Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THEY PASS, by GEORGE O'NEIL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THEY PASS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, I have seen the valiant ones go by
Last Line: Have nothing else to offer but a song ....?
Subject(s): Despair; Soldiers


Oh, I have seen the valiant ones go by --
Eyes to the sun -- and heard the praise of men
Filling the day for deeds that will not die;
And I have stood apart and wondered, then.

It must be right, or blind hearts would not leap
With such instinctive joy because they go
To things that make men proud and women weep,
They are the very life of truth, I know.

And all I wonder is, -- how do they wake
To so much grandeur who were meek so long --
When I, who from the first loved living's ache,
Have nothing else to offer but a song ....?





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