57426: Anthem For Doomed Youth

<p dir="ltr"> What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?<br> ---Only the monstrous anger of the guns.<br> Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle<br> Can patter out their hasty orisons.<br> No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;<br> Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, ---<br> The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;<br> And bugles calling for them from sad shires.<br> What candles may be held to speed them all?<br> Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes<br> Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.<br> The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;<br> Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,<br> And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.</p>