<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">Aftermath</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">Yes</span>, he is gone, there is the message, see!</p><p class="line">Slain by a Prussian bullet as he led</p><p class="line">The men that loved him -- dying, cheered them on --</p><p class="line">My son, my eldest son. So be it, God!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">This is no time for tears, no time to mourn,</p><p class="line">No time for sombre draperies of woe.</p><p class="line">Let the aggressors weep! for they have sinned</p><p class="line">The sin of Satan. Lust of power and pride,</p><p class="line">Mean envy of their neighbors' weal, a plot</p><p class="line">Hatched amidst glozing smiles and prate of peace</p><p class="line">Through the false years; until the Day, the Day</p><p class="line">When all this worship at the Devil's feet</p><p class="line">Should win the world. Ay, let them weep!</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:44%">But we</p><p class="line">With eyes undimmed march on; our mourning robes</p><p class="line">Be-jewelled by the deeds of those that die,</p><p class="line">Lustre on lustre, till no sable patch</p><p class="line">Peeps through their brilliance.</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:%">In the years to come,</p><p class="line">When we have done our work, and God's own peace,</p><p class="line">The Peace of Justice, Mercy, Righteousness,</p><p class="line">Like the still radiance of a summer's dawn,</p><p class="line">With tranquil glory floods a troubled world;</p><p class="line">Why then, perhaps, in the old hall at home,</p><p class="line">Where once I dreamed my eldest-born should stand</p><p class="line">The master, as I stand the master now,</p><p class="line">Our eyes, my wife, shall meet and gleam, and mark</p><p class="line">Niched on the walls in sanctity of pride,</p><p class="line">Hal's sword, Dick's medal, and the cross he won</p><p class="line">Yet never wore. That is the time for tears,</p><p class="line">Drawn from a well of love deep down; deep down,</p><p class="line">Deep as the mystery of immortal souls,</p><p class="line">That is the time for tears; not now, not now!</p></div><p class="byline">-- Burghclere.</p></body></html> · Great War