Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CHANNEL SUNSET by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER

First Line: OVER THE SHALLOW, ANGRY ENGLISH CHANNEL
Last Line: THE STRUGGLE OF BURNING SPEARS IN THE COLD TWILIGHT.
Subject(s): WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;
OVER the shallow, angry English Channel,
Clouds like cavalry masses
Gallop at a charge, dark tawny horsemen,
Towards the coast of Flanders.

The sun strikes out amid them
A shower of golden arrows;
They waver suddenly in mid-flight,
Break their ranks, stumble and fall,
And cover with scarlet eddies
The shallows of the sea.

But over their heads new masses yet come charging
Towards the coast of Flanders;
Towards the battle that is shaping,
The struggle of burning spears in the cold twilight.



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