They had seen things no human eyes had looked on before, and

They had seen things no human eyes had looked on before, and they had not turned their gaze away. They were in their own view a formidable group of men. No inferno would now melt them, no storm destroy, because they had seen the worst and they had survived.

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In the novel "Birdsong" by Sebastian Faulks, a group of men experiences harrowing events that fundamentally alter their perspective on life. They have witnessed unimaginable horrors that set them apart from others, imparting a sense of resilience and strength. Their experiences forge a bond among them, making them feel formidable and unyielding.

Having faced the worst that fate can deliver, they believe no external force, whether it be fire or tempest, could break their spirit. Their survival amid suffering shapes their identity, and they stand unflinchingly, refusing to look away from the realities they've encountered. This shared experience becomes the essence of their courage and brotherhood.

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Birdsong

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Sebastian Faulks

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January 26, 2025

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They had seen things no human eyes had looked on before, and they had not turned their gaze away. They were in their own view a formidable group of men. No inferno would now melt them, no storm destroy, because they had seen the worst and they had survived.

She had grown accustomed to people's responses to her. Many of them assumed that there was a polar choice between marriage and work and that the more enthusiastically she had embraced her job, the more vigourously she must have rejected the idea of children or male partnership. Elizabeth had given up trying to explain. She had taken a job because she needed to live; she had found an interesting one in preference to a dull one; she had tried to do well rather than badly. She could not see how any of these three logical steps implied a violent rejection of men or children.

This is not a war, this is an exploration of how far men can be degraded.

Currents of desire and excitement that she had not known or thought about for years now flooded in her. She wanted him to bring alive what she had buried, and to demean, destroy, her fabricated self.

They saw the Scots coming up out of their burrows like raving women in their skirts, dying in ripples across the yellowish-brown soil. They saw the steady tread of the Hampshire's as though they had willingly embarked on a slow-motion dance from which they were content not to return. They saw men from every corner walking, powerless, into an engulfing storm.

His own men, those who would attack in the morning, knelt on the earth, faces hidden behind one hand, in an agonizing tunnel of their own, a darkness where there was no time but where they tried to look on death.

All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.

All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.

Race of Cain, ascend to heaven, And cast God down upon the earth!

Race of Cain, ascend to heaven, And cast God down upon the earth!

"Philip Sharpe was a soldier in God's army," says the minister. "Now he marches with the angels."

"Philip Sharpe was a soldier in God's army," says the minister. "Now he marches with the angels."

For me the curse is a crutch, but the con is everything.

For me the curse is a crutch, but the con is everything.

I don't have anything against God. Far from it. But I don't understand Him. And I don't trust a lot of the people that go around claiming that they're working in His best interests.

I don't have anything against God. Far from it. But I don't understand Him. And I don't trust a lot of the people that go around claiming that they're working in His best interests.

"What peace can the eye find from the swift sky? \nO cupbearer, give me a cup to rest a moment. \nI told Wit these matters; he smiled and said: \nHard is the daily life, full of amazing troubles and a world disarrayed. \nOn the path of love-play, there is no safety and comfort; \nCursed be the heart that seeks healing for your pain. \nThe people of delight and charm have no way in the street of libertines; \nOne must be a traveler—all-consuming, not naive and carefree. \nHuman beings do not come into the earthly world completed; \nA new world must be built anew, and a new man again. \nWhat is Hafez’s weeping to measure before the sufficiency of love, \nThat in this sea it displays the moisture of seven seas?"

$"What peace can the eye find from the swift sky? \nO cupbearer, give me a cup to rest a moment. \nI told Wit these matters; he smiled and said: \nHard is the daily life, full of amazing troubles and a world disarrayed. \nOn the path of love-play, there is no safety and comfort; \nCursed be the heart that seeks healing for your pain. \nThe people of delight and charm have no way in the street of libertines; \nOne must be a traveler—all-consuming, not naive and carefree. \nHuman beings do not come into the earthly world completed; \nA new world must be built anew, and a new man again. \nWhat is Hafez’s weeping to measure before the sufficiency of love, \nThat in this sea it displays the moisture of seven seas?"$