Part 10 (1/2)
Soldier, soldier, spic and span, Aren't you the lucky man; Splendid in your gold and blue-- How the small boy envies you!
Oh, there's glory for you here-- Girls to smile and men to cheer; Bands behind and bands before Thrilling with the l.u.s.t of War.
Soldier, soldier, proud as though Marching to a sanguine foe, Bravely would you face the brink Fired with music, and with drink...
Stalwart warrior pa.s.s, and be Glad you are not such as we-- We, who, without flags or drums, March to battle in the slums.
Regiments of workers--we Are a foolish soldiery, Combating, till we convert, Ignorance, disease and dirt...
Soldier, soldier, look--and then Laugh at us poor fighting-men, Struggling on, though every street Is the scene of our defeat.
Laugh at us, who, day by day Come back beaten from the fray; We, who find our work undone-- We, whose wars are never won.
_Gay flags flying down the street; Comes the drum's insistent beat Like a fierce, gigantic pulse-- And the screaming fife exults!_
PEACE
(_The Fisheries dispute having been amicably compromised, the world is at peace again._ .... News Despatch.)
'_At peace_'? The world has never been at peace-- Its wars are never-ending; there is naught In all its battles like these overwrought And storming hours with their dark increase.
The cities roar; in every street one sees Women and children, battle-wounded, caught.-- No slaves, no shattered hosts have ever fought So bitterly, so hopeless of release...
Well, if it must be war, take up the sword, Facing the world with grim and savage glee; And, with the courage of a Faith restored, Strike till the darkness falters, and we see That liberty is no mere gaudy word, And peace no slothful, placid mockery.
THE DYING DECADENT
_And when the evening came he fell asleep, And dreamed a dream of pallid loveliness:_
He wandered in a forest dark and deep, Where phantoms pa.s.sed him with a soft caress; Where shadows moved and ghostly spirits stood Sphinxes of silence, wraiths of mystery; A magic wood, a strange and scented wood Where roses sprang from every withered tree.
A wood that woke his wonder and his fear, A wood of whispered spells and shameful lore, Beyond whose furthest rim he seemed to hear A lonely sea upon a lonelier sh.o.r.e.
Visions swept by him with a chanted spell, Crouched at his feet and murmured at his side-- And like a dim refrain there rose and fell The restless minor of an ebbing tide...
Then, amidst broken sighs and wafts of song, Borne on the breezes blowing from the west, He saw one figure dancing in the throng More wan and wonderful than all the rest.
The singing grew and nearer still she came, A being made of rose and fire and mist; Her deep eyes burning like the purple flame Hid in the heart of every amethyst.
And, with the crooning of the distant sea, She sang to charm his soul and still his fear: ”Oh, come, my love that wanders wearily; Oh, come, for you have called, and I am here...
Oh, I have waited long to bring you there, Beyond the border of the things that are, Where all is terrible and strange and fair, As were your dreams that reached my favorite star...
For you shall live and set the suns to rhyme; You shall escape a mortal's petty fate; You shall behold the birth and death of Time...
Oh come, my love, for you these wonders wait.
”Moonlight and music and the sound of waves, Sea-spells incanted by a mermaid-muse, And women's voices breathing slumb'rous staves, These shall you have whenever you may choose.
And you shall know the maidens of the moon, Lying on lilies shall you see them dance; And you shall fling red roses to the tune, Great roses while the magic scene enchants.
Wantons and queens shall take your heart to play And lose it in a mesh of tangled hair; And you shall always give your heart away, And find a new one every hour there.
Here are the notes of every nightingale Like rare pearls dropping in a golden pan; And you shall hear white music in each dale, Sweet silver sounds that are not heard by man.
And I shall show you all the world's delight, The unknown pa.s.sion of each flaming star; Your eyes shall be endowed with keener sight Beyond the border of the things that are.
Oh come, they wait you on the further strand-- Your drab and mournful mood they will exchange For joy's resplendent purple in the land Where all is rhythmical and fair and strange...