“Why, then, are my hands red
with the blood of so many dead?
Is this where I was misled?”
"Here"
Tares (1961)
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R.S. Thomas 58
Welsh poet 1913–2000Related quotes

“Red lips are not so red as the stained stones kissed by the English dead.”
Source: The Poems Of Wilfred Owen

Desert Island Discs Sue Lawley, BBC, London April 2 2004
On Art

Entry (1955)
Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook (2005)

"Prologue", p. 23
Report to Greco (1965)
Context: General, the battle draws to a close and I make my report. This is where and how I fought. I fell wounded, lost heart, but did not desert. Though my teeth clattered from fear, I bound my forehead tightly with a red handkerchief to hide the blood, and ran to the assault.
Before you shall pluck out the precious feathers of my jackdaw soul, one by one, until it remains a tiny clod of earth kneaded with blood, sweat, and tears. I shall relate my struggle to you — in order to unburden myself. I shall cast off virtue, shame, and truth — in order to unburden myself. My soul resembles your creation "Toledo in the Storm"; girded by yellow thunderbolts and oppressive black clouds, fighting a desperate, unbending battle against both light and darkness. You will see my soul, will weigh it between your lanceolate eyebrows, and will judge. Do you remember the grave Cretan saying, "Return where you have failed, leave where you have succeeded"? If I failed, I shall return to the assault though but a single hour of life remains to me. If I succeeded, I shall open the earth so that I may come and recline at your side.
Listen, therefore, to my report, general, and judge. Listen to my life, grandfather, and if I fought with you, if I fell wounded and allowed no one to learn of my suffering, if I never turned my back to the enemy: Give me your blessing!

“I have forgotten much, but still remember
The poinsiana's red, blood-red in warm December.”
Flame-Heart, l. 9-10
Mark Chapman explaining how he felt when he committed murder http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2310873.stm
“There is blood in my veins
That has run clear of the stain
Contracted in so many loins.”
"Here"
Tares (1961)

quoted from Tariq Ali - The Clash of Fundamentalisms_ Crusades, Jihads and Modernity-Verso (2002)