Soldiers never do die well;
Crosses mark the places -
Wooden crosses where they fell,
Stuck above their faces.
Soldiers pitch and cough and twitch -
All the world roars red and black;
Soldiers smother in a ditch,
Choking through the whole attack.
'' Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene. ... It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure that it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry. ... They threw you in and told you the rules and the first time they caught you off base they killed you.'' E.Hemingway ('A Farewell to Arms',1929)
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Hemingway understood the power and intensity of brevity, it's hard to think of authors who used brevity better. His descriptions are thus short piercing stabs to our heart. If making the reader uneasy and afflicted with melancholy will make them see the truth, then see the truth they will. He is a master poet and master novelist and master short-story writer.