Flower of youth, poems in war time/The Fields of France

by Katharine Tynan

 

THE FIELDS OF FRANCE

"Nous avons chassé ce Jesus Christ"

Jesus Christ they chased away
Comes again another day.
Could they do without Him then
His poor lost unhappy men?
He returns and is revealed
In the trenches and the field.

Where the dead lie thick He goes,
Where the brown earth's red as a rose,
He who walked the waters wide
Treads the wine-press, purple-dyed,
Stoops, and bids the piteous slain
That they rise with Him again.

To His breast and in his cloak
Bears the younglings of the flock:
Calls His poor sheep to come home
And His sheep rise up and come.
They shall rest by a clear pool
'Mid the pastures beautiful!

Jesus Christ they chased away
Has come back another day.