Arras

Item

Arras

I WENT and walked by Arras

In the dim uncertain night;

I went and walked by Arras

In the dazzling noonday light;

First, I saw a fairy glamour—

Later, 'twas another sight.

Out by Arras in the night-time.

Star-shells in the starlit sky

Showered like wild silver raindrops

From a fountain scattered high.

Like the silver scales of fishes

In the tideway curving by.

Out by Arras in the night-time

There were glints of red and green

Like the glow of fairy camp-fires

In some hidden high wood seen.

Like the day-dawn of the night-land

Where no man has ever been.

Out by Arras in the day-time

There stretched broad the sun-parched sand

Where together men and torture

Lived with foul death hand and hand,

Horror-stricken, God-forsaken,

There stretched far the war-cursed land.

And upon the stretches barren

Far I saw the thousands lie

That the wind of war had blasted,

Sweeping on without a sigh;

In the hollows, huddled hundreds

Who were not afraid to die.

Title
Arras
Identifier
greatwar_moresongs2075
Media
<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="" class="head">Arras</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I WENT and walked by Arras</p><p class="line">In the dim uncertain night;</p><p class="line">I went and walked by Arras</p><p class="line">In the dazzling noonday light;</p><p class="line">First, I saw a fairy glamour—</p><p class="line">Later, 'twas another sight.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Out by Arras in the night-time.</p><p class="line">Star-shells in the starlit sky</p><p class="line">Showered like wild silver raindrops</p><p class="line">From a fountain scattered high.</p><p class="line">Like the silver scales of fishes</p><p class="line">In the tideway curving by.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Out by Arras in the night-time</p><p class="line">There were glints of red and green</p><p class="line">Like the glow of fairy camp-fires</p><p class="line">In some hidden high wood seen.</p><p class="line">Like the day-dawn of the night-land</p><p class="line">Where no man has ever been.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Out by Arras in the day-time</p><p class="line">There stretched broad the sun-parched sand</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Where together men and torture</p><p class="line">Lived with foul death hand and hand,</p><p class="line">Horror-stricken, God-forsaken,</p><p class="line">There stretched far the war-cursed land.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">And upon the stretches barren</p><p class="line">Far I saw the thousands lie</p><p class="line">That the wind of war had blasted,</p><p class="line">Sweeping on without a sigh;</p><p class="line">In the hollows, huddled hundreds</p><p class="line">Who were not afraid to die.</p></div></body></html>