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Text
Slaughter
English source:
William Soutar
Within the violence of the storm
The wise men are made dumb:
Young bones are hollowed by the worm;
The babe dies in the womb.
Above the lover’s mouth is pressed
The silence of a stone:
Fate rides upon an iron beast
And tramples cities down.
And shall the multitudinous grave
Our enmity inter;
These dungeons of misrule enslave
Our bitterness and fear?
All are the conquered; and in vain
The laurel binds the brow:
The phantoms of the dead remain
And from our faces show.
The wise men are made dumb:
Young bones are hollowed by the worm;
The babe dies in the womb.
Above the lover’s mouth is pressed
The silence of a stone:
Fate rides upon an iron beast
And tramples cities down.
And shall the multitudinous grave
Our enmity inter;
These dungeons of misrule enslave
Our bitterness and fear?
All are the conquered; and in vain
The laurel binds the brow:
The phantoms of the dead remain
And from our faces show.
Composer
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music,…
Poet
William Soutar
William Soutar was a Scottish poet from Perthshire.