Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


NIGHT SOWERS by CLINTON SCOLLARD

First Line: LO, THESE ARE THEY THAT TOIL BY NIGHT
Last Line: THE DEWS OF PEACE PERENNIAL!
Subject(s): DEATH; NIGHT; PEACE; SOLDIERS; WAR; DEAD, THE; BEDTIME;

Lo, these are they that toil by night
With mattock and with spade,
Beneath the flickering lanthorn light,
In meadow and in glade!
Row upon long and crowded row,
How gruesome is the seed they sow!

Back on the fair and furrowed lands
The earth and sod they toss,
And some, with reverential hands,
Place here and there a cross,
A simple rough-hewn cross as though
To sanctify the seed they sow.

Oh, may some flower of love arise
Above the bruised sod,
Some flower of love to greet the eyes,
The grieving eyes of God!
Some flower of love whereon shall fall
The dews of peace perennial!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net