I walked on through the village, I saw the lights go out in houses as men and women prepared for bed;
Safe and secure, the homes of my neighbors rested in the shadow of tall trees, that had been growing there peacefully a long time ;
I passed on into the country, crickets were singing in the fields, fireflies were glimmering in the pastures among low growths of spruce and pine;
I mounted a hill, high overhead brooded the ma- jestic and silent heavens ;
On the eastern horizon a great bright star arose, casting a track across the bay.
I have never seen the world so calm, the air so clear
and still ; I have never known an hour so full of quietness.
2.
Hour of the War !
Now, now — and here — on this same earth, and
under this same sky ! Now ! — Now ! — The War ! — The War ! — The
War !
Night, and a sodden field, and starlight over all, And on the ground the bodies of dead men lying;
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