Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE BATTLE FIELD, by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: It was a battle field, and the cold moon Last Line: And listless slumber. Alternate Author Name(s): L. E. L.; Maclean, Letitia Subject(s): Death; Dead, The | ||||||||
It was a battle field, and the cold moon Made the pale dead yet paler. Two lay there; One with the ghastly marble of the grave Upon his face; the other wan, but yet Touch'd with the hues of life, and its warm breath Upon his parted lips. HE sleeps, -- the night wind o'er the battle feld Is gently sighing; Gently, though each breeze bear away Life from the dying. He sleeps, -- though his dear and early friend A corpse lies by him; Though the ravening vulture and screaming crow Are hovering nigh him. He sleeps, -- where blood has been pour'd like rain, Another field before him; And he sleeps as clam as his mother's eyes Were watching o'er him. To-morrow that youthful victor's name Will be proudly given, By the trumpet's voice, and the soldier's shout, To the winds of heaven. Yet, life, how pitiful and how mean Thy noblest story; When the high excitement of victory, The fulness of glory, Nor the sorrow felt for the friend of his youth, Whose corpse he's keeping, Can give his human weakness force To keep from sleeping! And this is the sum of our mortal state, The hopes we number, -- Feverish waking, danger, death, And listless slumber. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND CALYPSO WATCHING THE OCEAN by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON |
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