Я послушала и посмотрела, как Бен читает стихотворения. Очень трогательно.
Вот, что он читал:
A Listening Post ("Пост перехвата"), автор - Robert Ernest Vernede
The sun's a red ball in the oak
And all the grass is grey with dew,
A while ago a blackbird spoke--
He didn't know the world's askew.
And yonder rifleman and I
Wait here behind the misty trees
To shoot the first man that goes by,
Our rifles ready on our knees.
How could he know that if we fail
The world may lie in chains for years
And England be a bygone tale
And right be wrong, and laughter tears?
Strange that this bird sits there and sings
While we must only sit and plan--
Who are so much the higher things--
The murder of our fellow man…
But maybe God will cause to be--
Who brought forth sweetness from the strong--
Out of our discords harmony
Sweeter than that bird's song.
In Memoriam ("В память"), автор - Ewart Alan Mackintosh
So you were David’s father,
And he was your only son,
And the new-cut peats are rotting
And the work is left undone,
Because of an old man weeping,
Just an old man in pain,
For David, his son David,
That will not come again.
Oh, the letters he wrote you,
And I can see them still,
Not a word of the fighting,
But just the sheep on the hill
And how you should get the crops in
Ere the year get stormier,
And the Bosches have got his body,
And I was his officer.
You were only David’s father,
But I had fifty sons
When we went up in the evening
Under the arch of the guns,
And we came back at twilight -
O God! I heard them call
To me for help and pity
That could not help at all.
Oh, never will I forget you,
My men that trusted me,
More my sons than your fathers’,
For they could only see
The little helpless babies
And the young men in their pride.
They could not see you dying,
And hold you while you died.
Happy and young and gallant,
They saw their first-born go,
But not the strong limbs broken
And the beautiful men brought low,
The piteous writhing bodies,
They screamed “Don’t leave me, sir”,
For they were only your fathers
But I was your officer.
(оба поэта погибли в Первую Мировую)
http://benbarnesfan.com/gallery/thumbna ... ?album=476
+Отчёт фанатки, повстречавшей вчера Бена: наш прекрасный принц опять с соплями, сказал, что простудился.