The Parable of the Old Man and the Young - Wilfred Owen
Larry Robinson
Lrobpoet at sonic.net
Sun Nov 11 06:36:31 PST 2018
The Parable of the Old Man and the Young
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb, for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an Angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not they hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him, thy son.
Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns,
A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
- Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) spent much of his short, adult life as a volunteer soldier for the British military during World War I.
He wrote vivid and terrifying poems about modern warfare. Owen was killed by machinegun fire just days before the end of the war.
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