The Return

Item

The Return

I heard the rumbling guns. I saw the smoke.
The unintelligible shock of hosts that still,
Far off, unseeing, strove and strove again;
And Beauty flying naked down the hill

From morn to eve: and the stern night cried Peace!
And shut the strife in darkness: all was still,
Then slowly crept a triumph on the dark --
And I heard Beauty singing up the hill.

John Freeman

Title: The Return
Identifier: greatwar_clarke083

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 Return</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I <span class="smallcaps">heard</span> the rumbling guns. I saw the smoke.</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The unintelligible shock of hosts that still,</p><p class="line">Far off, unseeing, strove and strove again;</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And Beauty flying naked down the hill</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">From morn to eve: and the stern night cried Peace!</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And shut the strife in darkness: all was still,</p><p class="line">Then slowly crept a triumph on the dark --</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And I heard Beauty singing up the hill.</p></div><p class="byline">John Freeman</p></body></html>