<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Secret Foe</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">When</span> now to battle he shall ride,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The bravest of the brave,</p><p class="line">Joan the Maid be by his side</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And Michael, quick to save.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Not against man's most fell device</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The shell, the gas, the mine;</p><p class="line">These he shall meet with steady eyes</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And courage half-divine.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Oh, not the gaping wounds and red</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And not the tortured sense,</p><p class="line">And not the dying and the dead</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And his own impotence.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">But when the joy of battle faints</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And his hot blood grows chill,</p><p class="line">Be near him, all ye soldier saints,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Lest Satan work him ill!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Lest in the hour of his great fight</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">This foe should him assail,</p><p class="line">The enemy that creeps by night</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Strike through his coat of mail.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Sebastian of the arrows, haste,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Michael and the White Maid,</p><p class="line">Lest in his splendid hour, at last,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The soldier be afraid.</p></div></body></html> · Great War