Quiet Eyes

Item

Quiet Eyes

The boys come home, come home from war,

With quiet eyes for quiet things --

A child, a lamb, a flower, a star,

A bird that softly sings.

Young faces war-worn and deep-lined,

The satin smoothness past recall;

Yet out of sight is out of mind

For the worst wrong of all.

As nightmare dreams that pass with sleep,

The horror and grief intolerable.

The unremembering young eyes keep

Their innocence. All is well!

The worldling's eyes are dusty dim,

The eyes of sin are weary and cold,

The fighting boy brings home with him

The unsullied eyes of old.

The war has furrowed the young face.

Oh, there's no all-heal, no wound-wort!

The soul looks from its hidden place

Unharmed, unflawed, unhurt.

Title
Quiet Eyes
Identifier
greatwar_herb005
Item sets
Herb o' Grace
Media
<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">Quiet Eyes</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">The</span> boys come home, come home from war,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">With quiet eyes for quiet things --</p><p class="line">A child, a lamb, a flower, a star,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">A bird that softly sings.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Young faces war-worn and deep-lined,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The satin smoothness past recall;</p><p class="line">Yet out of sight is out of mind</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">For the worst wrong of all.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">As nightmare dreams that pass with sleep,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The horror and grief intolerable.</p><p class="line">The unremembering young eyes keep</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Their innocence. All is well!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The worldling's eyes are dusty dim,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The eyes of sin are weary and cold,</p><p class="line">The fighting boy brings home with him</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The unsullied eyes of old.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The war has furrowed the young face.</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Oh, there's no all-heal, no wound-wort!</p><p class="line">The soul looks from its hidden place</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Unharmed, unflawed, unhurt.</p></div></body></html>