War is it, O grave heads! that ye With stern and stately pomp decree? Inviting all the Gods from far To join you in the game of war! Have ye then lived so many years To find no purer joy than tears? And seek ye now the highest good In strife, in anguish, and in blood? Your wisdom may be more than ours, But you have spent your golden hours, And have methinks but little right To make the happier fret and fight. Ah! when will come the calmer day When these dark clouds shall pass away? When (should two cities disagree) The young, the beauteous, and the free, Rushing with all their force, shall meet And struggle with embraces sweet, Till they who may have suffer'd most Give in, and own the battle lost. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO DAISIES, NOT TO SHUT TOO SOON by ROBERT HERRICK MEMORIAL TO D.C.: 2. PRAYER TO PERSEPHONE by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY FOUR LITTLE FOXES by LEW SARETT DRUG STORE by JOHN VAN ALSTYN WEAVER STANZAS TO A LADY by JOHN CODRINGTON BAMPFYLDE THREE PASTORAL ELEGIES: TO THE READER (1) by WILLIAM BASSE |