 | Poems from the Garland of New Poetry |  |
18
“CES PETITS FANTASSINS”
You jeered to see the soldiers when
They sought heroic graves,—
Boys and small merry husbandmen,
Pale children of the stool and pen,
And branded galley-slaves;
They sought heroic graves,—
Boys and small merry husbandmen,
Pale children of the stool and pen,
And branded galley-slaves;
But you stood back in awestruck wise
When homeward they did lag,
Death looking out of many eyes,
Red heart's-blood soaking through the dyes
Of their old riddled flag!
When homeward they did lag,
Death looking out of many eyes,
Red heart's-blood soaking through the dyes
Of their old riddled flag!
| Poems from the Garland of New Poetry | |