I saw you last beside the stream That flows near Oxford town. We moored the punt and on the bank At ease we flung us down, And talked until the twilight shades Turned the green meadows brown. Pleasant the bells, that afternoon, Sounding from distant spires; Pleasant the notes of larks unseen, As songs of heavenly choirs; Pleasant to talk of all life brings And what the heart desires. You left the meadows for that field Where men by Death are tried. Dauntless your hopes, your life you threw Down in the battle's tide; And now you live with all brave soul Who fought the fight and died. The pleasant fields near Oxford town Lie in a deeper shade, I think of all her splendid youths Who met Death, unafraid. (God help a land that idly dreams, Or counts her gain in trade.) | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE WOMAN'S GENITALS by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE LITTLE FIRE IN THE WOODS by HAYDEN CARRUTH DEVASTATION by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DIVIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DREAM LIFE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON INEVITABLY (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON |