Classic Poem

III

Now soldiers we seem,
And night brings a new thing,
A terrible ire,
As of thunder a-wing.
A warrior power,
That old chivalry stirred,
When knights took up arms,
As the maidens gave word.
T HE END OF OUR WAR ,
W ILL BE GLORY UNTOLD .
W HEN THE TOWN LIKE A GREAT
B UDDING ROSE SHALL UNFOLD !

Near, nearer that war,
And that ecstasy comes,
We hear the trees beating
Invisible drums.
The fields of the night
Are starlit above,
Our girls are white torches
Of conquest and love.
No nerve without will,
And no breast without breath
We whirl with the planets
That never know death!