Wednesday 28 November 2018

Peace! Be still!


 “Master, the battle is raging!
  The shrapnel is falling nigh!
The air is polluted with gas fumes,
  And round me dead comrades lie.
Carest Thou not that we perish?
  How canst Thou silence keep
When each moment so madly is threatening
  A grave in a shell hole deep?”

 “Proud man and his hosts shall obey My will!
  Peace! be still! Whether the rush of torpedo at sea,
Or demons on land, or whatever they be, might against
  Right shall not long defy the Master of ocean and
Earth and sky. They all shall surely obey My will;
  Peace! be still! Peace! be still!
     They all shall sorely obey My will;
     Peace! peace! be still

Master, the struggle is over.
   The elements sweetly rest;
Man’s pride to the dust is humbled,
   And hope’s high within my breast,
leave us no more, blest Redeemer,
   To man’s own unhallowed caprice;
And in humbled contrition we’ll ever
   Seek brotherhood, love, and peace.

J. M.

Adapted from Sankey’s "Peace, be Still.”



Poem: The Witness, 29 November 1918. 
Image: Crop from Zonnebeke 1918 a painting by Sir William Orpen





No comments:

Post a Comment