68 LINCOLN COLCORD
A few men struggle on the water, where she went
down; They ding for a while to fragments of wreckage ; There is no help in sight — they cannot be saved.
(Down in the close, tight shell — in the unseen,
mysterious vessel, Crouching in a dim chamber, in utter silence,
wrapped in impenetrable privacy, apart from
life, cut off from world of land and sea, A man sits, breathing hard, clenching his hands ; Far above him, where sunlight strikes on breaking
wave, a secret eye looks out, A secret mirror throws down to him the story there ; One long, intense, absorbing glance — then to the
signal stretches out his hand ; Turning away, as darkly as she came, the submarine
speeds homeward, Leaving the sea to seal her work and bury her dead.)
9.
Behold! Hour of the War !
Life everywhere flowing in strange new channels !
The world aroused, awakened ! The silence rent ! Peace shattered and overthrown !
The well-ordered conventions rudely broken up ! The illusions dissipated ! The motives sud- denly disclosed !
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