The Life That I Have

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The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours

The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours. (Leo Marks)

Leo Marks (1920-2001)Chief Cryptographer of SOE in
World War 2. Born of Jewish parents, it was Leo's responsibility
to provide agents with ciphers with which they could send
information to London by radio. Often, these were based upon
well known poems or prose. However, he argued that as the
enemy may well know these literary works, originals should be
used. He often composed his own poems for the ciphers, and
the above poem was one he wrote for his girlfriend, Ruth Hambro
(killed in an air crash in Canada). He later gave this one to Violette
Szabo, for her mission to France in WW2.



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