Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A SOLDIER'S FAREWELL, by CHARLES V. H. ROBERTS First Line: Beloved, farewell! 'tis an ancient tale this / call Last Line: To flower in immortality. Subject(s): Farewell; Love - Loss Of; Soldiers; War; Parting | ||||||||
Beloved, farewell! 'Tis an ancient tale this call To armsthe grappling will of man to War, The mind to mingle in a sense of massacre, To reek with blood and clamor for destruction; The earth a wilderness of steel to cut, Deface, ensnare, destroy antiquity The sanctuaries of the silenced centuries. It must be so, Beloved. Yet, O my God! To burn thy suffering away to ashes, Rather far those Rhenish Huns should lay Me low in quailing flesh,the world a heritage Of woe, and fiercest emphasis of rage O'erride the greatest cities of heroic Dawns, and scourge the fields with wildest carnage, Than the vision of this pain aglitter in thine eyes. Beloved, weep notthink more of gentle hands To soothe the ache of centuries into The intercourse of everlasting love, Our marriage here in sunset waningthy sad Possession's but a memoryuntil The holy years of undivided souls Wake fragrance in the rain of Paradise. Each dawn bear to thee sweeter strengths, soft fires Of faith, to curl in incense o'er the shores Of Timegriefs in angels' voices ending, Through the flowering fields and singing stars, that pulse The arteries of God's transcendent mercy. In thy days of coming solitude, thy hair Shall weave in silver, thy face empale to Death, Ending surface things but to receive Their impress finaltouchings unawares, Immortal kisses in eternity. Awake our France! At last thy time has come To make a fiery trial of thy great strength. For forty years, thou hast abided in A dreadful patience for this day, weeping And waitingstung beyond commiseration Thy people's memorythy vengeance for Sedan. God stands surety for thee in Heaven, As the glitter of thine armour mirrors Hell For those who dare oppose thy legions now. Show thine imperial strength and sovereign power; Beneath the stillness of these stars, thy fury Breathes intense to beckon death in royal honour. A splendid oneness in thy politics, There's no alarm and anguish in thy tread, Friedland and Austerlitz age-long thy witnesses. Revenge our France! That stingthy victory hence! Farewell, farewell, our little cottage in The sheltering green! Farewell, my wife! thy soul My rose upon the battle-plaineach wound A petal on the bleeding stem decreed To flower in Immortality. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN STUDY #2 FOR B.B.L. by JUNE JORDAN WATCHING THE NEEDLEBOATS AT SAN SABBA by JAMES JOYCE SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES A PROPOSAL by CHARLES V. H. ROBERTS |
|