The Roads Also
by Wilfred Owen

English poet. Now considered as one of the finest English 'war poets', he remained relatively unknown until an edition of his poems was published in 1931 with a Memoir in by Edmund Blunden. Previously his poetry had been collected and published in 1920 by Owen's friend, the poet Siegfried Sassoon.

Most of his work was produced between the years 1915 and 1918 and detailed his horrific experiences in the trenches during World War I. 'The Collected Poems' were published in 1963 and were chosen by the composer Britten for his 'War Requiem'.

Other 'war poets' include Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon.

← Previous Poem Wilfred Owen Next Poem →

The Roads Also
by Wilfred Owen

The roads also have their wistful rest,
When the weathercocks perch still and roost,
And the town is quite like a candle-lit room -
The streets also dream their dream.

The old houses muse of the old days
And their fond trees leaning on them doze,
On their steps chatter and clatter stops,
On their doors a strange hand taps.

Men remember alien ardours
As the dusk unearths old mournful odours.
In the garden unborn child souls wail
And the dead scribble on walls.

Though their own child cry for them in tears,
Women weep but hear no sound upstairs.
They believe in loves they had not lived
And in passion past the reach of the stairs
To the world's towers or stars.

← Previous Poem Wilfred Owen Next Poem →

The Roads Also by Wilfred Owen