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I dream of a collaboration that will become so complete that, often, the poet will think as musician and the musician as poet, so that the work resulting from this union will not be the random conclusion of a series of approximations and concessions, but the harmonious synthesis of two aspects of the same thought.—Arthur Honneger (1892-1955)

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

By Wilfred Owen

 

This is one of the most famous anti-war poems ever written. The Latin title means: "Sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country." (From Horace, Odes, III. ii. 13)

 

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned out backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

 

 

 

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
poet, patriot, solider, pacifist

"My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity."

 

Wilfred Owen, one of approximately 9,000,000 fatalities in World War I, was killed in action on the Sambre Canal just seven days before the Armistice on November 4, 1918. He was caught in a German machine gun blast and killed. He was twenty-five years old.

WAR
Barrett Strong

 

War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War is something that I despise
For it means destruction of innocent lives
For it means tears in thousands of mothers' eyes
When their sons go out to fight to give their lives

War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing

War
It's nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
War is the enemy of all mankind
The thought of war blows my mind
Handed down from generation to generation
Induction destruction
Who wants to die

War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing

War has shattered many young men's dreams
Made them disabled bitter and mean

Life is too precious to be fighting wars
each day
War can't give life it can only take it away

War
It's nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
Peace love and understanding
There must be some place for these things today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord there's gotta be a better way
That's better than
War

War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing

Epitaph on a Tyrant

 

Perfection of a kind, was what he was after,

And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;

He knew human folly like the back of his hand,

And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;

When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,

And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

 

W.H.Auden

“Peace begins with a smile.”

- Mother Teresa

 

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?”

- Mahatma Gandhi

 

“People say to me so often, "Jane how can you be so peaceful when everywhere around you people want books signed, people are asking these questions and yet you seem peaceful," and I always answer that it is the peace of the forest that I carry inside.” – Jane Goodall

 

“War doesn’t determine who’s right, it determines who’s left.”

- Eddie Vedder

 

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace"
- Jimi Hendrix

 

“Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world”

- The Talmud (Jewish Scripture)

 

“We bring to your thought and minds that right-minded human beings seek to promote above all else the life of all things. .. that peace is not merely the absence of war, but the constant effort to maintain harmonious existence between all peoples, from individual to individual, and between humans and the other beings of this planet...that this spiritual consciousness is the path to survival of humankind.” 

- The Haudenosaunee (Native American) Declaration

 

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

- Albert Einstein

The Poetic Heart

War & Peace

The Poetic Heart

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Great Mystery Publishing

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HINDU PRAYER FOR PEACE

Oh God, lead us from the unreal to the Real.
Oh God, lead us from darkness to Light.
Oh God, lead us from death to immortality.
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti unto all.

Oh Lord God Almighty, may there be Pace in celestial regions.
May there be Pace on Earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome, and may tress and plants bring Peace to all.
May all beneficent beings bring Peace to us.
May thy Vedic Lay propagate Peace all through the world.
May all things be a source of Peace to us.
May thy Peace itself bestow Peace on all
and may that Peace come to me also.

BAHA'I PRAYER FOR PEACE

Be generous in prosperity,
and thankful in adversity.
Be fair in judgement,
and guarded in thy speech.
Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness,
and a home to a stranger.
Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light
unto the feet of the erring.
Be a breath of light to the body of humankind,
a dew to the soul of the human heart,
and a fruit upon the tree of humility.


BUDDHIST PRAYER FOR PEACE

May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses.

May those frightened cease to be afraid and may those bound be free.

May the powerless find power, and may people think of befriending one another.

May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wilderness -
the children, the aged, the unprotected -
be guarded by beneficial celestials,
and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.

PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA

From the depths of slumber
As I ascend the spiral stairway of wakefulness,
I whisper
God! God! God!

Thou art the food
And when I break my fast of nightly separation from Thee,
I taste Thee and mentally say
God! God! God!

No matter where I go, the spotlight of my mind
Ever keeps turning on Thee
And in the battle din of activity my silent war-cry is ever:
God! God! God!

When boisterous storms of trails shriek
And worries howl at me,
I drown their noises loudly chanting
God! God! God!

When my mind weaves dreams with threads of memories
On that magic cloth I do emboss
God! God! God!

In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
serving, meditating, chanting, Divinely loving,
My soul constantly hums, unheard by any:
God! God! God!

May the work of your hands be a sign of gratitude and reverence for the human condition.

MAHATMA GHANDI

UNIVERSAL PRAYER

May all beings find a common ground of unity.
May all beings be happy.
May the poor be fed.
May the naked be clothed.
May the thirsty receive the waters of pure light.
May the deaf hear.
May the war mongers find refuge in peace.
May all beings love one another.
May all children be protected.
May all beings walk in harmony.
May all beings find simplicity.
May all beings realise their true nature.
May all races come together in brotherhood.
May the blind see.
May the lame walk.
May all beings that are lost find their way.
May all beings that are miserable surrender to truth.

May all beings that are sad find happiness.
May all beings that are unconscious be awakened.
May all beings that are lonely find perfect companion.
May all beings that are mute be able to speak.
May all beings that are uneducated receive knowledge.
May all beings that are weak find strength.
May all beings that are brave be rewarded.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be enlightened.
May peace prevail in all hearts.

Amen

 

CLOSING  Peace PRAYER by John of God

Dear God,

Again in the metaphor of the flower as we disburse, we are seeds in the wind.

As we return to our respective places around the earth, we accept the opportunity and challenge to become seeds of peace to a needy world.

As the Casa volunteers reflect Your love to us in their respective ways, may we also reflect to those around us the healing, Love and Truth that we experience here.

Strengthen our service through frequent remembrance of these gifts.
Amen

SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE

Watch for signs of Peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to it and it seems likely that we could find our society experiencing it in epidemic proportions. Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:

1. Tendency to think and act spontaneously, rather than from fear

2. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment

3. Loss of interest in judging other people

4. Loss of interest in judging self

5. Loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others

6. Loss of interest in conflict

7. Loss of ability to worry (a very serious symptom)

8. Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation

9. Contented feelings of connectedness with others and with nature

10. Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes and from the heart

11. Increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen

12. Increasing susceptibility to Love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it

If you have all or even most of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition may be too far advanced to turn back. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting several of these symptoms, remain exposed at your own risk. This condition of Inner Peace is likely to be well into its infectious stage.

BEANNACHT
(BLESSINGS FROM AN IRISH NUN)

On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulder and you stumble,
May the clay dance to balance you.
And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window and the ghost of loss gets in to you,
May a flock of colours, indigo, red, green and azure blue,
Come to awaken in you a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays in the curragh of thought and a stain of ocean blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters a path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours.
May the clarity of light be yours.
May the fluency of the ocean be yours.
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow wind work these words of love around you in an invisible cloak to mind your life.

ADVANCES IN KILLING EACH OTHER

- ROBOT WARFARE

Scroll down for video footage on  robots being designed for future human battles! 

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