IV. THE DEAD
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hese hearts were woven of human joys and cares,Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth. The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,And sunset, and the colours of the earth. These had seen movement, and heard music ; knownSlumber and waking ; loved ; gone proudly friended ; Felt the quick stir of wonder ; sat alone ; Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended. There are waters blown by changing winds to laughterAnd lit by the rich skies, all day. And after,Frost, with a gesture, stays the waves that danceAnd wandering loveliness. He leaves a whiteUnbroken glory, a gathered radiance,A width, a shining peace, under the night. 14 _V. THE SOLDIER _ If I should die, think only this of me:That there’s some corner of a foreign fieldThat is for ever England. There shall beIn that rich earth a richer dust concealed ;A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,A body of England’s, breathing English air,Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away,A pulse in the eternal mind, no lessGives somewhere back the thoughts by Englandgiven ;Her sights and sounds ; dreams happy as her day ;_ And laughter, learnt of friends ; and gentleness,In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. 15
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