children ardent¹⁴ for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.¹⁵

Wilfred Owen
Thought to have been written between 8 October 1917 and March, 1918

Spoiler for notes on the poem :

Notes on Dulce et Decorum Est
1. DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country.
2. Flares - rockets which were sent up to burn with a brilliant glare to light up men and other targets in the area between the front lines (See illustration, page 118 of Out in the Dark.)
3. Distant rest - a camp away from the front line where exhausted soldiers might rest for a few days, or longer
4. Hoots - the noise made by the shells rushing through the air
5. Outstripped - outpaced, the soldiers have struggled beyond the reach of these shells which are now falling behind them as they struggle away from the scene of battle
6. Five-Nines - 5.9 calibre explosive shells
7. Gas! - poison gas. From the symptoms it would appear to be chlorine or phosgene gas. The filling of the lungs with fluid had the same effects as when a person drowned
8. Helmets - the early name for gas masks
9. Lime - a white chalky substance which can burn live tissue
10. Panes - the glass in the eyepieces of the gas masks
11. Guttering - Owen probably meant flickering out like a candle or gurgling like water draining down a gutter, referring to the sounds in the throat of the choking man, or it might be a sound partly like stuttering and partly like gurgling
12. Cud - normally the regurgitated grass that cows chew usually green and bubbling. Here a similar looking material was issuing from the soldier's mouth
13. High zest - idealistic enthusiasm, keenly believing in the rightness of the idea
14. ardent - keen
15. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - see note 1 above.

These notes are taken from the book, Out in the Dark, Poetry of the First World War, where other war poems that need special explanations are similarly annotated. The ideal book for students getting to grips with the poetry of the First World War.

Pronunciation
The pronunciation of Dulce is DULKAY. The letter C in Latin was pronounced like the C in "car". The word is often given an Italian pronunciation pronouncing the C like the C in cello, but this is wrong. Try checking this out in a Latin dictionary! - David Roberts.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

If anyone's interested, the live coverage of the Remembrance Day ceremonies is starting now, on CBC. Right now it's the part of the coverage when they interview various people and explain things. The actual ceremony starts in about 35 minutes.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/remembrance-day-2017-canada-tributes-problem-1.4398821?cid=

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Well, that was an odd ceremony. The "Last Post" was played too fast, which basically threw everything else off. There were awkward silences, the piper started playing during the time when everything should have been silent, and I don't know what those kids in the choir were humming during the prayer, but they should have been quiet during that time.

I suppose the right-wingers are going to whine and complain that Trudeau's wife laid the Government of Canada wreath, but since he was in Vietnam and couldn't do it himself...

The bagpipe music was great at the other times, though. And one of the reporters interviewed a 99-year-old WWII veteran who barely looked 80.

 

[Traitorfish]

Just in case anyone was looking for proof that Britain is an insane country,

 

[Arakhor]

Was that sign actually designed by a six-year-old??

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Was that sign actually designed by a six-year-old??

Somebody mentally 6, but physically 20 years older? It wouldn't surprise me.

The Royal Canadian Legion would throw a fit over that. They went after Tim Hortons for selling a "poppy donut" (red jelly in the middle, dark pink frosting; it looked kinda good if you're into a sugar overload). And horrors, Telus (one of the telecoms around here) used a picture of a poppy in a fundraising project for one of the veterans' groups that is not the Legion. They took the image down.

Someone should inform Her Majesty that the Royal Canadian Legion has trademarked the poppy and goes after anyone who uses a picture of one without permission even faster than Harlan Ellison goes after anyone who writes the title "City on the Edge of Forever" without paying him royalties.

 

[red_elk]

Pieces of meat as commemoration of fallen soldiers?
That's... insane indeed.

 

[Ajidica]

Just in case anyone was looking for proof that Britain is an insane country,

I think that display counts as a crime against humanity.

 

[Arakhor]

I was criticising the sign, which really does look like it was designed by someone at primary school, rather than the unfortunate implications of using it for a meat counter.

 

[red_elk]

I think even if the sign was indeed drawn by a kid, there is nothing wrong about it.
But using it for a meat counter (and next to "All our meat is British" message), is very improper.

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

I don't know what those kids in the choir were humming during the prayer, but they should have been quiet during that time.

It's the middle section of "Jupiter" from the Planets suite; Holst later adapted it as a standalone tune ("Thaxted") to accompany the British hymn "I Vow To Thee, My Country". It's also used as the instrumentals to several Christian hymns, probably the best-known being "O God Beyond All Praising".

It is very awkward how they tried to employ it, but watching the video it does seem something went wrong in the organization. Doesn't a government representative usually give a speech?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Just in case anyone was looking for proof that Britain is an insane country,

Do they have a meat-grinder nicknamed "the Somme"?

 

[Broken_Erika]

I was criticising the sign, which really does look like it was designed by someone at primary school, rather than the unfortunate implications of using it for a meat counter.

That's what happens when minimum wage workers make signs....