The Poets & The War XXIX

By Ben Davies.
The War Illustrated, Volume 3, No. 48, Page 112, August 2, 1940.

'Do not men die fast enough without being destroyed by each other? Can any man be insensible of the brevity of life? and can he who knows it, think life too long!' – Fénelon.

We who with careless hands have tossed this gem
Now see it dim and fade before our eyes,
And with a sense awakening and wise,
Seek no release nor pity, but condemn
Our easy valuation, and the hours,
Fleet and flying, that will subtle speed
Filched opportunities that may have freed
Us from this servience to ugly powers.
And seeing now this transient bubble fade,
With a grim humour we are yet content
To see the remnant in some ideal spent;
And, till before Time's alter we are laid,
To make of every hour a day to hold
The dreams that live though we do not grow old.

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