The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-05-26
"PEAcE OVER AFRICA"
A New Poem by Edwin Markham on
the Boer War.

A New Poem by Edwin Markham on
the Beer War.
At a meeting held to celebrate the
anniversary Of the declaration at The
Hague for an international court OF
peace recently held in New York Ed
win Markham read an original poem
for the occasion. It was as follows:
PEACE OVER AFRICA"
o bugles, ripple and shine.
Ripple and rapture down the wavering
linel
Praise praise. praise.
For the last OF the desperate daysl
Shake out the lyrical notes
From your cavernous silvern threats;
Burst into joy mad carols once again
To herald the homing men.
o bugles, tell II to the opening sky
And go the roads OF men with joyous cry
Peace on the wreathed and the wreathless
head;
Peace over England. over Africa;
Peace on the living, quiet on the dead;
Peace on the souls hurled downward from
the day.
Hurled down with hated breath.
To join the old democracy Of death.
The challenge Of the bugle and the gium
Rejoinder OF the drum,
The neigh OF startled stations,
The hurried rhythm OF the hot battalions,
The blown wild scent Of crushed gera-
mum.
The parley Of the howitzers. the shrill
Grim colloquy of hill with hill
These had their fateful hour. But now,
even now,
A bird sings on cannon broken Dough
Sings all the afternoon,
81. ~ Il -
Fran wings viii come to wander in the
moon
Wander In long delight
Through Africa's star filled delicious
night.
Wars bitter root, and yet so fair a flowerl
Sing and be glad, o England IN this hourl
But not as one who has no grief 70 bear,
No memories, no burden no despair.
Be glad, but not as one who has no grief;
The victors laurel wears a wintry leaf.
The elarions revel and the joy bells rave,
But what is all the glory and the gain
To those wet eyes behind the misty pane.
Whose Africa is crumpled 10 one grave,
A lone grave at the mercy Of the rain?
Not all our odes nor all our prisons
Can sweeten these intolerable tears,
These silenees that fall between the
cheers.
In all the JOY memory cries and dwells,
A heart break. heroical farewells.
Let there be no mere battles; field and
flood
Are sick Of bright eyed blood.
Lay the sad swords asleep;
They have their fearful memories to keep.
These swords that in the dark battle
burned
Burned upward with insufferable light
Lay them asleep heroic rest is earned,
And in their sleep will be kinglier might
Than ever Powered upon the front OF
fight.
And fold the flags; they weary Of the day.
Worn by their wild climb IN the winds
wild way
Quiet the dauntless flags
Grown strangely old upon the smoky
crags
Look where they startle and leapl
Look where they hollow and heap
Tremulous, undulent banners. fared and
thinned
Living and dying momently in the wind!
And wars imperious bugles, let them
rest
BugIes that cried through whirlwind their
behest
wild bugles that held council in the Sky
They are aweary Of the curdling cry
That tells men how to die,
And cannons worn out with their work Of
he'll,
That brief abrupt persuasion Of the she'll
Let the shrewd spider lock them one by
one
With llny cables g1aucing IN the sun,
And let the throstle IN their empty throats
Build his safe nest and spill his ripping
notes