AS I went walking up and down The darkened streets of Oxford town, I seemed to see them all astir With ghosts of those who died for her; I saw the Scholar and the Blue, The Smug, the Blood, the Slacker too, Who, different in all beside, Were like in this—the way they died. O Oxford men, from Smug to Blue, My heart was sore, was sore for you! And then there came across the years A voice as through a mist of tears: "And what of us who wore the gown, Long since with you in Oxford town? Should we have died as brave and gay As those who die for her to-day?" And I made answer: "Even so! O friends of thirty years ago. We too, God helping us, had died As gay, as nobly satisfied!" These were the ghosts I seemed to see, These were the ghosts that talked with me, As I went walking up and down The darkened streets of Oxford town. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EVERYBODY KNOWS by DAVID IGNATOW I'VE NOTHING TO OFFER by DAVID IGNATOW CALLING DREAMS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON GOOD-BYE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MEMORY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE SEASONS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE GULF by KATHERINE MANSFIELD DOMESDAY BOOK: DR. TRACE TO THE CORONER by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |