Classic Poem

I.

WAR .

The night was black with cloud, as though the smoke
Of battle had congealed, and risen to roof
The world with gloom; the lurid moon made proof
Of regnancy won by the dark, and broke
In waves of ghostly light; a shattered oak
Stood in the foreground, and, the sentinel
Far off upon his height kept guard; a spell
Of horror filled the air as when awoke
The cries of onset and appalled the day;
The half-extinguished flames of the burned town
Were barely visible; a soldier's corse
And scattered heaps of shapeless things adown
The plain appeared; and, riderless, a horse
Took flight and shrilled its agonizing neigh.

II.

PEACE .

In waves on waves of light the high sun rolled
Across the mid-noon air; midsummer held
The breathing land, and from its realm expelled
All shapes of fear; mild quiet, fold on fold,
Enwrapped the spreading scene, and in the gold
Of summer's sun the grass and trees made joy;
Soft shadows from tall trees had sweet employ
Upon the light-besprinkled stream; made bold
With bliss, the birds wheeled swift across the air;
The pastures stretched away to where the corn
Rose tall, the farm-house broke the distance, fair
And cloud-flecked shone the sky, and glad with scorn
Of dull constraint, the horses tossed their manes,
And all forgot their labors and hard pains.