--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The centuries will burn rich loads With…" description: "\"The centuries will burn rich loads With which we groaned, Whose warmth shall lull their dreaming lids, While songs are crooned: But they will not dream..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84f/wilfred-owen-4642_century_the-centuries-will-burn-rich-loads-with_1831521.png" --- # The centuries will burn rich loads With which we groaned… ![“The centuries will burn rich loads With which we groaned, Whose warmth shall lull their dreaming lids, While songs are crooned: But they will not dream of us poor lads, Left in the ground.” quote by Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84f/wilfred-owen-4642_century_the-centuries-will-burn-rich-loads-with_1831521.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84f/wilfred-owen-4642_century_the-centuries-will-burn-rich-loads-with_1831521.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84f/wilfred-owen-4642_century_the-centuries-will-burn-rich-loads-with_1831521.png) > “The centuries will burn rich loads With which we groaned, Whose warmth shall lull their dreaming lids, While songs are crooned: But they will not dream of us poor lads, Left in the ground.” [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War’s devastation steals youth’s future, leaving the poor in graves while the world continues indifferent. **In simple terms:** War kills youth, leaving the poor forgotten. Key Takeaway Remember the cost of conflict. Themes war poverty memory injustice Mood somber critical Type poetic historical When to use this quote - historical remembrance - peace activism - education about war Key Concepts tragic realism social critique Questions to Reflect On - What does the poem suggest about society’s neglect? - How can we honor those forgotten? A Different Perspective The poem’s tone may romanticize sacrifice, overlooking complex causes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Burn Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burn-rich-2277913/) [Centuries Burn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/centuries-burn-2277910/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dream Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-poor-2277912/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Groaned Warmth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groaned-warmth-2277914/) [Lad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lad/) [Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left/) [Load](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/load/) [Lulls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lulls/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Poor Lads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-lads-2277911/) [Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Warmth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warmth/) ## Related quotes > [“The poor lads called and called, but they were grown and had forgotten the best places to hide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anderson-coats-2/the-poor-lads-called-and-called-but-they-were-grown-and-had-forgotten/) [J Anderson Coats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anderson-coats-2/) > [The Swaraj of my dream is the poor man's Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-swaraj-of-my-dream-is-the-poor-man-s-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“By Rachel Corrie, aged 10 — 1990 I’m here for other children. 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Why don't you write books about your \[dyslexia\]?' We are currently writing our 34th… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-winkler/somebody-said-hey-there-is-a-lull-in-your-career-why-don-t-you-write/) [Henry Winkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-winkler/) > [Lull'd in the countless chambers of the brain, Our thoughts are link'd by many a hidden chain; Awake but one, and lo, what myriads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-rogers/lull-d-in-the-countless-chambers-of-the-brain-our-thoughts-are-link-d/) [Samuel Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-rogers/) > [“But it is not glorious lulls that concern me. It is the lulls that have no velocity, that offer no structured reassurance, that bloom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyo-maclear/but-it-is-not-glorious-lulls-that-concern-me-it-is-the-lulls-that/) [Kyo Maclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyo-maclear/) > [Shall we keep men in a fool's paradise? Shall we lull them into soft slumbers from which they will awake in hell? Are we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/shall-we-keep-men-in-a-fool-s-paradise-shall-we-lull-them-into-soft/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) ## More by Wilfred Owen > [Was it for this the clay grew tall?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/was-it-for-this-the-clay-grew-tall/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [The war effects me less than it ought. I can do no service to anybody by agitating for news or making dole over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/the-war-effects-me-less-than-it-ought-i-can-do-no-service-to-anybody/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Escape? There is one unwatched way: your eyes. O Beauty! Keep me good that secret gate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/escape-there-is-one-unwatched-way-your-eyes-o-beauty-keep-me-good/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall, By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/and-by-his-smile-i-knew-that-sullen-hall-by-his-dead-smile-i-knew-we/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Walking abroad, one is the admiration of all little boys, and meets an approving glance from every eye of elderly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/walking-abroad-one-is-the-admiration-of-all-little-boys-and-meets-an/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Those who, like the beasts, have no such Hope, pass their old age shrouded with an inward gloom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/those-who-like-the-beasts-have-no-such-hope-pass-their-old-age/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [The English say, Yours Truly, and mean it. The Italians say, I kiss your feet, and mean, I kick your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/the-english-say-yours-truly-and-mean-it-the-italians-say-i-kiss-your/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/ambition-may-be-defined-as-the-willingness-to-receive-any-number-of/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [“These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished. Memory fingers in their hair of murders Multitudinous murders they once witnessed. Wading sloughs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/these-are-men-whose-minds-the-dead-have-ravished-memory-fingers-in/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [Was it for this the clay grew tall? O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/was-it-for-this-the-clay-grew-tall-o-what-made-fatuous-sunbeams-toil/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [I was a boy when I first realized that the fullest life liveable was a Poet's](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/i-was-a-boy-when-i-first-realized-that-the-fullest-life-liveable-was/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [And some cease feeling Even themselves or for themselves. Dullness best solves The tease and doubt of shelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/and-some-cease-feeling-even-themselves-or-for-themselves-dullness/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [“Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/sleep-mothered-them-and-left-the-twilight-sad/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [After all my years of playing soldiers, and then of reading History, I have almost a mania to be in the East, to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/after-all-my-years-of-playing-soldiers-and-then-of-reading-history-i/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [My subject is war, and the pity of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/my-subject-is-war-and-the-pity-of-war/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) [Explore all 108 Wilfred Owen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) ## More Century quotes > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. 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