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diff --git a/35996-h/35996-h.htm b/35996-h/35996-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc8c073 --- /dev/null +++ b/35996-h/35996-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1651 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Dawn Patrol, and other Poems of an Aviator, by Paul Bewsher. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + + +p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + +hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} + +.blockquot { margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;} + +.big {font-size: 125%;} +.huge {font-size: 150%;} +.giant {font-size: 175%;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dawn Patrol, and other poems of an +aviator, by Paul Bewsher + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Dawn Patrol, and other poems of an aviator + +Author: Paul Bewsher + +Release Date: April 30, 2011 [EBook #35996] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAWN PATROL *** + + + + +Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<p class="center"><span class="giant">The Dawn Patrol</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">And other Poems of an Aviator</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">PAUL BEWSHER, R.N.A.S., D.S.C.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="blockquot">"A new domain has been won for poetry +by the war—that of the air. This is of greater +importance than the bare statement suggests.... +'The Dawn Patrol' marks so notable a +departure in English literature that it will in +after years be eagerly sought by collectors.... +Mr. Bewsher's most considerable triumph is +to have been the first airman-poet to regard +humanity from the detached standpoint of the +sky."—<i>Daily Graphic.</i></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="blockquot">"The fable of Pegasus is come true.... +Mr Bewsher never strains for effect.... +The strongest impression his poems leave is +of a sincere and ingenuous nature devoted to +duty, but of keen sensibilities."—<i>The Times.</i></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">LONDON, W.C. 1: ERSKINE MACDONALD, LTD.</p> + +<p class="center">Second Impression: One Shilling and Sixpence net.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">THE DAWN PATROL</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">Paul Bewsher, R.N.A.S.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>To My Father;</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>My Best Friend,</i></td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><i>My Best Critic.</i></td><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td><i>P.B.</i></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Sept., 1917.</span></td></tr></table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Dawn Patrol</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">And Other Poems of an Aviator</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">By</p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">PAUL BEWSHER, R.N.A.S.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/logo.png" alt="" /></div> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">ERSKINE MACDONALD, LTD.,<br /> +MALORY HOUSE, FEATHERSTONE<br /> +BUILDINGS, LONDON, W.C. 1</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"> +<i>All rights reserved.</i><br /> +<br /> +<i>Copyright in the United States of America by<br /> +Erskine MacDonald, Ltd.</i><br /> +<br /> +<i>First Published November, 1917.</i><br /> +<i>Second Impression, February, 1918.</i><br /> +<br /> +Printed by Harrison, Jehring & Co., Ltd., 11-15, Emerald St. W.C. 1.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CONTENTS</span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> + +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Dawn Patrol</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Joy of Flying</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Crash</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Night Raid</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Despair</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Horrors of Flying</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Dreams of Autumn</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">To Carlton Berry</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">London in May</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Fallen Leaf</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Star</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Islington</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Country Beautiful</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Chelsea</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">K. L. H.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Fringe of Heaven</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Three Triolets</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Cloud Thoughts</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Autumn Regrets</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">To Hilda</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Clouds</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td></tr></table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>The Dawn Patrol</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +Sometimes I fly at dawn above the sea,<br /> +Where, underneath, the restless waters flow—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Silver, and cold, and slow.</span><br /> +Dim in the East there burns a new-born sun,<br /> +Whose rosy gleams along the ripples run,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Save where the mist droops low,</span><br /> +Hiding the level loneliness from me.<br /> +<br /> +And now appears beneath the milk-white haze<br /> +A little fleet of anchored ships, which lie<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In clustered company,</span><br /> +And seem as they are yet fast bound by sleep,<br /> +Although the day has long begun to peep,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With red-inflamèd eye,</span><br /> +Along the still, deserted ocean ways.<br /> +<br /> +The fresh, cold wind of dawn blows on my face<br /> +As in the sun's raw heart I swiftly fly,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And watch the seas glide by.</span><br /> +Scarce human seem I, moving through the skies,<br /> +And far removed from warlike enterprise—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Like some great gull on high</span><br /> +Whose white and gleaming wings beat on through space.<br /> +<br /> +Then do I feel with God quite, quite alone,<br /> +High in the virgin morn, so white and still,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And free from human ill:</span><br /> +My prayers transcend my feeble earth-bound plaints—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span><br /> +As though I sang among the happy Saints<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With many a holy thrill—</span><br /> +As though the glowing sun were God's bright Throne.<br /> +<br /> +My flight is done. I cross the line of foam<br /> +That breaks around a town of grey and red,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Whose streets and squares lie dead</span><br /> +Beneath the silent dawn—then am I proud<br /> +That England's peace to guard I am allowed;—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then bow my humble head,</span><br /> +In thanks to Him Who brings me safely home.<br/> +<br/> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Luxeuil-les-Bains, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>The Joy of Flying</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +When heavy on my tired mind<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The world, and worldly things, do weigh,</span><br /> +And some sweet solace I would find,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Into the sky I love to stray,</span><br /> +And, all alone, to wander round<br /> +In lone seclusion from the ground.<br /> +<br /> +Ah! Then what solitude is mine—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From grovelling mankind aloof!</span><br /> +Their road is but a thin-drawn line:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Their busy house a scarce-seen roof.</span><br /> +That little stain of red and brown<br /> +They boast about!—It is their town!<br /> +<br /> +How small their petty quarrels seem!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Poor, crawling multitudes below;</span><br /> +Which, like the ants, in feverish stream<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From place to place move to and fro!</span><br /> +Like ants they work: like ants they fight,<br /> +Assuming blindly they are right.<br /> +<br /> +Soon their existence I forget,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In joy that on these flashing wings</span><br /> +I cleave the skies—O! let them fret—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Now know I why the skylark sings</span><br /> +Untrammelled in the boundless air—<br /> +For mine it is his bliss to share!<br /> +<br /> +Now do I mount a billowy cloud,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Now do I sail low o'er a hill,</span><br /> +And with a seagull's skill endowed<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Circle, and wheel, and drop at will—</span><br /> +Above the villages asleep,<br /> +Above the valleys, shadowed deep,<br /> +<br /> +Above the water-meadows green<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Whose streams, which intermingled flow,</span><br /> +Like silver lattice-work are seen<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A-gleam upon the plain below—</span><br /> +Above the woods, whose naked trees<br /> +Move new-born buds upon the breeze.<br /> +<br /> +And far away above the haze<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I see white mountain-summits rise,</span><br /> +Whose snow with sunlight is ablaze<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And shines against the distant skies.</span><br /> +Such thoughts those towering ranges bring<br /> +That I float on a-wondering!<br /> +<br /> +So do I love to travel on<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Through lonely skies, myself alone;</span><br /> +For then the feverish fret is gone<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Which on this earth I oft have known.</span><br /> +Kind is the God who lets me fly<br /> +In sweet seclusion through the sky!<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>France, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>The Crash</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The rich, red blood</span><br /> +Doth stain the fair, green grass, and daisies white<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In generous flood ...</span><br /> +This sun-drowsed day for me is darkest night.<br /> +O! wreck of splintered wood and twisted wire,<br /> +What blind, unmeasured hatred you inspire<br /> +Because yours was the power that life to end ...<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of him, who was my friend!</span><br /> +<br /> +This morn we lay upon the grass,<br /> +And watched the languid hours pass;<br /> +A lark, deep in the sky's blue sea,<br /> +Sang ecstasies to him and me.<br /> +<br /> +And with the daisies did he play,<br /> +As on the waving grass we lay,<br /> +And made a little daisy chain<br /> +To bring his childhood back again.<br /> +<br /> +And while he watched the clouds above<br /> +He drifted into thoughts of love.<br /> +He said, "I know why skylarks sing—<br /> +Because they love, and it is Spring.<br /> +<br /> +And if I had a voice as they,<br /> +So would I sing this golden May,<br /> +Because I love, and loved am I,<br /> +And when I wander through the sky,<br /> +<br /> +I wish I had a skylark's voice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span><br /> +And with such singing could rejoice.<br /> +Oh, happy, happy, are these days!<br /> +My heart is full of deep-felt praise,<br /> +<br /> +And thanks to God who brings this bliss!<br /> +Oh! what a happiness is this—<br /> +To lie upon the grass and know<br /> +In two short days that I shall go<br /> +<br /> +And see my Love's fair face again,<br /> +And wander in some flowery lane,<br /> +Forgetting all the world around,<br /> +And only knowing I have found<br /> +<br /> +A Spring enchantment, which is mine<br /> +Through God's sweet sympathy divine, ...<br /> +May these two days now swiftly pass!"<br /> +He laughed upon the sunlit grass.<br /> +<br /> +The days have passed, but passed, alas! how slow!<br /> +See down the road a sad procession go!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Oh! hear the wailing music moan!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Why? Why such grief am I to know?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Dear God! I wish I were alone.</span><br /> +For by the grave a girl with streaming eyes<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Doth make mine dim.</span><br /> +While high among the sunny springtime skies,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The larks still hymn.</span><br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>France, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>The Night Raid</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +Around me broods the dim, mysterious Night,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Star-lit and still.</span><br /> +No whisper comes across the Plain,<br /> +Asleep beneath the breezes light,<br /> +Which scarcely stir the growing grain.<br /> +Slow chimes the quiet midnight hour<br /> +In some unseen and distant tower,<br /> +While round me broods the vague, mysterious Night,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Star-lit, and cool, and still.</span><br /> +<br /> +And I must desecrate this silent time<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of drowsy dreams!</span><br /> +On mighty wings towards the sky,<br /> +Towards the stars, I have to climb<br /> +And o'er the sleeping country fly,<br /> +And such far-echoing clamour make<br /> +That all the villages must wake.<br /> +So must I desecrate this quiet time<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of soft and drowsy dreams!</span><br /> +<br /> +The hour comes ... soon must I say farewell<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To this fair earth.</span><br /> +Then to my little room I go<br /> +Where I perhaps no more shall dwell.<br /> +Shall I return?—The Gods but know.<br /> +Perchance again I shall not sleep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span><br /> +On that white bed in silence deep.<br /> +For soon the hour comes to say farewell<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To this fair, friendly earth.</span><br /> +<br /> +I stand there long, before into the gloom<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I take my way.</span><br /> +There are the pictures of my friends<br /> +And all the treasures of my room<br /> +On which my lamp soft radiance sends.<br /> +And long with lingering gaze I look<br /> +Upon each much belovèd book.<br /> +I stand, and dream—before into the gloom<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I sadly take my way.</span><br /> +<br /> +And now I gain the field whence I must part<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Upon my quest.</span><br /> +My Pegasus of wood and steel<br /> +Is ready straining at the start.<br /> +The governor is at the wheel—<br /> +And, with an ever-growing roar,<br /> +Across the hidden fields we soar.<br /> +So, with one envious look from Earth I part<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Upon my midnight quest.</span><br /> +<br /> +Beneath me lies the sleeping countryside<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hazy and dim,</span><br /> +And here and there a little gleam,<br /> +Like stars upon the heavens wide,<br /> +Speaks of some wretch who cannot dream—<br /> +But on his bed all night must toss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span><br /> +And hear me as I pass across,<br /> +In droning flight above the countryside,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hazy, and huge, and dim.</span><br /> +<br /> +And in the great blue night I ever rise<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Towards the stars,</span><br /> +As to the hostile lands I sail<br /> +High in the dark and cloudless skies<br /> +Whose gloom our gloomy wings doth veil.<br /> +Beneath, a scarce-seen ribbon shows<br /> +Where through the woods a river flows,<br /> +As in the shadowy night I ever rise<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Towards the scattered stars.</span><br /> +<br /> +Now high above War's frontiers do I sit—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Above the lines.</span><br /> +Great lights, like flowers, rise and fall:<br /> +On either side red flashes spit<br /> +Hot death at those poor souls which crawl<br /> +On secret errands. O, how grim<br /> +Must be that midnight slaughter dim!<br /> +And happy am I that so high I sit<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Above those cruel lines!</span><br /> +<br /> +Each man beneath me now detests my race<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With iron hate.</span><br /> +Each tiny light I see must shine<br /> +Upon some grim, unfriendly face,<br /> +Who curses England's name and mine,<br /> +And would be glad if both were gone—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span><br /> +But steadily must I fly on,<br /> +Though every soul beneath me loathes my race<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With stern, unceasing hate.</span><br /> +<br /> +I see a far-flung City all ablaze<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With jewelled lamps:</span><br /> +I trace its quays, its roads, its squares,<br /> +And all its intermingled ways,<br /> +And, as I wonder how it dares<br /> +To flaunt itself,—the City dies,<br /> +And in an utter darkness lies,<br /> +For I have terrified that town ablaze<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With twinkling, jewelled lamps.</span><br /> +<br /> +But, see!—the furnace with its ruddy breath<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which I must wreck!</span><br /> +The searchlights sweep across the sky—<br /> +Long-fingered ministers of Death—<br /> +I look deep in their cold blue eye,<br /> +Incessant shells with blinding light<br /> +Show every wire, clear and white!<br /> +There is the furnace with its ruddy breath<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Which I must wreck;—</span><br /> +<br /> +It lies beneath—my time has come at last<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To do my work!</span><br /> +I wait—O! will you never stop<br /> +Your fearful shells, that burst so fast?—<br /> +And then—I hear destruction drop<br /> +Behind my back as I release<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span><br /> +Such fearful death with such great ease.<br /> +Burst on, you shells! My time has come at last<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To do my deadly work.</span><br /> +<br /> +Then do I turn, and hurry swiftly back<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Towards my home.</span><br /> +I gladly leave that place behind!<br /> +No more I hear the shrapnel's crack—<br /> +No more my eyes the searchlights blind.<br /> +I cross the lines with lightening breast<br /> +And sail into the friendly West.<br /> +How glad am I to hurry swiftly back<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Towards my peaceful home!</span><br /> +<br /> +I reach the field—and then I softly land.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">My work is o'er!</span><br /> +I leave my hot and panting steed,<br /> +And clasp a comrade's outstretched hand,<br /> +And with him to my bedroom speed.<br /> +Then, over steaming beakers set,<br /> +The night's fierce menace soon forget.<br /> +How great a welcome waits me when I land—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When all my work is o'er!</span><br /> +<br /> +But ere I search shy sleep on my white bed<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I greet the dawn,</span><br /> +And think, with heart weighed down with grief,<br /> +How cruel this dawn to those whose dead<br /> +Lie shattered, torn—whom, like a thief<br /> +At darkest midnight, I have slain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span><br /> +Poor, unknown victims!—real my pain!<br /> +What widows, orphans, sweethearts see their dead<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This cruel, hopeless dawn?</span><br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>France, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>Despair</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +The long and tedious months move slowly by<br /> +And February's chill has fled away<br /> +Before the gales of March, and now e'en they<br /> +Have died upon the peaceful April sky:<br /> +And still I sadly wander, still I sigh,<br /> +And all the splendour of each Springtime day<br /> +Is dyed, for me, one melancholy grey,<br /> +And all its beauty can but make me cry.<br /> +<br /> +For thou art silent, Oh! far distant friend,<br /> +And not one word has come to cheer my heart<br /> +Through these sad months, which seem to have no end,<br /> +So distant seems the day which bade us part!<br /> +Oh speak! dear fair-haired angel! Spring has smiled,<br /> +And I despair—a broken-hearted child.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">France, 1917.</span></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>The Horrors of Flying</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +The day is cold; the wind is strong;<br /> +And through the sky great cloud-banks throng,<br /> +While swathes of snow lie on the ground<br /> +O'er which I walk without a sound,<br /> +But I have vowed to fly to-day<br /> +Though winds are fierce, and clouds are grey.<br /> +My aeroplane is on the field;<br /> +So I must fly—my fate is sealed,<br /> +And no excuses can I make;<br /> +Within its back my place I take.<br /> +I strap myself inside the seat<br /> +And press the rudder with my feet,<br /> +And hold the wheel with nervous grip<br /> +And gaze around my little ship—<br /> +For on its wire-rigging taut<br /> +Depends my life—which will be short<br /> +If it should fail me in the air;<br /> +Swift then my fall, and short my prayer,<br /> +And these my wings would be my pyre—<br /> +So well I scrutinise each wire!<br /> +Then out across the field I go<br /> +In shaking progress,—noisy—slow;<br /> +And turn, until the wind I face,<br /> +Then do I look around a space;<br /> +For fear to-day is at my heart<br /> +And nervously I fear to start.<br /> +The field is clear—the skies are bare—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span><br /> +Mine is the freedom of the air!<br /> +And yet I sit and hesitate,<br /> +Although each moment that I wait<br /> +Brings to my soul a greater fear.<br /> +To me the grass seems very dear—<br /> +Dear seems the hut where dreams have crept<br /> +To me each midnight as I slept—<br /> +Dear seems the river, by whose brink<br /> +I oft have watched brown pebbles sink<br /> +Deep in the crumbling bridge's shade,<br /> +Where in the evening I have strayed!<br /> +My restless hands hold fast the wheel;<br /> +Once more the wing-controls I feel.<br /> +I move the rudder with my feet,<br /> +And settle firmly in the seat.<br /> +I start, and o'er the snowy grass<br /> +In ever quicker progress pass:<br /> +On either side the ground streaks by,<br /> +And soon above the grass I fly.<br /> +I feel the air beneath the wings;<br /> +At first a greater ease it brings—<br /> +But soon the stormy strife begins,<br /> +And if I lose, 'tis Death who wins.<br /> +The winds a thousand devils hold,<br /> +Who grasp my wings with fingers bold,<br /> +And keep me ceaselessly a-rock—<br /> +I seem to hear those devils mock<br /> +As I am thrown from side to side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span><br /> +In unseen eddies, terrified—<br /> +As suddenly I start to drop,<br /> +And when my plunging fall I stop,<br /> +Up am I swiftly thrown once more!<br /> +Like no great eagle do I soar,<br /> +But like a sparrow tempest-tost<br /> +I struggle on! My faith is lost:<br /> +My former confidence is dead,<br /> +And whispering fear has come instead.<br /> +Death ever dogs me close behind—<br /> +My frightened soul no peace can find.<br /> +I feel a torture in each nerve,<br /> +As to the right or left I swerve.<br /> +And now Imagination brings<br /> +Its evil thoughts—I watch the wings,<br /> +And wonder if those wings will break—<br /> +The tight-stretched wires seem to shake.<br /> +I see the ghastly, headlong rush,<br /> +And picture how the fall would crush<br /> +My helpless body on the ground.<br /> +With haggard eyes I turn around,<br /> +And contemplate the rocking tail,—<br /> +My drawn and sweating cheeks are pale.<br /> +Fear's clammy hands clutch at my heart!<br /> +I try, with unavailing art,<br /> +To summon thoughts of peaceful hours<br /> +Spent in some sunny field of flowers<br /> +When my half-opened eyes would look<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span><br /> +On some old dream-inspiring book,<br /> +And not on this accursèd wheel,<br /> +And on this box of wood and steel<br /> +In which at pitch-and-toss with Death,<br /> +I play, and wonder if each breath<br /> +I tensely draw, will be my last.<br /> +The happy thoughts are swiftly past—<br /> +My frightened brain forbids them stay.<br /> +Dear London seems so far away,<br /> +And far away my well-loved friends!<br /> +Each second my existence ends<br /> +In my disordered mind, whose pace<br /> +I cannot check—its cog-wheels race,<br /> +Like some ungoverned, whirring clock,<br /> +When, frenziedly, it runs amok.<br /> +I have resolved that I will climb<br /> +A certain height—how slow seems time<br /> +As on its sluggish pivot creeps<br /> +The laggard finger-point, which keeps<br /> +The truthful record. O, how slow<br /> +Towards the clouds I seem to go!<br /> +And then ambition gains its mark at last!<br /> +The little finger o'er the point has passed!<br /> +I can descend again. With conscience clear<br /> +And end this battle with persistent fear!<br /> +The engine's clamour dies—there is no sound<br /> +Save whistling wires—as towards the ground<br /> +I gently float. My agony is gone.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span><br /> +What peace is mine as I go gliding on!<br /> +Calm after storm—contentment after pain—<br /> +Soft sleep to some tempestuous, burning brain—<br /> +The soothing harbour after foamy seas—<br /> +The gentle feeling of a perfect ease—<br /> +All, all are mine—though yet by gusts distressed!<br /> +Near is the ground, and with the ground comes rest.<br /> +Above the trees I glide—above the grass,<br /> +Above the snow-besprinkled earth I pass.<br /> +I touch the ground, run swift along, and stop—<br /> +Above the wheel my tired shoulders drop.<br /> +I leave my seat, and slowly move away ...<br /> +Cold is the wind: the clouds are grey,<br /> +I only wish my room to gain,<br /> +And in some book forget my pain,<br /> +And lose myself in fancied dreams<br /> +Across Titania's golden streams.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>France, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>Dreams of Autumn</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +When through the heat of some long afternoon<br /> +In blazing August, on the grass I lie,<br /> +And watch the white clouds move across the sky,<br /> +On whose azure is faintly etched the moon,<br /> +That, when the evening deepens, will be soon<br /> +The brightest figure of those hosts on high,<br /> +My heart is discontented, and I sigh,<br /> +For Autumn and its vapours; till I swoon<br /> +<br /> +Upon the vision of October days<br /> +In dreaming London, when each mighty tree<br /> +Sheds daily more brown showers through the haze,<br /> +Which lends each street Romance and Mystery—<br /> +When pallid silver Sunshine only gleams<br /> +On that grey Lovers' City of Sweet Dreams.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Isle of Grain, 1916.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>To Carlton Berry</i></span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Killed in an Aeroplane Accident, July, 1916</span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +It was Thy will, O God. And so he died!<br /> +For seventeen sweet years he was a child<br /> +Upon whose grace Thy loving-kindness smiled,<br /> +For he was clean, and full of youthful pride;<br /> +And, when his years drew on, then Thou denied<br /> +That he by man's estate should be defiled,<br /> +And so Thou call'st him to Thy presence mild<br /> +To be with Thee for ever, by Thy side.<br /> +<br /> +Nor is he dead! He lives in three great spheres.<br /> +His soul is with Thee in Thy home above:<br /> +His influence,—with friends of former years:<br /> +His memory with those he used to love.<br /> +He is an emblem of that Trinity<br /> +With whom he lives in happy ecstasy.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Isle of Grain, 1916.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>London in May</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +Two long, full years have passed since I have smelt<br /> +Sweet London in this happy month of May!<br /> +Last year relentless War bore me away<br /> +To Imbros Isle, where six sad months I dwelt<br /> +Beneath a burning sun—nor ever felt<br /> +One breath of gentle Spring blow o'er the bay<br /> +Between whose sun-dried hills so long I lay<br /> +A restless captive. Now has Fortune dealt<br /> +<br /> +More kindly with me: once again I know<br /> +The drowsy languor of the afternoons:<br /> +The soft white clouds: the may-tree's whiter snow:<br /> +The star-bound evenings, and the ivory moons.<br /> +My heart, dear God! leaps up till it is pain<br /> +With thanks to Thee that I am here again.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>London.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>A Fallen Leaf</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +When Death has crossed my name from out the roll<br /> +Of dreaming children serving in this War;<br /> +And with these earthly eyes I gaze no more<br /> +Upon sweet England's grace—perhaps my soul<br /> +Will visit streets down which I used to stroll<br /> +At sunset-charmèd dusks, when London's roar<br /> +Like ebbing surf on some Atlantic shore<br /> +Would trance the ear. Then may I hear no toll<br /> +<br /> +Of heavy bells to burden all the air<br /> +With tuneless grief: for happy will I be!—<br /> +What place on earth could ever be more fair<br /> +Than God's own presence?—Mourn not then for me,<br /> +Nor write, I pray, "<i>He gave</i>"—upon my clod—<br /> +"<i>His life to England</i>," but "<i>his soul to God</i>."<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Isle of Sheppey, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>The Star</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +I stood, one azure dusk, in old Auxerre<br /> +Before the grey Cathedral's towering height,<br /> +And in the Eastern darkness, very fair<br /> +I saw a little star that twinkled bright;<br /> +How small it looked beside the mighty pile,<br /> +Whose stone was rosy with the Western glow—<br /> +A little star—I pondered for a while,<br /> +And then the solemn truth began to know.<br /> +<br /> +That tiny star was some enormous sphere,<br /> +The great cathedral was an atomy—<br /> +So often when grey trouble looms so near<br /> +That God shines in our minds but distantly,—<br /> +If we but thought, our grief would seem so small<br /> +That we would see that God's great love was all.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>France, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>Islington</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +Here slow decay with creeping finger peels<br /> +The yellow plaster from the grimy walls,<br /> +Like leprous lichen, day by day which falls,<br /> +And, day by day, more rotting stone reveals!<br /> +Here are old mournful squares through which there steals<br /> +No cheerful music, or the heedless calls<br /> +Of laughing children; and the smoke, which crawls<br /> +Across the sky, the heavy silence seals!<br /> +<br /> +Lean, blackened trees stretch up their withered boughs<br /> +Behind the rusty railings, prison-bound,<br /> +In vain they seek the summer sunlight's gold<br /> +In which their long-dead fathers used to drowse:<br /> +For pallid terraces lie far around,<br /> +In gloomy sadness ever growing old.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Ochey-les-Bains, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>The Country Beautiful</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +I love the little daisies on the lawn<br /> +Which contemplate with wide and placid eyes<br /> +The blue and white enamel of the skies—<br /> +The larks which sing their mattin-song at dawn,<br /> +High o'er the earth, and see the new Day born,<br /> +All stained with amethyst and amber dyes.<br /> +I love the shadowy woodland's hidden prize<br /> +Of fragrant violets, which the dewy morn<br /> +<br /> +Doth open gently underneath the trees<br /> +To cast elusive perfume on each hour—<br /> +The waving clover, full of drowsy bees,<br /> +That take their murmurous way from flower to flower.<br /> +Who could but think—deep in some sun-flecked glade—<br /> +How God must love these things that He has made?<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Eastchurch, 1916.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>Chelsea</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +How many of those youths who consecrate<br /> +Their lives to art, and worship at her shrine,<br /> +And sacrifice their early hours and late<br /> +In serving her exacting whims divine<br /> +Have gathered in old Chelsea's shaded peace,<br /> +Whose faint, elusive charm, and gentle airs,<br /> +Bring inspiration fresh, and sweet release<br /> +From Trouble's haunting shapes and goblin cares?<br /> +<br /> +O! tree-embowered hamlet, whose demesne<br /> +Sleeps in the arms of London quietly,<br /> +Whose sparrow-haunted roads, and squares serene,<br /> +From all the stress of life seem ever free—<br /> +O! are you more than just a passing dream<br /> +Beside the city's slim and lovely stream?<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Luxeuil-les-Bains, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>K.L.H.</i></span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Died of Wounds Received at the Dardanelles.</span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +Where stern grey busts of gods and heroes old<br /> +Frown down upon the corridors' chill stone,<br /> +On which the sunbeam's amber pale is thrown<br /> +From leaf-fringed windows, one of quiet mould<br /> +Gazed long at those white chronicles which told<br /> +Of honours that the stately School had known.<br /> +He read the names: and wondered if his own<br /> +Would ever grace the walls in letters bold.<br /> +<br /> +He knew not that he for the School would gain<br /> +A greater honour with a greater price—<br /> +That, no long years of work, but bitter pain<br /> +And his rich life, he was to sacrifice—<br /> +Not in a University's grey peace,<br /> +But on the hilly sun-baked Chersonese.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>H.M.S. "Manica,"</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Dardanelles, 1915.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>The Fringe of Heaven</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +Now have I left the world and all its tears,<br /> +And high above the sunny cloud-banks fly,<br /> +Alone in all this vast and lonely sky—<br /> +This limpid space in which the myriad spheres<br /> +Go thundering on, whose song God only hears<br /> +High in his heavens. Ah! how small seem I,<br /> +And yet I know he hears my little cry<br /> +Down there among Mankind's cruel jest and sneers.<br /> +<br /> +And I forget the grief which I have known,<br /> +And I forgive the mockers and their jest,<br /> +And in this mightly solitude alone,<br /> +I taste the joys of everlasting rest,<br /> +Which I shall know when I have passed away<br /> +To live in Heaven's never-fading day.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Written in the Air.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>Three Triolets</i></span></p> + + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td align="center">COLOURS.</td></tr> + +<tr><td>How bright is Earth's rich gown<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">None but an Airman knows</span><br /> +Yellow, and green, and brown—<br /> +How bright is Earth's rich gown!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I see, as I gaze down,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Its purple, cream, and rose.</span><br /> +How bright is Earth's rich gown<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">None but an Airman knows!</span><br /> +<br/></td></tr> + + +<tr><td align="center">THE SEA.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> +Sad is the lonely sea—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">So vast, and smooth, and grey</span><br /> +It stretches far from me.<br /> +Sad is the lonely sea!<br /> +Its cheerful colours flee<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Before the fading day.</span><br /> +Sad is the lonely sea<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">So vast, and smooth, and grey!</span><br /> +<br/></td></tr> + + + +<tr><td align="center">DISILLUSION.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></td></tr> + +<tr><td> +You mortals see the sky—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I only see the ground,</span><br /> +As through the air I fly.<br /> +You mortals see the sky,<br /> +And yet with envy sigh<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Because to earth you're bound!</span><br /> +You mortals see the sky—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>I</i> only see the ground!</span><br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Written in the Air.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>Cloud Thoughts</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +Above the clouds I sail, above the clouds,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And wish my mind</span><br /> +Above its clouds could climb as well,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And leave behind</span><br /> +The world and all its crowds,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And ever dwell</span><br /> +In such a calm and limpid solitude<br /> +With ne'er a breath unkind or harsh or rude<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To break the spell—</span><br /> +With ne'er a thought to drive away<br /> +The golden splendour of the day.<br /> +Alone and lost beneath the tranquil blue,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">My God! With you!</span><br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Written in an Aeroplane.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>Autumn Regrets</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +That I were Keats! And with a golden pen<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Could for all time preserve these golden days</span><br /> +In rich and glowing verse, for poorer men,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who felt their wonder, but could only gaze</span><br /> +With silent joy upon sweet Autumn's face,<br /> +And not record in any wise its grace!<br /> +Alas! But I am even dumb as they—<br /> +I cannot bid the fleeting hours stay,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nor chain one moment on a page's space.</span><br /> +<br /> +That I were Grieg! Then, with a haunting air<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of murmurs soft, and swelling, grand refrains</span><br /> +Would I express my love of Autumn fair<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With all its wealth of harvest, and warm rains:</span><br /> +And with fantastic melodies inspire<br /> +A memory of each mad sunset's fire<br /> +In which the day goes slowly to its death<br /> +As through the fragrant woods dim Evening's breath<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Doth soothe to sleep the drowsy songbirds' choir.</span><br /> +<br /> +That I were Corot! Then September's gold<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Would I store up in painted treasuries</span><br /> +That, when the world seemed grey I could behold<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Its blazing colour with sweet memories,</span><br /> +And each elusive colour would be mine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span><br /> +That decorates these afternoons benign.<br /> +Ah! Then I could enshrine each fleeting hue<br /> +Which dyes the woodland, and enslave the blue<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of sky and haze, with genius divine.</span><br /> +<br /> +How sad these wishes! When I have no art<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of poetry, or music, or of brush,</span><br /> +With which to calm the swelling of my heart<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By capturing the misty country's hush</span><br /> +In muted violins; I cannot hymn<br /> +The shadowy silence of the copses dim;<br /> +Nor can I paint September's sky-crowned hills.<br /> +Gone then, the wonder which my vision fills,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When all the earth is bound by Winter grim!</span><br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Westgate.</span></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>To Hilda:</i></span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">On Her Seventeenth Birthday.</span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +Now has rich time brought you a gift of gold—<br /> +A long sweet year which you can shape at will,<br /> +And deck with roses warm, or with the chill<br /> +And heartless lilies—<span class="smcap">God</span> gives strength to mould<br /> +Our days, and lives, with fingers firm and bold,<br /> +And make them noble, straight and clean from ill,<br /> +Though few are willing, and their years they fill<br /> +With dross which they regret when they are old.<br /> +<br /> +What splendid hours of your life are these<br /> +When youth and childhood wander hand in hand,<br /> +And give you freely all which best can please—<br /> +Laughter and friends and dreams of Fairyland!<br /> +Mourn not the seasons past with useless tears,<br /> +But greet the pleasure of the coming years!<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">France, 1917.</span></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>Clouds</i></span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +'Tis strange to leave this world of woods and hills,<br /> +This world of little farms, and shady mills,—<br /> +Of fields, and water-meadows fair,<br /> +Upon some sad and shadowy day<br /> +When all the skies are overcast and grey,<br /> +And climb up through the gloomy air,<br /> +And ever hurry higher still, and higher,<br /> +Till underneath you lies a far-flung shire<br /> +All sober-hued beneath the ceiling pale<br /> +Of crawling clouds, whose barrier soon you reach,<br /> +And through their clammy vapours swiftly sail,<br /> +Their chill defences hoping soon to breach—<br /> +To see no skies above, no ground below,<br /> +And in that nothingness toss to and fro<br /> +Is no sweet moment—will it never cease?—<br /> +Climbing and diving, thrown from side to side,—<br /> +All suddenly there comes a sense of peace<br /> +And o'er a wondrous scenery we glide.<br /> +O! what a splendour! Deep the cloudless blue<br /> +Whose sparkling azure has a gorgeous hue<br /> +On earth you know not—flaming bright the sun<br /> +Which shines upon a landscape, snowy-white<br /> +With all its power of unsullied light!<br /> +Deep in the shadowy valleys do we run,<br /> +And then above the towering summits soar,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span><br /> +And see for far-thrown miles yet, more and more,<br /> +Great mountain-ranges, rolling, white and soft,<br /> +With shadowy passes, cool, and huge, and dim,<br /> +Where, surely, angels wander as they hymn<br /> +Their happy songs, which wing their way aloft<br /> +To Him who made the sun—the azure deep—<br /> +And all this gleaming land of peace and sleep.<br /> +Alone I wander o'er this virgin land—<br /> +All, all for me—below the ploughman plods<br /> +Along his furrows, and with restless hand<br /> +The sower hurls his seed among the clods—<br /> +They cannot see the sun—grey is their sky,—<br /> +<i>I</i> see the sun—the heaven's blue—on high!<br /> +But I am human, and must e'en descend;<br /> +I bid farewell to all this lovely scene,<br /> +And plunge deep in a cloud—When will it end,<br /> +This hazy voyage?—See! the chequered green,<br /> +The scattered farmsteads, and the quiet sea,<br /> +Sunless and dim, come hurrying up to me.<br /> +<br/> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>France, 1917.</i></span></td></tr></table> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dawn Patrol, and other poems of an +aviator, by Paul Bewsher + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAWN PATROL *** + +***** This file should be named 35996-h.htm or 35996-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/9/9/35996/ + +Produced by David E. 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