<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">On the Porch</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">As I lie roofed in, screened in,</p><p class="line">From the pattering rain,</p><p class="line">The summer rain --</p><p class="line">As I lie</p><p class="line">Snug and dry,</p><p class="line">And hear the birds complain:</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Oh, billow on billow,</p><p class="line">Oh, roar on roar,</p><p class="line">Over me wash</p><p class="line">The seas of war.</p><p class="line">Over me -- down -- down</p><p class="line">Lunges and plunges</p><p class="line">The huge gun with its one blind eye,</p><p class="line">The armored train,</p><p class="line">And, swooping out of the sky,</p><p class="line">The aeroplane.</p><p class="line">Down -- down --</p><p class="line">The army proudly swinging</p><p class="line">Under gay flags,</p><p class="line">The glorious dead heaped up like rags,</p><p class="line">A church with bronze bells ringing,</p><p class="line">A city all towers,</p><p class="line">Gardens of lovers and flowers,</p><p class="line">The round world swinging</p><p class="line">In the light of the sun:</p><p class="line">All broken, undone,</p><p class="line">All down -- under</p><p class="line">Black surges of thunder...</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Oh, billow on billow</p><p class="line">Oh, roar on roar,</p><p class="line">Over me wash</p><p class="line">The seas of war...</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">As I lie roofed in, screened in,</p><p class="line">From the pattering rain,</p><p class="line">The summer rain --</p><p class="line">As I lie</p><p class="line">Snug and dry,</p><p class="line">And hear the birds complain.</p></div><p class="byline">-- Harriet Monroe.</p></body></html> · Great War