Poems (Kennedy)/Guynemer
GUYNEMER
(Guynemer, the famous French aviator, is said to have brought down the unprecedented number of 52 enemy airplanes before he was himself killed. The French people have asked that he be buried in the Pantheon, or Church of St. Genevieve, where are the tombs of many illustrious Frenchmen, and over the doors of which is carved the line: " Au grandes hommes la patrie reconnaissante.")
YEA, bury him in the Pantheon,
Where the great of his land are sleeping;
A niche inside will open wide
To take him to its keeping.
Where the great of his land are sleeping;
A niche inside will open wide
To take him to its keeping.
For he fought for France high over the fields
Wine-red with revel of Mars,
Bore her lilied flag o'er the cloudy crag
To blossom against the stars.
Wine-red with revel of Mars,
Bore her lilied flag o'er the cloudy crag
To blossom against the stars.
For, eagle of heart and eagle of eye,
He flew the heights of the skies,
And he dared the Hun in shadow or sun,
And he died as a warrior dies.
He flew the heights of the skies,
And he dared the Hun in shadow or sun,
And he died as a warrior dies.
Yea, bury him where, o'er the portals high
Is graven the tender story
How France will keep, through the centuries' sweep,
The ashes of his glory!
Is graven the tender story
How France will keep, through the centuries' sweep,
The ashes of his glory!