Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MEMORIAL DAY, POST-WAR, by MARGUERITE MOOERS MARSHALL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MEMORIAL DAY, POST-WAR, by                    
First Line: For golden lads, a-faring
Last Line: A memory—of rue!
Subject(s): Hate; Holidays; Memorial Day; Social Protest; War; Declaration Day


For golden lads, a-faring
In ghostly, grey review
Past hearts still quick for caring—
Can old grief hurt like new?—
For him Fate made war's feeder,
(Of peace the lover, the pleader),
Wilson, the world's lost leader—
A wreath, today, of rue!

All the bright hopes men died for,
What living men pursue?—
The brave new world they tried for,
World that was heroes' due!
Not one war's brief abating
They sought—but end of hating! ...
For promises, turned prating,
A song, today, of rue!

For patriotism tarnished
In post-war years—so few!—
For reputations varnished—
Yet black dirt showing through;
For loot and lies and scheming,
And cynic laughter gleaming,
For the death of all great dreaming—
A memory—of rue!





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