Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Poem
March 18, 1919
The Lancaster News
Lancaster, Lancaster County, South Carolina
What is this article about?
Sonnet by Major William Sinkler Manning, a WWI soldier and son of South Carolina's governor, killed in action on November 6, 1918. The poem uses a metaphor of 'debts' to contrast civilian obligations with the singular duty of combat at the front lines, published in The Stars and Stripes on February 14, 1919.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
THE FRONT--AT LAST.
(Written by Major
William Sinkler Manning of the 316th In-
fantry, 79th Division, who was killed in action on the Meuse Nov.
6, 1918.
He was a son of Governor Manning of South Carolina, and
a member of the Washington staff of The New York Times. The poem
was published in The Stars and Stripes of Feb. 14.)
Now I am free to do, and give, and pay,
Not stinting one for other debts I owe.
My debts were these: To smile with friendly show
On all about too close for other play:
To say to all the nothings I could say,
And miss the silence which my friends would know;
To heed the clock that ticked me to and fro
To ill-done tasks, long-drawn, diluting day.
But now I am come to a wide, free space
Of easy breath, where my straight road doth lie;
And all my debts are funded in this place
To one debt, though the figures mount the sky.
My debts are one, my foe before my face--
I shall not mind the paying when I die.
SINKLER MANNING.
(Written by Major
William Sinkler Manning of the 316th In-
fantry, 79th Division, who was killed in action on the Meuse Nov.
6, 1918.
He was a son of Governor Manning of South Carolina, and
a member of the Washington staff of The New York Times. The poem
was published in The Stars and Stripes of Feb. 14.)
Now I am free to do, and give, and pay,
Not stinting one for other debts I owe.
My debts were these: To smile with friendly show
On all about too close for other play:
To say to all the nothings I could say,
And miss the silence which my friends would know;
To heed the clock that ticked me to and fro
To ill-done tasks, long-drawn, diluting day.
But now I am come to a wide, free space
Of easy breath, where my straight road doth lie;
And all my debts are funded in this place
To one debt, though the figures mount the sky.
My debts are one, my foe before my face--
I shall not mind the paying when I die.
SINKLER MANNING.
What sub-type of article is it?
Sonnet
What themes does it cover?
War Military
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
World War I
Front Lines
Soldier Duty
Combat Freedom
Meuse Argonne
What entities or persons were involved?
Major William Sinkler Manning
Poem Details
Title
The Front At Last.
Author
Major William Sinkler Manning
Subject
Reaching The Front Lines In World War I
Form / Style
Shakespearean Sonnet In Iambic Pentameter
Key Lines
Now I Am Free To Do, And Give, And Pay,
My Debts Are One, My Foe Before My Face
I Shall Not Mind The Paying When I Die.