A Dead Boche (Poem)

A Dead Boche is a poem by Robert von Ranke Graves. Its purpose was to tell people about the truth of war at a time when it was being glorified. It is partly based on Graves' own experiences during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and is generally considered to reflect his own encounter with a dead German soldier during the battle for Mametz Wood, in which he participated as a Captain in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.
To you who’d read my songs of War
And only hear of blood and fame,
I’ll say (you’ve heard it said before)
”War’s Hell!” and if you doubt the same,
Today I found in Mametz Wood
A certain cure for lust of blood:
Where, propped against a shattered trunk,
In a great mess of things unclean,
Sat a dead Boche; he scowled and stunk
With clothes and face a sodden green,
Big-bellied, spectacled, crop-haired,
Dribbling black blood from nose and beard.

[@RoninMug]

we are studying this poem in english, great reading!