“It is shaming sometimes how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions. Who, for decorum’s sake, has ever slowed his heart, or muted a blush?”

— Ian McEwan

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Ian McEwan 80

British author 1948

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Context: If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
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Pro patria mori.]]
Context: If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
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If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, —
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: [[w:Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori|Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori. ]]