Silent, mysterious, on wings of down, 
A swift, deceptive presence in the cover, 
Vaguely irresolute, soft-breasted, brown. 
Bird of Minerva, tawny-eyed moon-lover. 
You faced the sunshine mid the fir-trees gaunt, 
Roused by the beaters' distant sticks a-tapping. 
From some sequestered, hidden, noontide haunt. 
Where doubtless you'd been napping. 

Now all that's mortal of you, limp and dead. 
Lies where a few pale, floating plumes still fly light; 
Your little ghost, I like to think, has sped 
To the dim nether world of endless twilight, 
(Fit paradise for one who loved full well 
The empty dark, those shores forlorn, abhorrent,) 
To sail for ever o'er the asphodel. 
By Styx's gloomy torrent! 

Meanwhile with hasty hands the mould I'll heap 
Over your warm, uncaring, earthly habit, 
Over the pinions that no more may sweep 
Upon the unsophisticated rabbit; 
Lost to the daylight (which you couldn't brook, 
You loathed that sunrise bore, the dull but good cock), 
None of the guns shall guess that I mistook 
You for the sweepstakes woodcock.

Cold steel in my side, the world fades to gray
Smoke stings my eyes, another soldier gone astray
Comrades lie silent, their faces turned to sky
This wasn't the future we dreamt of, you and I

Sweetheart, this picture, worn with every mile
The memory of your smile, for a little while
It chases away the fear, the sting of defeat
But a lifetime of loving, condensed into this heat

Remember that fight, the night before I left?
Angry words spoken, a love harshly cleft
I should've held you tighter, whispered promises true
Instead, I slammed the door, leaving the worst of me with you

The mud sucks me down, a crimson tide rising high
But in your eyes, my love, forever I can fly
We'll dance beneath the stars, a waltz in the unknown
No battlefield scars, just love we've always known

Sweetheart, this picture, stained with crimson tide
The memory of your smile, by my side, my side
It chases away the fear, the final, fading beat
A lifetime of loving, wrapped around this tattered sheet

Forgive me, darling, for the harsh goodbye
My love for you, eternal, beneath this fading sky