And I felt the great thrill
Of the throe
Of an earth
In re-birth,
That moment while hand sought hand
Across the wires of every No-Man's Land,—
While foe took foe to his heart,
And, never to part,
Turned, shoulder by shoulder to parry the blow
Of the grim Earth-foe.
Then first, since the bulk of the dripping sphere
Heaved shuddering out of the slime
Of chaos and night and old time,
Were the hearts of all earth-men strung
In harmony one with the other.
Then faded and vanished the last frontier
Of hate, when the soul's universal tongue
Uttered the great word: "Brother!"
There, in that infinite spark of time,
Despite the ghoul-fleets veiling the sky,
Was my heart lifted high;
For I heard a mighty resurgent chime,
And I knew Earth's death-in-life was done,
And I saw from its grave-like trench, humanity climb
Into the light of a common sun.
······
