Katharine Lee Bates - Children Of The War

SHRUNKEN little bodies , pallid baby faces , Eyes of staring terror , innocence defiled , Tiny bones that strew the sand of silent places , — This upon our own star where Jesus was a child. Broken buds of April , is there any garden Where they yet may blossom , comforted of sun , While their sad Creator bows to ask their pardon For the life He gave them , life and death in one? Spared by steel and hunger , still shall horror blazon Those white and tender spirits with anguish unforgot; Half a century hence the haggard look shall gaze on The outrage of a mother , shall see a grandsire shot. Man who wings the azure , lassoes the hoof sparkling , Fire-maned steeds of glory and binds them to his car , Cannot man whose searchlight leaves no horizon darkling Safeguard little children upon our golden star?Katharine Lee Bateshttp://www.poemhunter.com/poem/children-of-the-war/