He's not reading it, he's reciting it. Hitchens had a huge catalogue of poems, quotations, essays and passages from books that he could recall with staggering precision.
So to difficult to read to the end of this poem without choking up, I'm so glad I discovered this reading, Hitch delivers it beautifully in his inimitable style despite the rising, 'choking' emotion of the last half of the poem.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares, we turned our backs And towards our distant rest, began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots; Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets, just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent( for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori.
@@boredmalcontentbro, he's not hitchens reciting from memory, who cares lmao Thanks to op for commenting this for those who want to read the text along with the vid
That's the Hitchens that I think a lot of the absolutist progressives, and certainly religious right wingers, missed. The lover of history and literature.
This is a wonderful reading of this great poem. Hitchens approaches it as a reporter doing a commentary, and it draws you in and enhances Owens biting imagery.
A favorite poem of mine. He recites it in such a narrative way, not the way I hear it in my head.. it gives it a brutal immediacy . Now days, to speak such contempt for stupid slaughter on the battlefield would be expected, but in Edwardian England, where "I vow to thee my country" was sung... for Wilfred Owen to speak and write these words .. an act of incredible courage and honesty. It is said that his mother received the notice of his death on the battle field while the church bells were pealing in celebration of the Armistice. An entire generation lost over the Arrogance of the Aristocracy and the stupidity of Colonialism.
War is pointless and futile but without men like Owen writing such harrowing and beautiful accounts to describe the real horror of mans brutality towards other men then it would be left to the protagonist to explain it. As an ex soldier I salute Wilfred Owen. Hitchens and people like Hitchens may fully understand the context and meaning but they will never fully understand the pain of what these men went through.
which is absolutly fucking idiotic to say. Hitchens experienced more atrocities as a reporter in Northern Ireland Lybia and Iraq than many soldiers will see in their line of duty. I served in Kosovo, hearing first hand accounts of what the serbs did. Serving in Afgahnistan later, to see fucking disgusting things alquaida did to girls. But nothing compared to what some of the reporters went through and saw during their stay prior to NATO-troops beeing there, or some of the reporters I've met who who reported directly from Rwanda. The elitism that only soldiers can understand is absurd, idiotic and as dangerous as the lie of dulce et decorum est. Or are you implying (considering your profile picture) that an atheist cannot ? Which would make your statement even more idiotic.
So far removed we are from war. If he were only here to see the current climate. Ever critical. In such a divisive time, now he is needed more than ever.
had the honor and pleasure of working, studying and drinking with Christopher for 25 years. And I'm missing his wit, charm and intelligence every day. It breaks my heart how things turn out but life goes on.
+Joseph Suh of course sir I have many. For a whole year I was a personal assistant and one of his graduate students and wrote a long cover story about his life and experiences. After my dad died in 1986 Christopher became a second father to me and treated me like another son.
+Joseph Suh since I spent so much time over the years connected to Christopher it's hard to pinpoint so many experiences with him. I am still planning on writing of my favorite episodes and back in the 1990s told him jokingly that I would write his official biography. he called me his Boswell. lol
+Joseph Suh I first started meeting with him around 1985 at the British embassy in Washington DC. I was his graduate student and also wrote a profile of him in 1997 but after my dad died in 1986 he became like a substitute father to me always calling me and giving me fatherly advice.
Quite possibly the best recitation of this poem. The brilliance is that Hitchens lets the poem speak for itself. His passionate delivery is oblivious to the dramatic standard flourishes actors tend to bring when they perform the piece.
He was merely a youth when he wrote that. Ian Curtis too when he wrote his masterpieces. Oldies like me sometimes don't pay enough respect to our young guns.
This telling of the poem comes to me, The Hitch reading it, every time I hear or read a visceral patriot or war mongering nationalist slobbering their poison.
Hello all, I am chasing the lecture in which Hitch finishes the lecture by reciting W.B. Yeats An Irish Airman Foresees His Death. Can anyone point me to where I can find this again? Thank you
Funny, that one brought me here, as I remembered this one after hearing that. It’s a podcast podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/christopher-hitchens-audio/id386252369?i=1000085608161
Agreed. And I've seen this "corrected" version of the poem now across the internet. If you don't know what a five nine was, you should look it up and then explain to your students (a German 150 mm. gas shell equals 5.9 inches) and not give them a dumbed-down version.
@shrapn0 While I agree with your sentiment, I offer a minor correction. Don't you think a better question to ask RPenta would be "Do you think Muslims are represented by Al-Qaeda or the most reactionary forces within Islam?" One has to be careful to separate Islam, as stated in the Quran and Hadith, from Muslims. Once you ask my proposed question, it is clear that most Muslims dislike Al-Qaeda and are resisting it to a greater extent than any force in the west.
Fitting to listen to today: 11 at 11. Today we still glorify war and those with small brains and big chests stir up fire once more and we send our young men off to early death. Why? Why have we not learned from all the horror we have seen?
Asif Khan This poem used to be on the O'level English Literature syllabus so everyone of a certain age know it, even after 30 years I still know it of by heart. I do not know if kids are taught this poem today though..
+John Maddin This is not key, it is key that he remembered countless other poems and limericks etc and the Bible and the Qur'an, the Torah and so on had read all of his books of which rested upon his countless book shelves within his house of which seemed rather to be a library and nothing else - of which there must have been 2,000 books and no less.
A beautiful poem, impressively recited from memory, but I can't help thinking that Hitchens' stop-start delivery makes it sound like he's parodying his own way of speaking.
A beautiful recitation but one that sticks in the craw a bit what with Hitchens’ cheerleading for the Iraq War. Owen wrote this as a response to a war hawk who encouraged young men to join the fight. I appreciate the irony but it’s sad that this was the hill he chose to die on.
The Iraq war was not wrong because it was evil; it was wrong because it was stupid. It was wrong because it thought far too highly of the Iraqi nation, as a cohesive people. This distinction is very important to draw because millions of liberals will unironically say we went there to "steal their oil", which is a lie so bold and gargantuan and malign it would make even Donald Trump blush.
There’s a small but relevant difference here I think. Hitchens never proposed anything that amounts to “it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.” Simply that Saddam should have long been removed from power and he gave his arguments for it.
(MY POEM,MYSTIC, DON'T LAUGH WHILE EXPLAING THE POEM,IF YOU LAUGH YOU ARE THE FUNNY JOCKER.BE SERIOUS DECORUM POET,ALWAYS DEFACTO.AND .MY POEM CITADEL.FROM.A.RICHARD PAUL CHAUDARY.PREACHER AND POET.INDIAN.
Ironic. Christopher Hitchens can claim responsibility for more dead bodies on wagons and sores on innocent tongues than most other journalists. 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' could be his slogan.
bigderekkeene he supported action in iraq long before the 'neo-cons' btw I don't see what is 'conservative' about supporting regime change, kinda the polar opposite of an opinion that could be labeled 'conservative' Anyway he didn't support the war 'because it be an honour to die for the U.S' he supported it because fascists were keeping iraq as their private property nd were giving the iraqis the lives of dogs, also with our history of supporting saddam he saw it as we owe'd the iraqis a large debt...... maybe you don't give a shit about iraqis and that's your right but don't pass judgement on the people who actually do care.
Matt Bowers no he did not, you liar, I've read everything hitchens has ever written and he never renounced his support for teh intervention, the only thing he said he felt regret for was how it was carried out, all the blunders, mistakes and gaffs while doing so. But he never renounced his position n the iraq war, how dare you force words and opinions into a dead man's mouth.
![[ไฮไลต์] ฟุตบอลชาย ฝรั่งเศส vs อเมริกา รอบแบ่งกลุ่ม | โอลิมปิก 2024](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oZ9aSS0NEEg/mqdefault.jpg)
I have so much respect for those who can recite poetry.
I recited it, on paper, for my English higher exam, aged 16. Very powerful poem, has stayed with me for 50 years.
An utterly brilliant man reading an utterly brilliant poem Thanks R.I.P
He's not reading it, he's reciting it. Hitchens had a huge catalogue of poems, quotations, essays and passages from books that he could recall with staggering precision.
Wrong! Hitch is reciting the poem from memory.
War mongering intellectual globalist reading Wilfred Owen
Oh the bloody irony
So to difficult to read to the end of this poem without choking up, I'm so glad I discovered this reading, Hitch delivers it beautifully in his inimitable style despite the rising, 'choking' emotion of the last half of the poem.
Not a reading; it's a recitation from memory.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares, we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest, began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots;
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets, just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent( for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
From memory or copy and paste??
@@boredmalcontentbro, he's not hitchens reciting from memory, who cares lmao
Thanks to op for commenting this for those who want to read the text along with the vid
Christopher is still here with us, writing stalks death, he is here in his work, awaiting rediscoverey, forever at your pleasure.
Litera scripta manet
That's the Hitchens that I think a lot of the absolutist progressives, and certainly religious right wingers, missed. The lover of history and literature.
Your joking right !
He was a modern day jacobin who would have been at home in 1789
I've read that poem many times, but never so moved as with this recitation!
Remembering 2nd Lieutenant Edward Archibald Beauchamp, wounded at Givenchy, December 21st 2014, and died the next day at Lille. Faithful. 💐
Read brilliantly and a poetic monologue that has the real presence of a conversation that grabs you by the throat.
Nothing has made me smarter and more aware than Hitchens.
This is a wonderful reading of this great poem. Hitchens approaches it as a reporter doing a commentary, and it draws you in and enhances Owens biting imagery.
A favorite poem of mine. He recites it in such a narrative way, not the way I hear it in my head.. it gives it a brutal immediacy . Now days, to speak such contempt for stupid slaughter on the battlefield would be expected, but in Edwardian England, where "I vow to thee my country" was sung... for Wilfred Owen to speak and write these words .. an act of incredible courage and honesty. It is said that his mother received the notice of his death on the battle field while the church bells were pealing in celebration of the Armistice. An entire generation lost over the Arrogance of the Aristocracy and the stupidity of Colonialism.
I miss him too, but we must view such scholarly and human intellect as a gift, too briefly enjoyed, and too soon ended. I know of no other so human...
War is pointless and futile but without men like Owen writing such harrowing and beautiful accounts to describe the real horror of mans brutality towards other men then it would be left to the protagonist to explain it.
As an ex soldier I salute Wilfred Owen.
Hitchens and people like Hitchens may fully understand the context and meaning but they will never fully understand the pain of what these men went through.
I am a vet and I don't see how you could possibly say those last two lines with a straight face.
The Critical Riposte the last two lines of the poem or this comment?
He was happy to send American troops for he’s Warmongering Agenda
which is absolutly fucking idiotic to say.
Hitchens experienced more atrocities as a reporter in Northern Ireland Lybia and Iraq than many soldiers will see in their line of duty.
I served in Kosovo, hearing first hand accounts of what the serbs did. Serving in Afgahnistan later, to see fucking disgusting things alquaida did to girls.
But nothing compared to what some of the reporters went through and saw during their stay prior to NATO-troops beeing there, or some of the reporters I've met who who reported directly from Rwanda.
The elitism that only soldiers can understand is absurd, idiotic and as dangerous as the lie of dulce et decorum est.
Or are you implying (considering your profile picture) that an atheist cannot ? Which would make your statement even more idiotic.
Has there ever been anyone better at anything?
I think not!
I miss this guy !
Without a doubt, one of the greatest intellects of the 20th & 21st centuries
How does he manage to commit so many poems and songs to his memory?
thank you for posting this
So far removed we are from war. If he were only here to see the current climate. Ever critical. In such a divisive time, now he is needed more than ever.
Why have I never seen this before. One of my favorite debaters reciting one of my favorite poems. Too good to be true.
most wonderful thing... if you had no previous knowledge of the poem you'd simply think Hitch was answering a question.
Magic, he recited this marvellous work as in a conversation - quite brilliant.
had the honor and pleasure of working, studying and drinking with Christopher for 25 years. And I'm missing his wit, charm and intelligence every day. It breaks my heart how things turn out but life goes on.
Do you have any personal stories that you think capture him?
+Joseph Suh of course sir I have many. For a whole year I was a personal assistant and one of his graduate students and wrote a long cover story about his life and experiences. After my dad died in 1986 Christopher became a second father to me and treated me like another son.
Would you mind sharing one? Thank you for the response Brian.
+Joseph Suh since I spent so much time over the years connected to Christopher it's hard to pinpoint so many experiences with him. I am still planning on writing of my favorite episodes and back in the 1990s told him jokingly that I would write his official biography. he called me his Boswell. lol
+Joseph Suh I first started meeting with him around 1985 at the British embassy in Washington DC. I was his graduate student and also wrote a profile of him in 1997 but after my dad died in 1986 he became like a substitute father to me always calling me and giving me fatherly advice.
Quite possibly the best recitation of this poem. The brilliance is that Hitchens lets the poem speak for itself. His passionate delivery is oblivious to the dramatic standard flourishes actors tend to bring when they perform the piece.
Christopher Hitchens saw all this as a war correspondent.you feel his emotion. Btw this poetry appears in his last writing, Mortality
And yet pushed a globalist warmongering agenda
Hey great great grandfather died as a young irish man fighting on the front lines of the Great War. This poem always makes me think of him and weep
hitchens and owen? a perfect combination.
lovely piece
Remembered and recited so matter of fact that it is if you are hearing it first hand in a conversation with Wilfred Owen.
Neil, don't be such a dick.
The man can speak.
The way he told that gave me goosebumps
He was merely a youth when he wrote that. Ian Curtis too when he wrote his masterpieces. Oldies like me sometimes don't pay enough respect to our young guns.
I wish so much I could remember what I read only half as much as him.
@Capcomski The title and description needs to be changed to "Recited" instead of "Read".
R.I.P.
@1044gt have looked desperately for it and can't find it! help?!
This telling of the poem comes to me, The Hitch reading it, every time I hear or read a visceral patriot or war mongering nationalist slobbering their poison.
He's not reading it; he's reciting from memory.
I love the 0:38 part
The good die young...
Hello all,
I am chasing the lecture in which Hitch finishes the lecture by reciting W.B. Yeats An Irish Airman Foresees His Death.
Can anyone point me to where I can find this again?
Thank you
Funny, that one brought me here, as I remembered this one after hearing that.
It’s a podcast
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/christopher-hitchens-audio/id386252369?i=1000085608161
Not happy that my brother was given, by serious teachers, no less, a copy which reads: Deaf even to the hoots of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Agreed. And I've seen this "corrected" version of the poem now across the internet. If you don't know what a five nine was, you should look it up and then explain to your students (a German 150 mm. gas shell equals 5.9 inches) and not give them a dumbed-down version.
what is this from? which programme?
+Matthew Pope An interview.
@shrapn0 While I agree with your sentiment, I offer a minor correction. Don't you think a better question to ask RPenta would be "Do you think Muslims are represented by Al-Qaeda or the most reactionary forces within Islam?" One has to be careful to separate Islam, as stated in the Quran and Hadith, from Muslims. Once you ask my proposed question, it is clear that most Muslims dislike Al-Qaeda and are resisting it to a greater extent than any force in the west.
His face in the thumbnail 🤣
Fitting to listen to today: 11 at 11. Today we still glorify war and those with small brains and big chests stir up fire once more and we send our young men off to early death. Why? Why have we not learned from all the horror we have seen?
*swoons*
Poisoned gas. Not one of humanities' better moments.
@TheVideoRepo How so? I'm not trying to troll or be an ass. I sincerely want to know why you think this.
is he reading from memory!?
Yes he had incredible memory.
It's studied in all British schools, so it's ingrained in our memory.
Asif Khan This poem used to be on the O'level English Literature syllabus so everyone of a certain age know it, even after 30 years I still know it of by heart. I do not know if kids are taught this poem today though..
John Maddin it's a wonderful poem, completely stops you in your tracks
+John Maddin This is not key, it is key that he remembered countless other poems and limericks etc and the Bible and the Qur'an, the Torah and so on had read all of his books of which rested upon his countless book shelves within his house of which seemed rather to be a library and nothing else - of which there must have been 2,000 books and no less.
@GenghisCohen1 Were they better off under Hussein?
A beautiful poem, impressively recited from memory, but I can't help thinking that Hitchens' stop-start delivery makes it sound like he's parodying his own way of speaking.
Your second sentence scans perfectly into trochees - perhaps you could spend time on poetry?
He didn't mispronounce it.
Rarely have I seen a poem read with such a monotone indifference, but what can one expect from such a nihilistic gentleman.
I've always preferred Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier"
LMAO
@RPenta So you think Islam is represented by al-Qaeda and it's most extreme supporters?
Syria is a complicated mess too, god knows what is going to happen there.
Love Hitch and love Owen but not my favourite reading.
Not a reading; it's a recitation from memory.
Hilarious comments from the fan base about their favourite Saint
How very Religious of you all 🤣
A beautiful recitation but one that sticks in the craw a bit what with Hitchens’ cheerleading for the Iraq War. Owen wrote this as a response to a war hawk who encouraged young men to join the fight. I appreciate the irony but it’s sad that this was the hill he chose to die on.
The Iraq war was not wrong because it was evil; it was wrong because it was stupid. It was wrong because it thought far too highly of the Iraqi nation, as a cohesive people. This distinction is very important to draw because millions of liberals will unironically say we went there to "steal their oil", which is a lie so bold and gargantuan and malign it would make even Donald Trump blush.
There’s a small but relevant difference here I think. Hitchens never proposed anything that amounts to “it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.” Simply that Saddam should have long been removed from power and he gave his arguments for it.
He mispronounced the Latin part. :( Beautiful poem, though.
You can't mispronounce Latin as no one knows what good Latin sounds like - thus the dead language.
What a bunch of shit. You can mispronounce Latin, and Hitchens does here. A single C always has a hard sound.
yes this is true... it's "Duhl - kay et deck- orum est" and he pronounces it more like Italian, but that's fine.
Big cheerleader for the Iraq War. Do as I recite not as I do.
(MY POEM,MYSTIC, DON'T LAUGH WHILE EXPLAING THE POEM,IF YOU LAUGH YOU ARE THE FUNNY JOCKER.BE SERIOUS DECORUM POET,ALWAYS DEFACTO.AND .MY POEM CITADEL.FROM.A.RICHARD PAUL CHAUDARY.PREACHER AND POET.INDIAN.
Ironic. Christopher Hitchens can claim responsibility for more dead bodies on wagons and sores on innocent tongues than most other journalists.
'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' could be his slogan.
It makes me ill to watch Hypocritchens reciting one of the greatest poems ever written, when he himself was a frequent teller of the "old lie"
when did he tell this old lie? when?
jimmy2k4o as soon as he promoted and supported the neo-con crusades in Afghanistan and Iraq
bigderekkeene he supported action in iraq long before the 'neo-cons' btw I don't see what is 'conservative' about supporting regime change, kinda the polar opposite of an opinion that could be labeled 'conservative'
Anyway he didn't support the war 'because it be an honour to die for the U.S' he supported it because fascists were keeping iraq as their private property nd were giving the iraqis the lives of dogs, also with our history of supporting saddam he saw it as we owe'd the iraqis a large debt...... maybe you don't give a shit about iraqis and that's your right but don't pass judgement on the people who actually do care.
jimmy2k4o
He retracted his stances on those wars later
Matt Bowers no he did not, you liar, I've read everything hitchens has ever written and he never renounced his support for teh intervention, the only thing he said he felt regret for was how it was carried out, all the blunders, mistakes and gaffs while doing so. But he never renounced his position n the iraq war, how dare you force words and opinions into a dead man's mouth.