Sonnets on the War By Alexander Smith and By the Author of "Balder" and "The Roman" [S. T. Dobell] |
 |
|
SELF. |
 | Sonnets on the War |  |
18
SELF.
The War rolls on. Dark failure, brave successDeafen our ears. But little power to touch
Our deeper human nature lies in such.
Doth victory make an infant's smile the less?
Each man hath his own personal happiness,
In which—as creep the cold-enfeebled flies
In the late beam—he warm and basking lies.
Each hath his separate rack of sore distress.
No hand can give an alms, no power consoles;
We only have our true hearts and our souls.
In leaguered forts, water with patient arts,
They draw from their own court or garden-plot;
So from the deep-sunk wells within our hearts
We draw refreshment when the fight is hot.
| Sonnets on the War | |