Page:Canadian poems of the great war.djvu/116

 John Daniel Logan

Of endless youth and pervasive peace;

And the valley rings with their chorusings : Hail, Love that died and Death, all hail!

Death brought New Life in the lilied vale,

The hallowed valley of Avalon. For Avalon s vale is the mystic Land

Of the Ever- Young; in that paradise God s smile shines down on his Warrior-band,

And the young Knights laughter cleaveth the skies In the happy valley of Avalon.

The knightly train by the waters wan

That lave the valley of Avalon, Spied late, in his manhood s first estate,

A new Knight speeding to Avalon, Fair was his form, and his step elate;

With eyes a-front and a soldier s mien He wended his way to the blissful scene.

The valiant Kings and the Captains great Stood up to greet him ; and cried, Good hail !

And Welcome, Comrade ! to the mystic vale,

The happy valley of Avalon. For Avalon s vale is the Warrior s Land,

And Avalon s Halls are the Hero s Home; And God smiles down on the happy band

Of his young true Knights the while they roam

The lilied lawns of fair Avalon. Lo, a mother mourns for an only son

Who dwelleth now in far Avalon. In joy she bore him, in hope she planned,

And recked not the road to Avalon. But came the day of the Great Demand

For her heart s one pearl above all price,

And she gave her son to the sacrifice. He lies not dead in an alien land;

From that dread place where his body fell His knightly spirit passed proudly on

To the warrior-host invisible.

�� �