Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEFORE THE CHARGE (LOOS, 1915) by PATRICK MACGILL

First Line: THE NIGHT IS STILL AND THE AIR IS KEEN
Last Line: FROM THE FACE OF DEATH. WE CHARGE AT DAWN.
Subject(s): SOLDIERS' WRITINGS; WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;
THE night is still and the air is keen,
Tense with menace the time crawls by,
In front is the town and its homes are seen,
Blurred in outline against the sky.

The dead leaves float in the sighing air,
The darkness moves like a curtain drawn,
A veil which the morning sun will tear
From the face of death. We charge at dawn.



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