". . . defeated, with great loss."Not we the conquered! Not to us the blame Of them that flee, of them that basely yield;
Nor ours the shout of victory, the fame Of them that vanquish in a stricken field.
That day of battle in the dusty heat We lay and heard the bullets swish and
Like scythes amid the over-ripened wheat,
And we the harvest of their garnering.
Some yielded,
No, not we! Not we, we swear By these our wounds; this trench upon the
Where all the shell-strewn earth is seamed and bare,
Was ours to keep; and lo! we have it still.
We might have yielded, even we, but death Came for our helper; like a sudden
The crashing darkness fell; our painful breath We drew with gasps amid the choking blood.
The roar fell faint and farther off, and soon Sank to a foolish humming in our ears,
Like crickets in the long, hot afternoon Among the wheat fields of the olden years.
Before our eyes a boundless wall of red Shot through by sudden streaks of jagged pain!
Then a slow-gathering darkness overhead And rest came on us like a quiet rain.
Not we the conquered! Not to us the shame,
Who hold our earthen ramparts, nor shall
To hold them ever; victors we, who came In that fierce moment to our honoured peace.
