Strange Meeting by Wilfred Owen

Alex Jennings reads the Wilfred Owen poem at the emotional heart of Benjamin Britten's anti-war masterpiece, the War Requiem. Visit bit.ly/3n0b67m to find out more about this extraordinary work.

[@asmakhalid7665]

“I’m the enemy you killed, my friend” such a powerful poem 💔

[@flyingmitra]

Alex Jennings recitation is perhaps one of the finest, one will ever get to hear. :-)

[@casapratese]

Beautifully read. No music, no background distractions. Perfect.

[@davidharrison1328]

the soldiers poet . he lived it all along side every one of us.he explained our pain and paid the ultimate price . till we muster for the last Timmy brother .

[@goingblindmusic]

My great uncle was killed on 31 Oct 1918, 4 days before Owen, about 30 minutes drive away. He was 23, Owen was 25.

[@minanes6549]

Beautiful rendition of an incredible poem.

[@kerry5586]

A fabulous rendition of this powerful poem. Makes me weep.

[@chrishennessy3543]

What command of the language this guy had!

[@eileenfinnan4842]

Ohhhhh my broken heart Sweet Lord.

[@robertlumsden5458]

A very fine reading. Thank you.

[@warrenstutely1093]

Commings reading is without doubt magnificent quite untouchable. He could have written the piece. Many thanks !!!!

[@mckavitt13]

Whose reading?

[@tomginn3091]

Stunning!

[@ianwilson5235]

Beautifully read. Thank you. Very moving.

[@cibriosis]

peotry is nothing more that expression of feling ..and feeling..oh..it is the the hardest to transcend ...but through the honesty of poetry they become feelings and they bring humanity

[@dionlindsay2]

Some poetry is the capture and transmission of an existence which feeling only directs us towards. Some poems, including prophetic poetry which I think the second half of this is, are the expression of fact, or information, and the poetry may be read with emotion but if it does include emotion includes a lot more besides.

[@prathamikta_]

This is powerful and evocative.

[@dpproductionstoys131]

A cause to mourn brought me here.

[@darrenfreeman4936]

Amazing!

[@brispeese9302]

Stirring and moving

[@MagicCarpetMusic]

Thank you. Perfect. x

[@manuelarriazola7821]

HEAVY .

[@andrewjohnstone963]

He is not writing about clouds and ice cream cones Its supposed to be HEAVY as you have stated Its war poetry!

[@cyberpunk9198]

My sir told us strange meeting chapter today morning

[@adamytsubame425]

I absolutely love this ! May I say with the best of intentions that It would be amazing if it had some subtitles on screen ? :) So even a non-native English speaker could understand it easier :) Otherwise its just perfection.

[@BrittenOfficial]

Thank you! We've just added subtitles so all you need to do is select the subtitles/closed caption button and it'll start running.

[@MSM4U2POM]

I am a native English speaker, and parts of it are still difficult to understand. But it's well worth the effort, because Strange Meeting is without doubt one of the finest poems ever written.

[@MSYNGWIE12]

I listen to this poem, poignant, action of battle but a kind of stasis prevailing too - I am thinking of how inane and contagious violence whether it be domestic, common banality ( not to the victimized children) is and of how war and needless deaths never cease to make money- I think the poet who wrote these lines died shortly after serving in W.W.1- an untimely end possibly brought on by serving his country- what futility. And as I type these words, of interest to few people, Putin's "stooges" continue to destroy - it saddens me as a pacifist to read of how economically voracious are the appetites of those in power... Namaste Peoples of Ukraine, my heart and prayers are with you.

[@rosemaryallen2128]

Yet of interest to some. I was thinking only today that the goodwill of the few goes out into the world on some plane we cannot personally apprehend. It used to be called prayer.

[@mckavitt13]

The poet was killed one week precisely before the end of the war.

[@antonywong3751]

There is a mistake in this reading. Should be "stared" instead of "started"

[@grapegripe]

Also “a thousand fears” not “pains”. But a tremendous reading nonetheless.

[@topgunhitman3856]

War is greif and loss

[@ajmah4153]

i hate school

[@rosemaryallen2128]

If you hate school, you are being badly taught. When you are free to pursue what is important to you personally, enjoy acquiring knowledge, because it is one of the greatest pleasures in the world.

[@ajmah4153]

@@rosemaryallen2128 kinda don't care

[@rosemaryallen2128]

@@ajmah4153 You may know the old poem, 'Don't care was made to care. Don't care was hung'! Perhaps you are depressed. There is always help, if you reach out for it.

[@Szederp]

Thank you, Sir. Europe is dead. A fact more disappointing than this poem.

[@rosemaryallen2128]

Civilisations rise and fall. There is always a new one to build, as long as human beings have aspirations.