George Herbert Clarke, ed. (1873–1953). A Treasury of War Poetry. 1917.
Rowland Thirlmere
Jimmy Doane
O
You who, light-heartedly, came to my house
Three autumns, to shoot and to eat a grouse!
My mind was full of the horror of war
And not with the hope of a visitor.
My soul was cold and I wished you were here,—
When, all in a moment, I knew you were near.
I looked at my book:—Three years to-day
Since you laughed in that seat and I heard you say—
America—Britain—these two are akin
In courage and honour; they underpin
With a brotherly grip, and you made me feel
Something that Time would surely reveal.
And sympathy’s grace with your strength was blent;
You were generous, clever, and confident.
Have perished to make; your heart was fulfilled
With the breath of God that can never be stilled.
Of the work to do in the world to make
Life beautiful: yes, and my heartstrings ache
Chose that your steadfast soul should fly
With the eagles of France as their proud ally.
The first swift son of your bright, free land
To heed the call of the Inner Command—
As braced the valour of France, who knows
That the heart of America thrills with her woes.
Mostly we find, when we trouble to seek
The soul of a people, that some unique,
Makes bold to utter the words that choke
The throats of feebler, timider folk.
Doing great things for your country’s pride:
For the beauty and peace of life you died.
Your memory; yes, and for ever you share
Their love with their perished lords of the air.
You sit, who came through the clouds to me,
Swift as a message from over the sea.
Dear spirit, come often and you will find
Welcome, where mind can foregather with mind!
Quietly here, when a word is said
To bring new gladness unto our dead,
And seeing on some momentous pact
Your vision upbuilt as a deathless fact.