Ilya Ehrenburg
Reconnaissance in force

“Reconnaissance in force” — just three brief words.
Amidst rumbling deep-voiced guns,
The commander cast a surly glance
At the dainty woman’s watch on his wrist.
They’d gone and charged through the enemy guns,
Yelling and slaughtering as they ran,
And by noon the officer could point on the map
To the ridge they’d seized that morning.
Then with their bayonets they’d prized open
Their tins of tasteless food.
Buried their dead as in a dream,
In a silence
                the commander had first broken.
And in that chill silence before the dawn,
When the dead could breathe in peace,
They’d again heard his order — clear the ridge,
“Reconnaissance in force”, once more he said.
But the surly commander as he spoke these words
Did not look up this time.

After an hour the dawn had turned to gold
The inky ridges of that foreign slope.
Now wherever you look you will see my graves,
Oh reconnaissance in force! Oh my youth!

Translated by Cathy Porter