Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN FLANDERS, by JAMES NORMAN HALL


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN FLANDERS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Could you have seen them marching
Last Line: To see ten thousand fighting men.
Subject(s): Flanders, Belgium; Reality; Social Protest; Soldiers; War; World War I; First World War


Could you have seen them marching
Ten thousand men in line
You would have said that war must be
Adventurous and fine,
You would have felt your pulses beat
Fast to the tread of marching feet.

Could you have seen them marching
Under the June blue skies
With all the glory of their youth
Shining in their eyes,
You would have bade them all God speed
To battle at their country's need.

But had you seen them creeping back
In the grey, grey dawn,
The broken bleeding bodies
With all their beauty gone,
Oh! never could you cheer again
To see ten thousand fighting men.





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