The Spires of Oxford(Seen From The Train)

Item

The Spires of Oxford
(Seen From The Train)

WINIFRED M. LETTS
From "The Spires of Oxford and Other Poems," by Winifred M. Letts, copyright, 1917, by E. P. Dutton & Company, New York. Permission to reproduce in this book.

I SAW the spires of Oxford 
As I was passing by, 
The gray spires of Oxford 
Against a pearl--gray sky. 
My heart was with the Oxford men 
Who went abroad to die.

The years go fast in Oxford, 
The golden years and gay, 
The hoary colleges look down 
On careless boys at play. 
But when the bugles sounded--War! 
They put their games away.

They left the peaceful river, 
The cricket field, the quad, 
The shaven lawns of Oxford 
To seek a bloody sod--
They gave their merry youth away 
For country and for God.

God rest you, happy gentlemen, 
Who laid your good lives down, 
Who took the khaki and the gun 
Instead of cap and gown. 
God bring you to a fairer place 
Than even Oxford town. 

Title: The Spires of Oxford(Seen From The Train)
Identifier: greatwar_Eaton096

Item sets: Great Poems of the World War

Media: <html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Spires of Oxford (Seen From The Train)</h1> WINIFRED M. LETTS From "The Spires of Oxford and Other Poems," by Winifred M. Letts, copyright, 1917, by E. P. Dutton & Company, New York. Permission to reproduce in this book.<div class="stanza">I SAW the spires of Oxford As I was passing by, The gray spires of Oxford Against a pearl--gray sky. My heart was with the Oxford men Who went abroad to die.</div><div class="stanza">The years go fast in Oxford, The golden years and gay, The hoary colleges look down On careless boys at play. But when the bugles sounded--War! They put their games away.</div><div class="stanza">They left the peaceful river, The cricket field, the quad, The shaven lawns of Oxford To seek a bloody sod--They gave their merry youth away For country and for God.</div><div class="stanza">God rest you, happy gentlemen, Who laid your good lives down, Who took the khaki and the gun Instead of cap and gown. God bring you to a fairer place Than even Oxford town. </div></body></html>