At a Calvary Near the Ancre

Ancre Cemetery, Northern France

At a Calvary Near the Ancre

Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918)

One ever hangs where shelled roads part.

In this war He too lost a limb,

But His disciples hide apart;

And now the Soldiers bear with Him.

Near Golgotha strolls many a priest,

And in their faces there is pride

That they were flesh-marked by the Beast

By whom the gentle Christ's denied.

The scribes on all the people shove

And bawl allegiance to the state,

But they who love the greater love

Lay down their life; they do not hate.

Wilfred Owen died in action in France on 4 November 1918. His family received the news a week later, the day the Great War ended.