They talked of old campaigns, nineteen-fourteen
And Mons and watery Yser, nineteen-fifteen
And Neuve Chapelle, ‘sixteen, ‘seventeen, ‘eighteen
And after. And they grumbled, leaving home,
Then talked of nineteen-nineteen, nineteen-twenty
And after.
Their thoughts wandered, leaving home
Among familiar places and known years;
Anticipating in the river, of time
Rocks, rapids, shallows, idle glazing pools
Mirroring their dark dreams of heaven and earth.
–And then they parted, one to Chatham, one
To Africa, Constantinople one,
One to Cologne; and all to an unknown year,
Nineteen-nineteen perhaps, or another year.
(John Freeman)
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Based on Topics: Time Poems, Heaven Poems, Home Poems, Idleness PoemsBased on Keywords: mirroring, mons, campaigns, chatham, constantinople, chapelle, neuve, nineteen-fourteen, yser, nineteen-twenty, nineteen-fifteen