<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Western</h1><p>Flanders, 1915.</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">THOR draws a chord invisible </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Across the shaking sky:</p><p class="line">I hear the tearing of the shell, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The bullets sing and cry,</p><p class="line">As, charging through the flames of hell, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The batteries go by.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The gunners laugh about the task, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">That man to man has given:</p><p class="line">Like Titans, now the guns unmask, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And fire the veils of heaven.</p><p class="line">Above the cloud what lights are gleaming? </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">God's batteries are those,</p><p class="line">Or souls of soldiers, homeward streaming </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">To banquet with their foes?</p><p class="line">The floods of battle ebb and flow,</p><p class="line">The soldiers to Valhalla go!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">They say that, when the day awoke, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And the dying night was wan,</p><p class="line">Harry of England rode the smoke,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And led the English van:</p><p class="line">And bowmen in the battle-glare</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Rose from the ghostly dew:</p><p class="line">The clothyard sang upon the air,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And the grey goose-feather flew!</p><p class="line">Harry of England is awake,</p><p class="line">His archers mind not trench or stake !</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">And men have seen the Emperor,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The Eagle of the South:</p><p class="line">God grant the bonds be loosed by Thor</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">That bind that marble mouth!</p><p class="line">The silver roads of conquest lie</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Fast frozen in his brow:</p><p class="line">Would those imperious lips were free</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">To give their orders now!</p><p class="line">The floods of battle ebb and flow,</p><p class="line">The soldiers to Valhalla go!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Beyond the thunder of the guns, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Beyond the flaming line,</p><p class="line">Far from this sky of echoing bronze, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The English valleys shine;</p><p class="line">The gardens, moated in the wolds, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">By wind and water kissed;</p><p class="line">And dainty girls, that England folds </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">In sunshine and in mist.</p><p class="line">The floods of battle ebb and flow,</p><p class="line">The soldiers to Valhalla go!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The fighting men go charging past, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">With the battle in their eyes,</p><p class="line">The fighting men go reeling past, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Like gods in poor disguise:</p><p class="line">And stumbling men, whom none will see, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">No wife or mother more,</p><p class="line">Winged with the wings of Victory, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And helmeted by Thor!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Above the cloud what lights are gleaming? </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">God's batteries are those,</p><p class="line">Or souls of soldiers, homeward streaming </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">To banquet with their foes?</p></div></body></html> · Great War