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148 And I felt the great thrill

Of the throe

Of an earth

In re-birth,

That moment while hand sought hand

Across the wires of every No-Man's Land,— While foe took foe to his heart,

And, never to part,

Turned, shoulder by shoulder to parry the blow

Of the grim Earth-foe.

Then first, since the bulk of the dripping sphere

Heaved shuddering out of the slime

Of chaos and night and old time,

Were the hearts of all earth-men strung

In harmony one with the other.

Then faded and vanished the last frontier

Of hate, when the soul's universal tongue

Uttered the great word: "Brother!"

There, in that infinite spark of time,

Despite the ghoul-fleets veiling the sky,

Was my heart lifted high;

For I heard a mighty resurgent chime,

And I knew Earth's death-in-life was done,

And I saw from its grave-like trench, humanity climb

Into the light of a common sun.