Aimée
WIFE AND COUNTRY
Dear, let me thank you for this:
That you made me remember, in fight,
England—all mine at your kiss,
At the touch of your hands in the night:
England—your giving’s delight.
About This Book
The collection opens with the execution of a condemned soldier and follows his spirit as it seeks admittance to a mythic hall of warriors, where a disembodied Eye and Truth judge the dead. Through a series of grave songs the voices of infantrymen, aviators, and gunners recount frontline violence, comradeship, technique, and sacrifice, and their celebration of martial courage contrasts with the deserter's shame. The tribunal denies entry, framing communal notions of honour, judgment, and exclusion in the aftermath of battlefield killing.