THE two pale women cried, But the man seemed to suffer more, Which he strove hard to hide. They stayed in the waiting-room, behind the door, Till startled by the entering engine-roar, As if they could not bear to have unfurled Their misery to the eyes of all the world. A soldier and his young wife Were the couple; his mother the third, Who had seen the seams of life. He was sailing for the East I later heard. -- They kissed long, but they did not speak a word; Then, strained, he went. To the elder the wife in tears "Too long; too long!" burst out. ('Twas for five years.) | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MY COMFORTER by EMILY JANE BRONTE THE BARON'S LAST BANQUET by ALBERT GORTON GREENE THE LOST CHORD by ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 83 by ALFRED TENNYSON THE MORAL FABLES: THE SWALLOW, AND THE OTHER BIRDS by AESOP A SONG ABOUT SINGING by ANNE REEVE ALDRICH |