Veterans' Day

The Parable of the Old Man and the Young by Wilfred Owen

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 strops,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.

But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

==

The poet, Wilfred Owen, wrote this in a trench.

He was killed in action on November 4, 1918.

According to legend, the telegram announcing his death was delivered to his parent the exact moment -- the 11th minute of the 11th day of the 11th month -- just as church bells started peeling to mark the first Armistice day.

The specifics of the story are probably too good to be true.

But Wilfred Owen's poetry is real and good and timeless.