 | Petition to the Deil |  |
21
A HIGHLAND HAMLET.
Strathyre in September.
September 14, 1914.
Here in this Highland hamlet, far
From cities and the signs of war,
I view in peace the evening star
Shine on Ben Shian.
From cities and the signs of war,
I view in peace the evening star
Shine on Ben Shian.
The heights with heather are aglow,
The river darkling dreams below,
And here and there white patches show
The clachan's harvest.
The river darkling dreams below,
And here and there white patches show
The clachan's harvest.
Young women in the doorways knit,
Old men upon the benches sit,
And children watch the swallows flit
Across the valley.
Old men upon the benches sit,
And children watch the swallows flit
Across the valley.
22
But where are they whose care should keep
The village when the snows lie deep?
Gone to the Belgian fields to reap
A different harvest!
The village when the snows lie deep?
Gone to the Belgian fields to reap
A different harvest!
With Angus, Neil, and Duncan gone,
A peace, that is not Autumn's own,
A deeper peace has fallen upon
The sadden'd village.
A peace, that is not Autumn's own,
A deeper peace has fallen upon
The sadden'd village.
Who can in scenes like these believe,
At the sweet hour of peaceful eve,
Such woes exist as those that grieve
The Flemish hamlets?
At the sweet hour of peaceful eve,
Such woes exist as those that grieve
The Flemish hamlets?
Surely not here can ever come
The terror of the midnight drum,
The shrieking shell, the deafening bomb,
And devastation!
The terror of the midnight drum,
The shrieking shell, the deafening bomb,
And devastation!
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