Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AT THE PEACE TABLE, by EDGAR ALBERT GUEST


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AT THE PEACE TABLE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Who shall sit at the table, then, when the terms
Last Line: You must please not only the living here, but must satisfy your dead.
Alternate Author Name(s): Guest, Eddie
Subject(s): Peace; World War I; First World War


Who shall sit at the table, then, when the terms of peace are made --
The wisest men of the troubled lands in their silver and gold brocade?
Yes, they shall gather in solemn state to speak for each living race,
But who shall speak for the unseen dead that shall come to
the council place?

Though you see them not and you hear them not, they shall
sit at the table, too;
They shall throng the room where the peace is made and know
what it is you do;
The innocent dead from the sea shall rise to stand at the
wise man's side,
And over his shoulder a boy shall look -- a boy that was crucified.

You may guard the doors of that council hall with barriers
strong and stout,
But the dead unbidden shall enter there, and never you'll
shut them out.
And the man that died in the open boat, and the babes that
suffered worse,
Shall sit at the table when peace is made by the side of a
martyred nurse.

You may see them not, but they'll all be there; when they
speak you may fail to hear;
You may think that you're making your pacts alone, but
their spirits will hover near;
And whatever the terms of the peace you make with the
tyrant whose hands are red,
You must please not only the living here, but must satisfy your dead.





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