Page:Poems, Volume 1, Coates, 1916.djvu/127

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"SO WAR HAS BEGUN"
105

Old soldiers still relate
How at Resaca's battle,—
As if to compensate,—
Above the din and rattle
Of musketry, continued long,
A mockingbird sang rapturous song:


And one who lay near death,—
A soldier sorely wounded,
Drew less distressful breath,
As clear that music sounded,
And felt to his tired spirit come
The most delightful dreams of home.


Ah, well! we talk of war,
But peace is so much kinder,
That all our strife is for
Is just the hope to find her:
And see!—how Spring, with look serene,
Is garlanding her halls in green!