<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">Magpies in Picardy</h1><p class="byline">"TIPCUCA"<br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/><span class="smallcaps">IN The Westminster Gazette</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">THE. magpies in Picardy</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Are more than I can tell. </p><p class="line">They flicker down the dusty roads </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And cast a magic spell</p><p class="line">On the men who march through Picardy, </p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Through Picardy to hell.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">(The blackbird flies with panic,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The swallow goes like light,</p><p class="line">The finches move like ladies,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The owl floats by at night;</p><p class="line">But the great and flashing magpie</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">He flies as artists might.)</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">A magpie in Picardy</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Told me secret things--</p><p class="line">Of the music in white feathers,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And the sunlight that sings</p><p class="line">And dances in deep shadows--</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">He told me with his wings.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">(The hawk is cruel and rigid,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">He watches from a height;</p><p class="line">The rook is slow and somber,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The robin loves to fight;</p><p class="line">But the great and flashing magpie</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">He flies as lovers might.)</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">He told me that in Picardy,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">An age ago or more,</p><p class="line">While all his fathers still were eggs,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">These dusty highways bore</p><p class="line">Brown, singing soldiers marching out</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Through Picardy to war.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">He said that still through chaos</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Works on the ancient plan,</p><p class="line">And that two things have altered not</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Since first the world began-</p><p class="line">The beauty of the wild green earth</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And the bravery of man.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">(For the sparrow flies unthinking</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And quarrels in his flight.</p><p class="line">The heron trails his legs behind,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The lark goes out of sight;</p><p class="line">But the great and flashing magpie</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">He flies as poets might.) </p></div></body></html> · Great War