<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Boys Of the House</h1><h1 align="center" class="head"><em>(For Valentine and Hubert Blake)</em></h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">Young</span> martyrs of the war,</p><p class="line">Who with your bright eyes star</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:6%">The shadows grey;</p><p class="line">Who steal at dawn and gloam</p><p class="line">In each beloved room</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:6%">So pale, so gay.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Boys who will not grow old,</p><p class="line">Peach cheek and hair of gold,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:6%">Smile and are flown;</p><p class="line">You will come back again,</p><p class="line">In the darkness and the rain,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:6%">In the dusk, in the dawn.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Remember, oh, dear Two,</p><p class="line">Two who came after you</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:6%">Who love, as you loved,</p><p class="line">The grey house and the woods,</p><p class="line">All the sweet solitudes</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:6%">You loved, approved.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Dear martyrs of the war,</p><p class="line">Remember, where you are,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:6%">Boys who have still</p><p class="line">To do, to bear, to attain</p><p class="line">To your glory and your gain --</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:6%">By what steep hill?</p></div></body></html> · Great War