Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/248

 242 WOMAN S KINGDOM.

Go tell the gallant soldier Where lies the hidden foe,

Where flaunts the hostile banner, Where ambush crouches low.

Bring from the banished mother, A blessing for her son,

And from the bride, remembrance To the beloved one.

Thus, spite of man s invention, Sought out &quot; through ages past,

To thee, frail postal angel, He comes for help at last

Back to the gentle story Of homesick birds afar ;

So peace belies her emblem Beneath the cloud of war.

��WOMAN S KINGDOM.

WOMAN S kingdom ! Who knows where The walls of woman s kingdom are? How stands her throne in purple state, Gemmed with the golden bees of Fate ? Where is her crown of glory won, Her regal robes for pageants spun ? When may the warders dare to sleep Beside the dungeon in the keep ?

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