When I was a teenager, I was reading a book wherein an author quoted a few lines from Cecil Day Lewis’ poem, The Volunteer. In it, she was writing about some of her own personal struggles, and her efforts to convey to people why she was choosing the path in life that she was.
I, at that time, was facing struggles of my own, mostly different than hers, but relatable. The words of the poem spoke to me, just the same. These words stuck with me through the years, and I think about them sometimes.
Tell them in England, if they ask,
(Lewis, 1945)
What brought us to these wars,
To this plateau beneath the night’s
Grave manifold of stars –
It was not fraud or foolishness,
Glory, revenge, or pay:
We came because our open eyes
Could see no other way.
Because sometimes, when I open my eyes, I can see only one way.
References
Day-Lewis, C. (1945). The Lewis, C. D. (1945). Short is the time: poems 1936-1943. New York: Oxford University Press
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