Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A DREAM OF PEACE, by LILY PEARL CHAMBERLIN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A DREAM OF PEACE, by                    
First Line: I dreamed that peace had come, - that nevermore
Last Line: The age of peace on earth, good will to men.
Subject(s): Dreams; Peace; World War I; Nightmares; First World War


I dreamed that Peace had come, -- that nevermore
Would man arise to smite his fellow man
In ruthless hate and cruel greed of gain.
I said: "Our human race is now advanced
Too far from savagery, has now approached
Too near the likeness of his God to lapse
Again into the brute that slays his kind.
Henceforth calm Reason, from her lofty throne,
Shall arbitrate the strifes of men, and rule
With justice all the nations of the earth."

My dream was shattered by a blast of war
That shook the world; and four long years of blood
And devastation, pain, and misery
Ensued, that seemed an age of endless woe.
My country called to arms; I gave my sons, --
Three noble sons whom I had reared for Peace.
I sent them forth with cheerful words, with lips
That did not quiver, eyes that did not shed
A tear; and from the bulwark of my home
I fought the fight that is a woman's part
When man goes forth to strive against a foe.
I fought as I would wish my sons to fight
Upon those battlefields beyond the sea;
But all the while my loyal spirit grieved
To feel that only thus could be maintained
The high ideals and the code of right
Evolved through ages since our race began.

Then came the end. And, "From Versailles," I said,
"The reign of Peace, for which we long have yearned,
Will surely now begin its kindly sway."
Alas, I felt again that bitter pang,
The pain of wounded Faith; and once I thought
That Hope within my trustful heart was dead, --
It lay so cold, so silent, and so numb.
But Hope is an immortal gift; and soon
It stirred and breathed, it lived and moved again.
And now that plans for Peace are taking form,
It sings anew, an ever-swelling song
Of final good, triumphant over ill.

I must believe. I nevermore shall doubt
That in the human soul a spark divine
From Heaven glows, and guides us on our path
From age to age, from height to nobler height,
Along the upward way that progress leads;
And coming years will surely bring to pass
That man shall rise above his baser self
To planes of life as never yet attained,
And form a universal brotherhood.

Far distant still that happy time may be;
I shall not see it in my little day.
But it will come; and from some fairer height
Of being, in another sphere than this,
My waiting soul shall know, and leap with joy
To see on earth the golden age begin
Of which the angels to the shepherds sang
That night, above the calm Judean hills, --
The age of Peace on Earth, good will to men.





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