A song is but a little thing,
And yet what joy it is to sing!
In hours of toil it gives me zest,
And when at eve I long for rest;
When cows come home along the bars,
And in the fold I hear the bell,
As Night, the shepherd, herds his stars,
I sing my song, and all is well.

There are no ears to hear my lays,
No lips to lift a word of praise;
But still, with faith unfaltering,
I live and laugh and love and sing.
What matters yon unheeding throng?
They cannot feel my spirit's spell,
Since life is sweet and love is long,
I sing my song, and all is well.

My days are never days of ease;
I till my ground and prune my trees.
When ripened gold is all the plain,
I put my sickle to the grain.
I labor hard, and toil and sweat,
While others dream within the dell;
But even while my brow is wet,
I sing my song, and all is well.

Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,
My garden makes a desert spot;
Sometimes a blight upon the tree
Takes all my fruit away from me;
And then with throes of bitter pain
Rebellious passions rise and swell;
But—life is more than fruit or grain,
And so I sing, and all is well.

The beating of the guns grows louder.
"Not long, boys, now."
My heart burns whiter, fearfuller, prouder;
Hurricanes grow
As guns redouble their fire.
Through the shaken periscope peeping
I glimpse their wire:
Black earth, fountains of earth rise, leaping,
Spouting like shocks of meeting waves.
Death's fountains are playing,
Shells like shrieking birds rush over;
Crash and din rises higher.
A stream of lead raves
Over us from the left… (we safe under cover!)
Crash.  Reverberation.  Crash!
Acrid smoke billowing.  Flash upon flash.
Black smoke drifting.  The German line
Vanishes in confusion, smoke.  Cries, and cry
Of our men, "Gah, yer swine!
Ye're for it," die
In a hurricane of shell.

One cry;
"We're comin' soon!  look out!"
There is opened hell
Over there.  Fragments fly,
Rifles and bits of men whirled at the sky:
Dust, smoke, thunder.  A sudden bout
Of machine-guns chattering….
And redoubled battering
As if in fury at their daring….

No good staring.

Time soon now… home… house on a sunny hill….
Gone like a flickered page.
Time soon now… zero… will engage…

A sudden thrill.
"Fix bayonets."
Gods!  we have our fill
Of fear, hysteria, exultation, rage,
Rage to kill.

My heart burns hot, whiter and whiter,
Contracts tighter and tighter,
Until I stifle with the will
Long forged, now used
(Though utterly strained)—
O pounding heart,
Baffled, confused,
Heart panged, head singing, dizzily pained —
To do my part.

Blindness a moment.  Sick.
There the men are.
Bayonets ready: click!
Time goes quick;
A stumbled prayer… somehow a blazing star
In a blue night… where?
Again prayer.
The tongue trips.  Start:
How's time?  Soon now.  Two minutes or less.
The guns' fury mounting higher...
Their utmost.  I lift a silent hand.  Unseen I bless
Those hearts will follow me.
And beautifully,
Now beautifully my will grips.
Soul calm and round and filmed and white!

A shout!  "Men, no such order as retire!"
I nod.
                The whistle's twixt my lips….
I catch
A wan, worn smile at me.
Dear men!
The pale wrist-watch….
The quiet hand ticks on amid the din.
The guns again
Rise to a last fury, to a rage, a lust:
Kill!  Pound!  Kill!  Pound!  Pound!
Now comes the thrust,
My part… dizziness… will… but trust
These men.  The great guns rise.
Their fury seems to burst the earth and skies!

They lift!

Gather, heart, all thoughts that drift;
Be steel, soul,
Compress thyself
Into a round, bright whole.
I cannot speak.

Time!  Time!

I hear my whistle shriek
Between teeth set,
I fling an arm up,
Scramble up the grime
Over the parapet!

I'm up.  Go on.
Something meets us.
Head down into the storm that greets us.
A wail!
Lights.  Blurr.
Gone.
On, on.  Lead.  Lead.  Hail.
Spatter.  Whirr.  Whirr.
"Toward that patch of brown,
Direction left."  Bullets: a stream.
Devouring thought crying in a dream;
Men, crumpled, going down….
Go on.  Go.
Deafness, Numbness.  The loudening tornado.
Bullets.  Mud.  Stumbling and skating.
My voice's strangled shout:—
"Steady pace, boys!"
The still light: gladness.
"Look, sir. Look out!"
Ha!  ha!  Bunched figures waiting.
Revolver levelled quick!
Flick!  Flick!
Red as blood.
Germans.  Germans.
Good!  O good!
Cool madness.