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September 21, 1870 {A}

Speak low, speak little; who may sing
While yonder cannon-thunders boom?
Watch, shuddering, what each day may bring:
Nor ‘pipe amid the crack of doom.’

And yet–the pines sing overhead,
The robins by the alder-pool,
The bees about the garden-bed,
The children dancing home from school.

And ever at the loom of Birth
The mighty Mother weaves and sings:
She weaves–fresh robes for mangled earth;
She sings–fresh hopes for desperate things.

And thou, too: if through Nature’s calm
Some strain of music touch thine ears,
Accept and share that soothing balm,
And sing, though choked with pitying tears.

Eversley, 1870.

Footnote {A}: Time of the Franco-Prussian War.