The Red Cross Nurses

Item

The Red Cross Nurses

Out where the line of battle cleaves

The horizon of woe

And sightless warriors clutch the leaves

The Red Cross nurses go.

In where the cots of agony

Mark death's unmeasured tide --

Bear up the battle's harvestry --

The Red Cross nurses glide.

Look! Where the hell of steel has torn

Its way through slumbering earth

The orphaned urchins kneel forlorn

And wonder at their birth.

Until, above them, calm and wise

With smile and guiding hand,

God looking through their gentle eyes,

The Red Cross nurses stand.

Thomas L. Masson

Title
The Red Cross Nurses
Identifier
greatwar_clarke132
Item sets
A Treasury of War Poetry
Media
<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Red Cross Nurses</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">Out</span> where the line of battle cleaves</p><p class="line">The horizon of woe</p><p class="line">And sightless warriors clutch the leaves</p><p class="line">The Red Cross nurses go.</p><p class="line">In where the cots of agony</p><p class="line">Mark death's unmeasured tide --</p><p class="line">Bear up the battle's harvestry --</p><p class="line">The Red Cross nurses glide.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Look! Where the hell of steel has torn</p><p class="line">Its way through slumbering earth</p><p class="line">The orphaned urchins kneel forlorn</p><p class="line">And wonder at their birth.</p><p class="line">Until, above them, calm and wise</p><p class="line">With smile and guiding hand,</p><p class="line">God looking through their gentle eyes,</p><p class="line">The Red Cross nurses stand.</p></div><p class="byline">Thomas L. Masson</p></body></html>