The fullness of living

The fullness of living

Sub titled (a prayer before action). Four verse poem about flying and death close at hand and how beautiful was life.

1944-05-18

One page typewritten document

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

SYeomanHT104405v10011

[underlined]THE FULLNESS OF LIVING[/underlined]
(A prayer before action)

“….. But lovers in war-time
Better understand
The fullness of living
With death close at hand.”

Grant me, O Lord, once more to be with her,
To make my final homage at her breast;
And let me keep my night-long vigil there,
Before I am by hate and violence blessed.

Let me be brave. Shape though my lips to smile
And comfort her, well knowing I am weak;
And may she see no vision of despair
Within my eyes, and may my fear not speak.

All but our love, all else save that deny,
Let us forget, but for one shining hour,
We are to part; and through our deathless love
Teach us that death has lost its awful power.

Then, should I fall
Amidst the coming strife,
I shall have known how beautiful,
How beautiful was life.

18 May 44
Tuddenham