Ten years! Can that be all Since Peace returned to spread her tattered wings Above a soul-sick world? Since armies ceased their vast maneuverings And battle flags were furled? Ten years! Can that be all Since that transplanted hell of northern France Drew tranquil breath again? Since nations signed their pledge of continence Quitting sword for mightier pen? Ten million men threw down their arms that day! Ten times ten million sought their knees to pray: "O God above, defend this peace "And of Thy mercy send "That man shall not again release "His hate till time shall end!" Ten years! And on this day of days I see, Behind white walls, wan faces—haggard, drawn— And shattered bodies; eyes that seek the dawn Of some longed-for to-morrow that shall free Them from the scourge that war has laid Upon their lives. For us, and for this peace We hymn, they gave their all, and time shall cease Before our debt to them can be repaid! Ten years! I hear one cry: "How time slips by!" But what can that one know Of how time drags—how slow The days, the weeks, the months, the years Within those walls—how, till he hears That pensive, plaintless call: "Ten years? Can that be all?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO DR. PRIESTLEY. DEC. 29, 1792 by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD THE VALLEY OF FERN: PART 1 by BERNARD BARTON SONG ON THE WATER (2) by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES THE ANGRY ONES by BERTON BRALEY A DRAMA OF EXILE by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING PLEA FOR TOLERANCE by MARGARET E. BRUNER |