The Last Laugh
Wilfred Owen 1893 (Oswestry) – 1918 (Sambre–Oise Canal)
'Oh! Jesus Christ! I'm hit,' he said; and died.
Whether he vainly cursed or prayed indeed,
The Bullets chirped-In vain, vain, vain!
Machine-guns chuckled,-Tut-tut! Tut-tut!
And the Big Gun guffawed.
Another sighed,-'O Mother, -Mother, - Dad!'
Then smiled at nothing, childlike, being dead.
And the lofty Shrapnel-cloud
Leisurely gestured,-Fool!
And the splinters spat, and tittered.
'My Love!' one moaned. Love-languid seemed his mood,
Till slowly lowered, his whole faced kissed the mud.
And the Bayonets' long teeth grinned;
Rabbles of Shells hooted and groaned;
And the Gas hissed.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 31, 2023
- 28 sec read
- 211 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXXXA XXXXA XXXXX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 578 |
Words | 96 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5 |
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"The Last Laugh" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/38549/the-last-laugh>.
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