A new poem by Carol Ann Duffy written to mark the centenary of Armistice Day has been released today. Danny Boyle invited Duffy to write a poem as part of Pages of the Sea, which will see thousands of people gather on beaches across the UK and the Republic of Ireland for an informal, nationwide gesture of remembrance on 11 November 2018. The title of Danny Boyle’s Armistice commemoration Pages of the Sea is inspired by the last line in Duffy’s sonnet, and is commissioned by 14-18 NOW.
Six Scottish beaches chosen to be part of Danny Boyle’s Armistice Day commission for 14-18 NOW and National Theatre of Scotland, Pages of the Sea, include: St Ninian’s Isle beach in Shetland, West Sands in St Andrews, Scapa beach in Orkney, Ayr Beach, Burghead Bay beach on the Moray Firth (exact location TBC) and Cula Bay beach on the isle of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.
The Wound in Time will be read by individuals, families and communities as they gather on beaches on 11 November and is also available online.
THE WOUND IN TIME
It is the wound in Time. The century’s tides,
chanting their bitter psalms, cannot heal it.
Not the war to end all wars; death’s birthing place;
the earth nursing its ticking metal eggs, hatching
new carnage. But how could you know, brave
as belief as you boarded the boats, singing?
The end of God in the poisonous, shrapneled air.
Poetry gargling its own blood. We sense it was love
you gave your world for; the town squares silent,
awaiting their cenotaphs. What happened next?
War. And after that? War. And now? War. War.
History might as well be water, chastising this shore;
for we learn nothing from your endless sacrifice.
Your faces drowning in the pages of the sea.
~ Carol Ann Duffy, 2018
Danny Boyle said:
I hope that Carol Ann Duffy’s poem will be something that you’ll read privately as individuals, or with friends, or publicly amongst people on the beach on 11 November. Poetry in First World War was such an extraordinary artform – it reported in the way that television does now on experiences that were unimaginable to the people at home.
What a moving Poem !