Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

In this time of war, let us think about the courage and sacrifice of those who may die so that others might be free.

The Dedicated

Some must employ the scythe
Upon the grasses
That the walks be smooth
For the feet of the angel.
Some keep in repair
The locks, that the visitor unhindered passes
To the innermost chamber.

Some have for endeavour
To sign away life
As lover to lover,
Or a bird using its wings
To fly to the fowler's compass,
Not out of willingness,
But being aware of
Eternal requirings.

And if they have leave
To pray, it is for contentment
If the feet of the dove
Perch on the scythe's handle,
Perch once, and then depart
Their knowledge. After, they wait
Only the colder advent,
The quenching of candles.

Philip Larkin (1922-1985), XX Poems, 18 September 1946

Diarist of the day: Captain Robert Falcon Scott, 23 March 1912

"Blizzard bad as ever -- Wilson and Bowers unable to start -- tomorrow last chance -- no fuel and only one or two [items] of food left -- must be near the end. Have decided it shall be natural -- we shall march for the depot with or without our effects and die in our tracks."