Courage mes gars:
La guerre est proche.
I plant my little plot of beans,
I sit beneath my cyprus tree;
I do not know what trouble means,
I cultivate tranquillity . . .
But as to-day my walk I made
In all serenity and cheer,
I saw cut in an agave blade:
“Courage, my comrades, war is near!”
Seward I went, my feet were slow,
Awhile I dowsed upon the shore;
And then I roused with fear for lo!
I saw six grisly ships of war.
A grim, grey line of might and dread
Against the skyline looming sheer:
With horror to myself I said:
“Courage, my comrades, war is near!”
I saw my cottage on the hill
With rambling roses round the door;
It was so peaceful and so still
I sighed . . . and then it was no more.
A flash of flame, a rubble heap;
I cried aloud with woe and fear . . .
And wok myself from troubled sleep –
My home was safe, war was not near.
Oh, I am old, my step is frail,
My carcase bears a score of scars,
And as I climbed my homeward trail
Sadly I thought of other wars.
And when that agave leaf I saw
With vicious knife I made a blear
Of words clean-cut into the raw:
“Courage, my comrades, war is near!”
Who put hem there I do not know –
One of these rabid reds, no doubt;
But I for freedom struck my blow,
With bitter blade I scraped them out.
There now, said I, I will forget,
And smoke my pipe and drink my beer –
Yet in my mind these words were set:
“Courage, my comrades, war is near!”
“Courage, my comrades, war is near!”
I hear afar its hateful drums;
Its horrid din assails my ear:
I hope I die before it comes. . . .
Yet as into the town I go,
And listen to the rabble cheer,
I think with heart of weary woe:
War is not coming – WAR IS HERE.
(Robert William Service)
More Poetry from Robert William Service:
Robert William Service Poems based on Topics: War & Peace, Home, Nature, Doubt & Skepticism, Courage- Fighting Mac (Robert William Service Poems)
- If You Had The Choice Of Two Women To Wed (Robert William Service Poems)
- (The sunshine seeks my little room) (Robert William Service Poems)
- Cardiac (Robert William Service Poems)
- The Soldier Of Fortune (Robert William Service Poems)
- The Enigma (Robert William Service Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Nature Poems, War & Peace Poems, Home Poems, Courage Poems, Doubt & Skepticism PoemsBased on Keywords: rabid, assails, gars, carcase, cyprus, blear, rambling, looming, seward, cultivate, mes
- The Art Of Preserving Health. Book IV (John Armstrong Poems)
- Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind. In Three Cantos. - Canto III. (Matthew Prior Poems)
- Of The Nature Of Things: Book II - Part 03 - Atomic Forms And Their Combinations (Lucretius Poems)
- The Golden Legend: V. A Covered Bridge At Lucerne (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Poems)
- Rhodon And Iris. Act V (Ralph Knevet Poems)