The Casualty Clearing Station

Item

The Casualty Clearing Station

A bowl of daffodils,

A crimson-quilted bed,

Sheets and pillows white as snow --

White and gold and red --

And sisters moving to and fro,

With soft and silent tread.

So all my spirit fills

With pleasure infinite,

And all the feathered wings of rest

Seem flocking from the radiant West

To bear me thro' the night.

See, how they close me in,

They, and the sisters' arms.

One eye is closed, the other lid

Is watching how my spirit slid

Toward some red-roofed farms,

And having crept beneath them slept

Secure from war's alarms.

Gilbert Waterhouse

Title
The Casualty Clearing Station
Identifier
greatwar_clarke125
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 Casualty Clearing Station</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">A <span class="smallcaps">bowl</span> of daffodils,</p><p class="line">A crimson-quilted bed,</p><p class="line">Sheets and pillows white as snow --</p><p class="line">White and gold and red --</p><p class="line">And sisters moving to and fro,</p><p class="line">With soft and silent tread.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">So all my spirit fills</p><p class="line">With pleasure infinite,</p><p class="line">And all the feathered wings of rest</p><p class="line">Seem flocking from the radiant West</p><p class="line">To bear me thro' the night.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">See, how they close me in,</p><p class="line">They, and the sisters' arms.</p><p class="line">One eye is closed, the other lid</p><p class="line">Is watching how my spirit slid</p><p class="line">Toward some red-roofed farms,</p><p class="line">And having crept beneath them slept</p><p class="line">Secure from war's alarms.</p></div><p class="byline">Gilbert Waterhouse</p></body></html>