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CANADIAN SINGERS AND THEIR SONGS To the Grave of an unknown British Soldier

Knit thyself close, memorial grass,
 * Green be and strong O sacred Sod

And, lest a careless traveller pass
 * Unmoved, let every hidden clod

Enriched by this once radiant frame,
 * Beneath the ripple of a mound,

Pour out such echoes of his name
 * That they shall reach him—underground:

Unmarked—save on the deathless page—
 * He heard, he hastened, fought and fell

For a swift perilled heritage
 * So late perceived, but loved so well

That this mute clay, half man, half boy,
 * In some divine awakening caught,

Set it against all dreams and joy
 * And died in rapture at the thought:

Earth hath her dumb and poignant moods,
 * Her ancient passions of regret,

And with elusive pity broods,
 * Though man himself too soon forget:

No chill oblivion enters where
 * Her slumberous eyes for death atone,

Not solitary is he there—
 * Who rests with her rests not alone

Alan Sullivan 143