<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Day's March</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">The</span> battery grides and jingles,</p><p class="line">Mile succeeds to mile;</p><p class="line">Shaking the noonday sunshine</p><p class="line">The guns lunge out awhile,</p><p class="line">And then are still awhile.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">We amble along the highway;</p><p class="line">The reeking, powdery dust</p><p class="line">Ascends and cakes our faces</p><p class="line">With a striped, sweaty crust.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Under the still sky's violet</p><p class="line">The heat throbs on the air...</p><p class="line">The white road's dusty radiance</p><p class="line">Assumes a dark glare.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">With a head hot and heavy,</p><p class="line">And eyes that cannot rest,</p><p class="line">And a black heart burning</p><p class="line">In a stifled breast,</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I sit in the saddle,</p><p class="line">I feel the road unroll,</p><p class="line">And keep my senses straightened</p><p class="line">Toward to-morrow's goal.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">There, over unknown meadows</p><p class="line">Which we must reach at last,</p><p class="line">Day and night thunders</p><p class="line">A black and chilly blast.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Heads forget heaviness,</p><p class="line">Hearts forget spleen,</p><p class="line">For by that mighty winnowing</p><p class="line">Being is blown clean.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Light in the eyes again,</p><p class="line">Strength in the hand,</p><p class="line">A spirit dares, dies, forgives,</p><p class="line">And can understand!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">And, best! Love comes back again</p><p class="line">After grief and shame,</p><p class="line">And along the wind of death</p><p class="line">Throws a clean flame.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The battery grides and jingles,</p><p class="line">Mile succeeds to mile;</p><p class="line">Suddenly battering the silence</p><p class="line">The guns burst out awhile...</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I lift my head and smile.</p></div><p class="byline">Robert Nichols</p></body></html> · Great War