Page:Canadian poems of the great war.djvu/191

 M

��Beatrice Redpath

Mrs William Redpath of Montreal. Author of Drawn Shutters a first book of poems, published in 1914, which attracted the attention of discerning critics. Born in Montreal, the youngest daughter of Alexander Peterson, CM. Educated in private schools. Married in April, 1910.

THE MEN OF CANADA

Y eyes are blind,

For tears I cannot see their faces

As they stumble past;

Their blood dyes my robe and hands.

Yet still I see their wounds,

Their wounds that bleed!

Oh God, what is this hate,

That rends. . . that crucifies ?

The tears of the world tonight

Are in my heart.

The beautiful proud world,

How it bleeds and bleeds !

Is there no end to hate?

How long. . . how long?

Your tears have blinded you. ..

Look, see this man,

See how the blood drips from his breast,

One arm hangs slack

And there is blood upon his brow.

Do you remember him?

A simple man living among his fields,

Drowsed with content

Same as his beasts which stretched full fed.

He was glad in the land

Glad in his home and in his sons,

And life was all an easy plodding thing. ..

Until. . . war as a fever swept the world !

The beasts still lay about the fields

And browsed. . ..

�� �