IN MEMORIAM

He went to battle in the mist-hung sky,

Like some gold-hearted bird with pinions strong;

He went with courage, with a snatch of song,

In all his splendid youth! And God on high

Looked down with love to watch him dip and fly,

Then lifted him to where the brave belong.

He went to right a bleeding nation's wrong,

And proved that he was not afraid to die!

So we, who stare across the lonely hours,

Must only think of that great gift he gave;

Must think of other lives that his will save;

And know that, when the tender, healing showers

Have fallen in a stranger-land, the flowers

Will bloom, like prayers, upon a hero's grave!