Poems (Piatt)/Volume 2/The Story of a Shawl
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THE STORY OF A SHAWL.[1879.]
My child, is it so strange, indeed,
This tale of the Plague in the East, you read?—
This tale of the Plague in the East, you read?—
This tale of how a soldier found
A gleaming shawl of silk, close-wound,
A gleaming shawl of silk, close-wound,
(And stained, perhaps, with two-fold red)
About a dead man's careless head?
About a dead man's careless head?
He took the treasure on his breast
To one he loved. We know the rest.
To one he loved. We know the rest.
If Russia shudders near and far,
From peasant's hut to throne of Czar:
From peasant's hut to throne of Czar:
If Germany bids an armed guard
By sun and moon keep watch and ward
By sun and moon keep watch and ward
Along her line, that they who fly
From death, ah me! shall surely die:
From death, ah me! shall surely die:
This trouble for the world was all
Wrapped in that soldier's sweetheart's shawl.
Wrapped in that soldier's sweetheart's shawl.
———Pray God no other lovers bring
Some gift as dread in rose or ring.
Some gift as dread in rose or ring.