I wonder if this poem might fit the bill, Barbara: Survivors No doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk. Of course they're 'longing to go out again,' - These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk. They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died,- Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride... Men who went out to battle, grim and glad; Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad. By Siegfried Sassoon, Craiglockhart, October, 1917. Claire ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2006 20:06:32 +1300 From: "Barbara Dennis" <tdennis@ihug.co.nz> Subject: [GREATWAR] Poetry on returning home To: "GREATWAR - Queries" <GREATWAR@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <001701c719ce$43713b00$2201a8c0@pentagon> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I am after a poem or song or similar for the men that returned home (either WW1 or 2) & how they adapted. I tried googling war + poetry &poetry + remembrance - but so far I have only found things on the people who didn't come home. I have a scroll made up for the men who died, but there are just as many family members who came home & to me need something to identify them with. All I can say is thoughts like - how hard it was to leave behind what they saw / their mates / memories (good & / or bad) / readjusting to civie life / that even though they came home I am just as proud of them as those who didn't return. Thoughts like that. This can cover any of the forces - Navy, Merchant, Army, Airforce. Does anyone have any favourite poems that may tie in with what I am after? Or any other ideas on trying to google to come up with a suggestion. Many thanks, Barbara Dennis Auckland, NZ ------------------------------