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~~ by Nancy Virginia Rhea ~My Grandmother~ ~~ (Verses inspired by the receipt of a rose plucked from a bush growing on a trench battlefield and sent to the author by the young soldier who discovered it in a devastated garden just behind the firing line.) ~~ Across the sea you came to me With petals folded still and white, O'er ocean's foam and far from home You thrill me with strange delight. ~~ From its drooping stalk by the soldiers' walk, A boyish hand has plucked the flower, And o'er the foam to friends at home You came, an envoy of rare power. ~~ A dream of June and summer noon, 'Mid folds of sweetness still embracing; With memory's trance of sunny France And sorrow with these interlacing. ~~ Thy brooding heart gives me no part, But dumb with sorrow still encloses; 'Mid happier themes those of the screams Of shot and shell among the roses. ~~ When summer days with warming rays And breezes blow with peace from God, Thy sisters blush amid the hush Of prayer time 'neath the sod. ~~ Then bloom for aye, sweet roses gay, Forgotten be the scars you're wearing; I bear the scars from woeful wars 'Gainst sins red flag unfurled and daring. ~~ ~N. V. Rhea~ (Written during World War 1) - Published - 1923 - Copyright 1923, N. V. Rhea ~~ |
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... MeMa's Holiday House ~ Table of Contents
.
.~~
Background
compliments
of
Grab
A Graphic
.
.
Music
"The Ballad of
the Cross"
(Copyright
1997 by Elton Smith
and
Larry Holder)
.
