At length when the war's at an end And we're just ourselves,—you and I, And we gather our lives up to mend, We, who've learned how to live and to die: Shall we think of the old ambition For riches, or how to grow wise, When, like Lazarus freshly arisen, We've the presence of Death in our eyes? Shall we dream of our old life's passion,— To toil for our heart's desire, Whose souls War has taken to fashion With molten death and with fire? I think we shall crave the laughter Of the wind through trees gold with the sun, When our strife is all finished,—after The carnage of War is done. Just these things will then seem worth while:— How to make Life more wondrously sweet, How to live with a song and a smile, How to lay our lives at Love's feet. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE VOICE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON THE SIGN OF THE CROSS by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN SONG, FR. MEASURE FOR MEASURE by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE KNOWLEDGE by HENRY DAVID THOREAU AN EXPOSTULATION WITH LOVE by PHILIP AYRES BOTHWELL: PART 2 by WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN |