Leopold Samuel Marks, (September 24, 1920 – January 15, 2001) was an English writer, screenwriter, and cryptographer. During the Second World War he headed the codes office supporting resistance agents in occupied Europe for the secret Special Operations Executive organization. After the war, Marks became a playwright and screenwriter, writing scripts that frequently utilized his war-time cryptographic experiences.
“The Life That I Have” was used as a poem code in World War II. During the war, published poems were often used for encrypting messages, but since the original sources could be found by enemy crypt-analysts, the code was easily broken. By writing his own creation, Marks was able to counter the enemy’s actions. The poem was issued by Marks to Violette Szabo in the 1958 movie about Szabo, Carve Her Name with Pride, where the poem was said to be the creation of Violette’s husband Etienne.
It was written on Christmas Eve 1943 in memory of his girlfriend, Ruth, who had recently died in a plane crash. Marks, who became a scriptwriter after the war, would only let the poem be used on condition that his authorship was not revealed.
THE LIFE THAT I HAVE
Leo Marks
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.