A Short Ballad on the Life of Billy

had to google all if this

So will refrain from commenting too much about content coz I flat out don't know enough about it.

What I did get was worthy of 5 because the write is so good in terms of rhyme and structure.

Breifly...

I agree with you GM. It is interesting how the historical treatment of the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand (google) in treated in Bosnia.
But the propaganda goals of Woodie's grand entrance would not have been exposed as foolishness until Versailles.more...

Apology

My comment was uncalled for and inappropriate. I should have thought before submitting. I am sorry for the offence it caused.

This is doubly so as GM is so courteous and considerate in his commenting.

I do believe the points I made are important for our own current world situation but it was the wrong place and way to make them.

I would like to add that I would not term what kept those men going then (and again eleven years later) as patriotism.more...

Although the view I suggested may be in the minority, it was not uncommon in my readings about WWI. I certainly meant no offense to British patriotism, regret any allusion suggesting that, and, if found, would otherwise modify the poem or ask it to be deleted by the editors. I apologize to my Lit friends across the pond if they read it as such.

Briefly, I believe Imperialsim and so-called diplomacy reached a point of absurdity for self-interest. That the assassination of someone and his wife triggered a war in which millions of lives were lost is beyond comprehension to me.

However, I'm as interested in the ballad form itself. ClearDayNow's comments were spot on in calling it simplistic. In retrospect, "A Short Ballad..." Is an oxymoron when I think of Wilde's "Reading Gaol" or "Song of Rolande." I think the only reason why Pound's short "Ballad of the Goodly Fère" works is because chose Christ about whom there is so much known that reader extends the images of the poem to complete the narrative according to his needs.

Anyway, this was my "ah ha" from the comments as a poet. Perhaps I'll incorporate some more of the historical components of the whys and wherefores of WWI suggested here, both in the smoke filled rooms and in the trenches, in a longer ballad sometime in the future. Thanks for the helpful comments.more...

5ed

Question the veracity of the sarcasm here:
"The war to end all wars was just
another goddam lie"
I believe it was not viewed that way by the Brits, and that would have been post Armistice disillusionment, anyway.more...