The Fallen Subaltern

The Volunteer écrit par Herbert Asquith

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The starshells float above, the bayonets glisten;
We bear our fallen friend without a sound;
Below the waiting legions lie and listen
To us, who march upon their burial-ground.

Wound in the flag of England, here we lay him;
The guns will flash and thunder o'er the grave;
What other winding sheet should now array him,
What other music should salute the brave?

As goes the Sun-god in his chariot glorious,
When all his golden banners are unfurled,
So goes the soldier, fallen but victorious,
And leaves behind a twilight in the world.

And those who come this way, in days hereafter,
Will know that here a boy for England fell,
Who looked at danger with the eyes of laughter,
And on the charge his days were ended well.

One last salute; the bayonets clash and glisten;
With arms reversed we go without a sound:
One more has joined the men who lie and listen
To us, who march upon their burial-ground.

Cette œuvre est dans le domaine public dans les pays où la durée des droits d’auteur s’étend jusqu’à 60 ans ou moins après la mort de l’auteur, mais encore soumis aux droits d’auteur dans certains pays, notamment en Europe et/ou aux États-Unis. Les téléchargements sont faits sous votre responsabilité.

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