The young dead Soldiers
The young dead soldiers do not speak.
Nevertheless they are heard in the still houses. (Who has not heard them?)....
They say: We were young. We have died. Remember us.
They say: We have done what we could But until it is finished it is not done.
They say: We have given our lives But until it is finished no one can know what our lives gave.
They say: Our deaths are not ours, They are yours, They will mean what you make them.
They say: Whether our lives, and our deaths were for peace and a new hope Or for nothing We cannot say. It is you who must say this.
They say: We leave you our deaths, Give them their meaning.
by Archibald MacLeish
