Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO MY COMRADES, by SIDNEY ROYSE LYSAGHT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO MY COMRADES, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You, who once dreamed on earth to make your mark
Last Line: There also, in your chartless ship, sail I.


YOU, who once dreamed on earth to make your mark
And kindle beacons where its ways were dark;
To whom, for the world that had no need of you,
It once had seemed a little thing to die;
Who gave the world your best, and in return
No honour won, and no reward could earn!
Sad Comrade! we were shipmates in one crew, --
Somewhere we sailed together, you and I.
O you of little faith, the promised heir
Of life eternal, mourning days that were;
You, who to lift up one beloved head
Out of the dust and feel one presence night, --
To make again one vanished summer live,
Your birthright of eternal life would give!
I also murmur, 'Give me back my dead!'
The comrade of your unbelief am I.

You, against whom all fates have been arrayed;
Who heard the voice of God and disobeyed;
Who, reckless and with all your battles lost,
Went forth again another chance to try;
Who, fighting desperate odds yet fought to win,
And sinning bore the burden of your sin!
We have been on the same rough ocean tossed,
And served the same wild captain, you and I.

You, who desired no laurel of the race
But the approval of one absent face;
For whom has earth no home, no place of rest
Save in the bosom where you may not lie;
Beggared of all but Love's immortal right,
Still for the sake of one you lost to fight!
Oh, we have met upon the unknown quest
And watched the stars together, you and I.

O wanderer, if at last your ship should find
Home, and the sheltered havens left behind,
I shall be with you in that merry crew
Under the same old flag we used to fly;
But, if at last, of every promise shorn,
With leaking timbers and with canvas torn,
Still for the pride of seamanship sail you, --
There also, in your chartless ship, sail I.





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