Page:Canadian poems of the great war.djvu/42

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��Lillie A. Brooks

Mrs William Brooks of Toronto. Born in Norwood, Ontario, January 4th, 1874, daughter of the Rev. John Edmund Cooper, Anglican clergyman.

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BEREAVED

E was my music how could winds be eerie That bore his laughter and his joyous song? He was my sunlight how could days be dreary, His radiant smile must scatter mists ere long ! He was my heaven could my soul be weary That felt his presence in the passing throng! God! Can it be that I must live without him, Live on bereft of all that made life bright? Henceforth the chill, the silence and the darkness Hush! He sends starlight to the purple night.

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��THE SIGHING OF THE PRISONERS

HE endless length of days,

So full of dreariness and useless pain! Interminable nights When even respite in the land of dreams

Is sought in vain !

The cruel hunger pangs

That gnaw and grip and tear as wolves their prey! The burning, parching thirst That no barbarian with a dripping sponge

Seeks to allay!

The wretched, worthless years !

The fettered soul while soulless beasts go free! The haunting memories O God, in pity send forget fulness

Or liberty!

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