OUT OF THE FLICKERING FIRE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 67, 24 April 1945, Page 2

OUT OF THE FLICKERING FIRE

By 31530 Out of the. flickering fire-light Emerge familiar shadows Of men who held their safety light But always kept their honour bright On battle stained green meadows. In a ruined mill west of Nancy A last patrol is crouching. They fought in eighteen, seventy And died to keep their country free Thus their descendants couching. At Grivitza the siege guns roar ? Another man is winking Red gleams the Danube's southern shore ; A gunner dies at twenty-four— The family is shrinking. More figures swell the whispering lore Their messages surviving The savage grunt of hosts at war, As if the world had nothing more For the new males arriving. New battles on the Western Front And many a heart is sighing > In a casemate at Douaumont A sizzling bundle has been found That held the fort . till dying. So in between the wars you give The cause, love undefiled. It matters not how long you live ; Steer straight in spite of lurking reef, Uncharted and beguiled. The last perhaps in Egypt's sand Will pay his debt unbroken ; The swaying figures will shake hand And w r elcome. him unto their land. Of which no one has spoken. Dreams at the flickering fire-light, And all those winking shadows; It pays to keep our honour bright Who've not forgotten ho\7 to fight On battle, stained green meadows.