Page:More songs by the fighting men, soldier poets, second series, 1917.djvu/118

More Songs by the Fighting Men Invoke respect, tongue-tied however just.

O Heart! turn lyre within me! You are stirred

At her great contemplation, then you must

Shake into song, though be it as a bird

Whose artless iteration of his theme

Makes music without skill, by virtue of

The cherished sweetness of the Spring, his dream

Through bitter Winter. Sing but of her love,

Of her exceeding love, O Heart, then you

May render somewhat of the debt her due.

So great your love is, Mother, it may be

Nor held by words nor compassed by my rime;

It has o'erwhelmed the wide, disparting sea,

It has assaulted battlemented Time

To keep your guardian spirit round me when

Danger affronted or but lay in lurk—

Danger of death in this mad war of men,

Danger of sin in Life's worse war of work

And play, shadow and light, quick tears, brief joys:

You knew Life's sweetness when you gave me birth

And shared my infant bliss in stingless toys,

Alas! that since then joy has been in dearth

And grief has loosed so many of those tears

Which grew your Faith and Love beyond the years.

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