1914 TO 1918
HOMING WINGS
Poised like the black-winged swallow born to roam
And find a living in the ambient air,
We sacrificed our home
For unpolluted realms of natural law.
Must we despair
Because the neutral tissue of our dreams
Dissolves like ravelled mist before the heat,
And at our feet
The radiant prospect of this ancient land,
Grey hamlets, happy fields, sequestered streams,
Unconquerable stand?
E'en the world-wandering bird suspends her nest
Beneath the overhanging cottage eves
In fecund rest;
And breezes ocean-born
In brooding oaks scarce stir the crumpled leaves,
Where poppies flame among the ripening corn.
So we return to worship homely things,
That filled our baby hands, ancestral springs
Resurgent and intense
Stirring the reverent heart
Of childhood's innocence.
And find a living in the ambient air,
We sacrificed our home
For unpolluted realms of natural law.
Must we despair
Because the neutral tissue of our dreams
Dissolves like ravelled mist before the heat,
And at our feet
The radiant prospect of this ancient land,
Grey hamlets, happy fields, sequestered streams,
Unconquerable stand?
E'en the world-wandering bird suspends her nest
Beneath the overhanging cottage eves
In fecund rest;
And breezes ocean-born
In brooding oaks scarce stir the crumpled leaves,
Where poppies flame among the ripening corn.
So we return to worship homely things,
That filled our baby hands, ancestral springs
Resurgent and intense
Stirring the reverent heart
Of childhood's innocence.
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