Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE RED CROSS SPIRIT SPEAKS, by JOHN FINLEY (1874-) First Line: Wherever war with its red woes Last Line: Of war's red line. Subject(s): Red Cross; World War I; First World War | ||||||||
WHEREVER war, with its red woes, Or flood, or fire, or famine goes, There, too, go I; If earth in any quarter quakes Or pestilence its ravage makes, Thither I fly. I kneel behind the soldier's trench, I walk 'mid shambles' smear and stench, The dead I mourn; I bear the stretcher and I bend O'er Fritz and Pierre and Jack to mend What shells have torn. I go wherever men may dare, I go wherever woman's care And love can live, Wherever strength and skill can bring Surcease to human suffering, Or solace give. I helped upon Haldora's shore; With Hospitaller Knights I bore The first red cross; I was the Lady of the Lamp; I saw in Solferino's camp The crimson loss. I am your pennies and your pounds; I am your bodies on their rounds Of pain afar; I am you, doing what you would If you were only where you could Your avatar. The cross which on my arm I wear, The flag which o'er my breast I bear, Is but the sign Of what you 'd sacrifice for him Who suffers on the hellish rim Of war's red line. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...D'ANNUNZIO by ERNEST HEMINGWAY 1915: THE TRENCHES by CONRAD AIKEN TO OUR PRESIDENT by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE HORSES by KATHARINE LEE BATES CHILDREN OF THE WAR by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE U-BOAT CREWS by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE RED CROSS NURSE by KATHARINE LEE BATES WAR PROFITS by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE UNCHANGEABLE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE ROAD TO DIEPPE by JOHN FINLEY (1874-) |
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