Page:The Muse in Arms, Osborn (ed), 1917.djvu/92

50 When we might get him in yet safe and whole!"

"Corp'ral didn't see un fall out on patrol

Or he'd a got un." "Ssssh"

"No talking there."

A whisper: "'A went down at the last flare."

Meanwhile the Maxims toc-toc-tocked: their swish

Of bullets told death lurked against the wish.

No hope for him!

His corporal, as one shamed,

Vainly and helplessly his ill-luck blamed.

Then Gates slowly saw the morn

Break in a rosy peace through the lone thorn

By which he lay, and felt the dawn-wind pass

Whispering through the pallid, stalky grass

Of No-Man's Land

And the tears came

Scaldingly sweet, more lovely than a flame.

He closed his eyes: he thought of home

And grit his teeth. He knew no help could come

The silent sun over the earth held sway,

Occasional rifles cracked, and far away

A heedless speck, a 'plane, slid on alone

Like a fly traversing a cliff of stone.

"I must get back," said Gates aloud, and heaved

At his body. But it lay bereaved

Of any power. He could not wait till night

And he lay still. Blood swam across his sight.