Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PRICE WE PAY, by J. H. STEVENS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PRICE WE PAY, by                    
First Line: Yes, he was the only one killed
Last Line: But that life was all that I had.
Subject(s): Assassination; Death; Heroism; War - Home Front; Dead, The; Heroes; Heroines


YES, he was the only one killed —
Not a battle, of course, with only one dead —
But that one was my all.
And the pages were blurred as I read,
"Killed at the front, Tom Burton";
One man, "not much of a loss," it said,
But't was all that I had,
And more than they knew
When they buried my hope with my dead,
In his blood-stained battle shroud.
Died that his country might live,
That a people oppressed might be free.
It made him a hero, you say;
Perhaps, but he was always a hero to me,
For I knew him and loved him.
Dead, dead, now at the front,
And he was only a lad.
Only one life for a victory,
But that life was all that I had.





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