Beyond the steel and the fire
Gleams the old desire.
War has not taken wonder away.
More poignant where its lightnings play
The appeal of beauty’s lonely cry!
I shall go dreaming till I die.
I see wind-burnished coin-bright towns,
And roads that shine across the downs;
A dusk of forest and a line
Of light that silvers the design;
Always the shadowed and the bright,
A halo for the blackest night!
— Islands where I have never been;
The rainbow toppling down the green
Of tilted seas that rake a ship;
The molten lava-streams that slip
From fiery crater-rims and fill
The dark with rose and daffodil;
Lakes mountain-hid and spiritual;
The undiscovered waterfall
Like a white feather through the trees,
The undiscovered bird in these
Singing, always alone, alone,
The lovely voice of the unknown —
This is Romance chameleon-clad
That called me when I was a lad.
That calls me now to follow well
Through blighted Picardy to hell,
Through hell to some elusive bliss
Of new adventure after this;
To follow without asking why!
So you will know, if I must die
Upon this last and strangest quest,
It did not differ from the rest
In simple wonder dark and bright,
A halo for the blackest night:
And freedom like the unknown bird
Was a wild voice I had not heard,
Was a pure voice I fought to hear!
These words to you, my very dear,
Beyond the steel and the fire
Gleams the old desire.