The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Death of the Scharnhorst and other Poems, by Arch Alfred McKillen
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Title: The Death of the Scharnhorst and other Poems
Release Date: February 19, 2021 [eBook #64594]
Produced by: Curt Troutwine, Mary Glenn Krause, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DEATH OF THE SCHARNHORST AND OTHER POEMS
***THE DEATH OF THE SCHARNHORST AND OTHER POEMS
_Manufactured in the United States of America_
_To_ L.R.D., EM 1/c, U. S. Navy Killed in action, Pearl Harbor, T. H. December 7, 1941
_Smile a little, lad,_ _For when you smile_ _There is no sleep._ _How can there then be Death?_
The Chicago _Sun_ has kindly granted permission to reprint the poem “The Litany of Pearl Harbor,” which it published on December 7, 1942, in June Provines’ column
We Were Waiting That Morning for Colors 26
The sky was touched with tints of morn, A wind was in the trees, I lay in bed awakened By the murmur of the leaves.
I listened to the chirping Of the first-awakened bird, And, his leather heels a-clicking, Some lad off to work I heard.
Then my thoughts to sleep returning Wondered briefly, of us three, What brave paths the fates have destined For the bird, the lad and me.
The war in Spain is over Yet victory does not smile For all the lads are murdered Who might have laughed awhile.
And those who march triumphant Are sadder than the dead Because their hearts are shadowed, Because their hands are red.
The war in Spain is over, Yet other trumpets sound And call the world’s young manhood To another battleground.
It rains tonight and wolf-winds howl. His grave is not so deep, But that the mournful Heavens Upon his body weep; They wet the mound of spaded earth And through his coffin seep.