These are the words of your Judiths And Miriams singing at eve: "Behold, we are sending levies To hearten the ranks and relieve. "'Twas only the sign you waited From the crone to the ten-year maid. We give it -- a battle order -- And it's fight to the last brigade. "We went to the wells in sorrow But we were permitted to draw The gloss for the golden guidons And the grip of the lion's claw. "From David to Disraeli -- From the Bernhardt to Deluge dove, We stood by the wells of Zion To draw for the ones we love. "'Twas Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel, Or Deborah, lifting the veil, And once came a Shushan Lily -- The daughter of Abihail. "Our right is rehearsing visions, Our left rests on old Sinai Hill, The centre -- a harp and tambour, A crayon, a chisel, a quill." The wounded go back to colors, The sick are returned to the file, Old war maps revert to wadding -- The new to be scaled to the mile. It's worth the cries from the litters, It's worth all the standards and guns, Judith and Miriam pledging New legions, their own unborn sons. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AT CASTERBRIDGE FAIR: 4. THE MARKET-GIRL by THOMAS HARDY TO SIR HENRY GOODYERE by BEN JONSON THE THREE WARNINGS by HESTER LYNCH (SALUSBURY) PIOZZI LAURENCE BLOOMFIELD IN IRELAND: 7. MIDSUMMER by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM THE FRAILTY OF MAN'S LIFE by PHILIP AYRES WINE OF CYPRUS by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING HELEN'S FACE A BOOK by FRANK GELETT BURGESS MASQUE AT THE MARRIAGE OF THE EARL OF SOMERSET: MASQUERS SECOND DANCE by THOMAS CAMPION |