War Poems - Poems For War

Poems about war. You can read the best war poems. Browse through all war poems.


The Next War - Poem by Wilfred Owen

War's a joke for me and you,
Wile we know such dreams are true.
- Siegfried Sassoon

Out there, we've walked quite friendly up to Death,-
Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland,-
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We've sniffed the green thick odour of his breath,-
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't writhe.
He's spat at us with bullets and he's coughed
Shrapnel. We chorussed when he sang aloft,
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.

Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier's paid to kick against His powers.
We laughed, -knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags.


Comments about The Next War by Wilfred Owen

  • Rookie - 0 Points Joel Drown (6/12/2017 8:57:00 AM)

    Dear Wilfred Owen, my name is Joel drown and i read your poem and its magnificent how you could capture the thing in common between love and war.The point that hit me the most was how you could paint the image of numbing feeling that love and war can make. thank you for your time and your service. (Report) Reply

    2 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • Rookie - 24 Points Ray Gibbs (1/21/2015 10:42:00 PM)

    heart of matter War... (Report) Reply

    23 person liked.
    		19 person did not like.
  • Rookie Vanni Pule' (6/23/2006 4:55:00 AM)

    Death is personified but it fails to stir up emotions of fear and grief. The soldier on the front becomes insensitive to the fear of death. Although it can come in many forms, the soldier comes to accept the gamble.

    In the first verse, death is the explosion that is responsible for “spilling the mess-tins in our hands”. It is the gas attack and the soldiers have “sniffed the green thick odour of his breath. The bullets are “coughed” and the shrapnel is “spat”. But at the end of this verse death becomes the traditional harvester with his scythe killing indiscriminately.

    Death cannot be an enemy to the soldier. It has become a constant companion because the soldier has killed too: “we leagued with him”. How can the soldier hold it against Death if war itself is part of the conspiracy of killing? “No soldier’s paid to kick against His powers.”

    Wars will come and wars will go and Death will always be there on the side of the allies and on the side of the enemy – fighting “for lives; not men, for flags”. It is not concerned with allegiances, ideologies, principles or patriotism. So, whatever will cause it, the next war will be another triumph for Death. (Report) Reply

    65 person liked.
    		19 person did not like.
Read all 3 comments »

Poems About War

  1. 1. The Next War , Wilfred Owen
  2. 2. World War Ii = Best Of The Rest War Poems , Tom Zart
  3. 3. From A German War Primer , Bertolt Brecht
  4. 4. Sekhmet, The Lion-Headed Goddess Of War , Margaret Atwood
  5. 5. Love And War , Ovid
  6. 6. A War Song To Englishmen , William Blake
  7. 7. Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind , Stephen Crane
  8. 8. War Some More , Sandra Osborne
  9. 9. A Prayer In Time Of War , Alfred Noyes
  10. 10. Meditations In Time Of Civil War , William Butler Yeats
  11. 11. War Music [down On Your Knees, Achilles] , Christopher Logue
  12. 12. Repression Of War Experience , Siegfried Sassoon
  13. 13. War Of The Worlds , john tiong chunghoo
  14. 14. Memorial Day For The War Dead , Yehuda Amichai
  15. 15. There Was Crimson Clash Of War. , Stephen Crane
  16. 16. On Receiving News Of The War , Isaac Rosenberg
  17. 17. War, War, War! , Elizabeth Padillo Olesen
  18. 18. Two Poems From The War , Archibald MacLeish
  19. 19. Spring In War Time , Sara Teasdale
  20. 20. The Next War , Robert Graves
  21. 21. War Profit Litany , Allen Ginsberg
  22. 22. A Meditation In Time Of War , William Butler Yeats
  23. 23. War Is Never Over , Cecil L. Harrison
  24. 24. On Being Asked For A War Poem , William Butler Yeats
  25. 25. War Song , Thomas Moore
  26. 26. Tell Brave Deeds Of War , Stephen Crane
  27. 27. A War Song! , Sylvia Chidi
  28. 28. I'Ll Be Coming Home Soon From This War , Jeff Fleischer
  29. 29. Song-Books Of The War , Siegfried Sassoon
  30. 30. Sonnet: War Is Inevitable At Times , Dr. A.Celestine Raj Manohar ..
  31. 31. Nefarious War , Li Po
  32. 32. War War War , gajanan mishra
  33. 33. The War Films , Sir Henry Newbolt
  34. 34. At The War Office, London. , Thomas Hardy
  35. 35. War-Music , Henry Van Dyke
  36. 36. The Watchman (War War War War War War) , Udiah (witness to Yah)
  37. 37. The Holy War , Rudyard Kipling
  38. 38. Memories Of War , Joseph T. Renaldi
  39. 39. At The War Office, London (Affixing The .. , Thomas Hardy
  40. 40. To The Man-Of-War-Bird , Walt Whitman
  41. 41. In California During The Gulf War , Denise Levertov
  42. 42. Sonnet 46: Mine Eye And Heart Are At A M.. , William Shakespeare
  43. 43. Lessons Of The War , Henry Reed
  44. 44. To Lucasta On Going To The War - For The.. , Robert Graves
  45. 45. 0108 Two Poems About War , Michael Shepherd
  46. 46. Vietnam War Memorial Wall , Luke Easter
  47. 47. The War Of The Children , Aldo Kraas
  48. 48. On Being Asked To Write A Poem Against T.. , Hayden Carruth
  49. 49. Sonnet: Kargil War-Song , Dr. A.Celestine Raj Manohar ..
  50. 50. Bob Dylan Wrote Masters Of War , Uriah Hamilton

New War Poems

  1. War, Peace&cry, r ashish kumar
  2. Love Versus Terrorism - Part 1 - Poems O.., Nikhil Parekh
  3. Please Stop War, Nikhil Parekh
  4. A Declaration Of War Anytime, Anywhere, .., MOHAMMAD SKATI
  5. Ghastly War Could Only Win, Nikhil Parekh
  6. The Stupidity Of Nations Crossing Swords, Daya Nandan
  7. War Is..., bethanny taylor
  8. A Fourth World War Will Be Inevitable An.., MOHAMMAD SKATI
  9. Tom Zart War Poems, Tom Zart
  10. War Is..., C Jay Caputo
Click here to list all new poems »

All Poems

[Report Error]