“Paid, with a pile of peace-complacent stone,
The armies who endured that sullen swamp.”

—  Siegfried Sassoon

"On Passing the New Menin Gate" (1927-1928)
Collected Poems (1949)
Context: Who will remember, passing through this Gate,
The unheroic Dead who fed the guns?
Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate, —
Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones?
Crudely renewed, the Salient holds its own.
Paid are its dim defenders by this pomp;
Paid, with a pile of peace-complacent stone,
The armies who endured that sullen swamp.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Dec. 8, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Paid, with a pile of peace-complacent stone, The armies who endured that sullen swamp." by Siegfried Sassoon?
Siegfried Sassoon photo
Siegfried Sassoon 23
English poet, diarist and memoirist 1886–1967

Related quotes

Bret Harte photo

“There is peace in the swamp, though the quiet is Death”

Bret Harte (1836–1902) American author and poet

East and West Poems, Part I, The Copperhead.

Francis of Assisi photo

“Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.”

Francis of Assisi Canticle of the Sun

Canticle of the Sun

“I never fail to toss a stone on the pile, Hannes. In my own way it is a small offering to those lonesome gods.”

Louis L'Amour (1908–1988) Novelist, short story writer

Source: The Lonesome Gods (1983), Ch. 8
Context: Sometimes, when crossing a pass in the mountains, one will see a pile of loose stones, even several piles. Foolish people have dug into them, thinking treasure is buried there. It is a stupid idea, to think a treasure would be marked so obviously.
It is an old custom of these people to pick up a stone and toss it on the pile.  Perhaps it is a symbolical lightening of the load they carry, perhaps a small offering to the gods of the trails. I never fail to toss a stone on the pile, Hannes. In my own way it is a small offering to those lonesome gods. 
A man once told me they do the same thing in Tibet, and some of our ancient people may have come from there, or near there. Regardless of that, I like to think those ancient gods are out there waiting, and that they are, because of my offerings, a little less lonely.

John F. Kennedy photo

“But complacency or self-congratulation can imperil our security as much as the weapons of tyranny. A moment of pause is not a promise of peace.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

1963, Third State of the Union Address

Eleanor H. Porter photo

“…this great grey pile of stone has been a house, never a home. It takes a woman's hand and heart, or a child's presence to make a home…”

Eleanor H. Porter (1868–1920) American novelist

John Pendleton
Works, Pollyanna (1913)

Helen Hunt Jackson photo

“When on the ground red apples lie there
in piles like jewels shining
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbines twining”

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–1885) Novelist, poet, writer, activist

from October's Bright Blue Sky

René Girard photo

“There is no culture without a tomb and no tomb without a culture; in the end the tomb is the first and only cultural symbol. The above-ground tomb does not have to be invented. It is the pile of stones in which the victim of the unanimous stoning is buried. It is the first pyramid.”

René Girard book Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World

Source: Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World (1978), p. 83.

Eduardo Martínez Somalo photo

“We cannot call up an army of peace but we can call up a spiritual army to implore peace, so that the fact that one day of peace is better than years of war will penetrate peoples’ consciences.”

Eduardo Martínez Somalo (1927–2021) cardinal of the Catholic Church

Cardinal Martinez reiterates Pope’s call for peace https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal_martinez_reiterates_popes_call_for_peace (August 9, 2006)

“Men endured so much for war, but for peace they dared nothing.”

Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) British novelist and philosopher

Source: The Seed and the Flower

Nelson Mandela photo

“I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to these Palestinian and Israeli leaders. In particular, we pay homage to the memory of Yitshak Rabin who paid the supreme sacrifice in pursuit of peace.”

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist

1990s, The International Day Of Solidarity With The Palestinian People (1997)

Related topics