III. THE DEAF ADDER

Well, it's no good brooding.

The past cannot return.

They have killed him and buried him.

Many men as good as he have gone:

They were good men even if one never knew them.

It is a just and honourable war.

He went in readily at the start, though he hated it,

And one would not have had him do otherwise.

And, thank God, he did the job well

That had to be done.

He has suffered with millions of others

For the sake of the future's peace,

And ungrudgingly laid down his life

In the cleanest of England's wars.

There is no room for regret here, only for pride.

Heart, you fool, lie down.

Cannot you hear

My excellent reasoning?