Any Woman To A Soldier

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h1 id="id00867" style="margin-top: 5em">ANY WOMAN TO A SOLDIER</h1> <h5 id="id00868">GRACE ELLERY CHANNING</h5> <p id="id00870">  The day you march away—let the sun shine,<br/> Let everything be blue and gold and fair,<br/> Triumph of trumpets calling through bright air,<br/> Flags slanting, flowers flaunting—not a sign<br/> That the unbearable is now to bear,<br/> The day you march away.<br/></p> <p id="id00871">  The day you march away—this I have sworn,<br/> No matter what comes after, that shall be<br/> Hid secretly between my soul and me<br/> As women hide the unborn—<br/> You shall see brows like banners, lips that frame<br/> Smiles, for the pride those lips have in your name.<br/> You shall see soldiers in my eyes that day—<br/> That day, O soldier, when you march away.<br/></p> <p id="id00872">  The day you march away—cannot I guess?<br/> There will be ranks and ranks, all leading on<br/> To one white face, and then—the white face gone,<br/> And nothing left but a gray emptiness—<br/> Blurred moving masses, faceless, featureless—<br/> The day you march away.<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />