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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
GOING TO THE FRONT, by HARDWICKE DRUMMOND RAWNSLEY First Line: I had no heart to march for war Last Line: How sweet to live—how glad and good to die! Subject(s): World War I; First World War | |||
I HAD no heart to march for war When trees were bare and fell the snow; To go to-day is easier far When pink and white the orchards blow, While cuckoo calls and from the lilac bush Carols at peace the well-contented thrush. For now the gorse is all in flower, The chestnut tapers light the morn, Gold gleam the oaks, the sun has power To robe the glittering plain with corn; I hear from all the land of hope a voice That bids me forward bravely and rejoice. So merry are the lambs at play, So cheerfully the cattle feed, With such security the May Has built green walls round every mead, O'er happy roofs such grey old church-towers peep, Who would not fight these dear, dear homes to keep? For hawthorn wreath, for bluebell glade, For miles of buttercup that shine, For song of birds in sun and shade That fortify this soul of mine, For all May joy beneath an English sky, How sweet to live—how glad and good to die! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...D'ANNUNZIO by ERNEST HEMINGWAY 1915: THE TRENCHES by CONRAD AIKEN TO OUR PRESIDENT by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE HORSES by KATHARINE LEE BATES CHILDREN OF THE WAR by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE U-BOAT CREWS by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE RED CROSS NURSE by KATHARINE LEE BATES WAR PROFITS by KATHARINE LEE BATES THE UNCHANGEABLE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN A BALLAD OF THE CONEMAUGH FLOOD by HARDWICKE DRUMMOND RAWNSLEY |
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