Lines Written in the Trenches 1915

I

Ah! Hate like this would freeze our human tears,
And stab the morning star:
Not it, not it commands and mourns and bears
The storm and bitter glory of red war.

II

To J.H.S.M., killed in action, March 13th, 1915

O Brother, I have sung no dirge for thee:
Nor for all time to come
Can song reveal my grief’s infinity:
The menace of thy silence made me dumb.