 | A Lost Epic and Other Poems |  |
32
MORNING.
Oh, glad and red, the light of morn
Across the field of battle broke,
And showed the waste of trampled corn
And smouldering farmsteads wrapped in smoke;
And cold and stark the soldier lay,
Shot down beside his shattered gun;
And, grimly splashed with blood and clay,
His face looked ghastly in the sun.
Across the field of battle broke,
And showed the waste of trampled corn
And smouldering farmsteads wrapped in smoke;
And cold and stark the soldier lay,
Shot down beside his shattered gun;
And, grimly splashed with blood and clay,
His face looked ghastly in the sun.
Oh, glad and red, the morning shone
In happy England far away,
Where knelt a bright-haired little one
Beside her mother's knee to pray;
And prompting each fond faltering word,
The soldier's wife was glad and smiled—
She knew not 'twas a widow heard
The prattle of an orphan child.
In happy England far away,
Where knelt a bright-haired little one
Beside her mother's knee to pray;
And prompting each fond faltering word,
The soldier's wife was glad and smiled—
She knew not 'twas a widow heard
The prattle of an orphan child.
51
Oh, glad and red, oh, glad and red
The morning light glowed everywhere:
And one beam touched the father dead,
And one the child who knelt in prayer;
And from the trampled corn and clay—
A skylark sprang with joyous breast—
For shot and shell had spared that day
Its four brown eggs and little nest.
The morning light glowed everywhere:
And one beam touched the father dead,
And one the child who knelt in prayer;
And from the trampled corn and clay—
A skylark sprang with joyous breast—
For shot and shell had spared that day
Its four brown eggs and little nest.
| A Lost Epic and Other Poems | |