 | Ballads of the War |  |
War and the Old Folks' Creed
Once more old folks we greet and meet,
But some old friends are gone away;
Where'er they are, their rest is sweet—
We cannot wish them back to-day.
But some old friends are gone away;
Where'er they are, their rest is sweet—
We cannot wish them back to-day.
Beyond the sound of mortal strife
That plunges half a world in tears,
They live in peace a fuller life,
They know no pain of failing years.
That plunges half a world in tears,
They live in peace a fuller life,
They know no pain of failing years.
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Yet we who meet around this board
Are not unhappy: crack and fun
Go forward, as if never sword
Were drawn, nor Boer had fired a gun.
Are not unhappy: crack and fun
Go forward, as if never sword
Were drawn, nor Boer had fired a gun.
Our sixty years have set us far
From sorrow of the trumpet's call;
This is our sons' and daughters' war:
Their children fight, their children fall.
From sorrow of the trumpet's call;
This is our sons' and daughters' war:
Their children fight, their children fall.
But we have had our sorrow's store;
We know what Balaclava meant;
We heard the muskets round Cawnpore;
Our few came back, our many went.
We know what Balaclava meant;
We heard the muskets round Cawnpore;
Our few came back, our many went.
And this we folk of sixty years
Assembled at these tables say:
God never planned these wars and tears,
And Peace is the Diviner way.
Assembled at these tables say:
God never planned these wars and tears,
And Peace is the Diviner way.
| Ballads of the War | |