Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WAS, by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR


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WAS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: War is it, o grave heads! That ye
Last Line: Give in, and own the battle lost.
Subject(s): War


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.





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