Guards Came Through and other Poems

<h2><SPAN class="pagenum" name="Page_44" title="44"> </SPAN>THE NIGHT PATROL</h2> <p class="subheading small-caps">September 1918</p> <div class="poetry"> <div class="stanza"> <div class="line"><span class="small-caps">Behind</span> me on the darkened pier</div> <div class="line indent2">They crowd and chatter, man and maid,</div> <div class="line">A coon-song gently strikes the ear,</div> <div class="line indent2">A flapper giggles in the shade.</div> <div class="line">There where the in-turned lantern gleams</div> <div class="line indent2">It shines on khaki and on brass;</div> <div class="line">Across its yellow slanting beams</div> <div class="line indent2">The arm-locked lovers slowly pass.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="line">Out in the darkness one far light</div> <div class="line indent2">Throbs like a pulse, and fades away&mdash;</div> <div class="line">Some signal on the guarded Wight,</div> <div class="line indent2">From Helen's Point to Bembridge Bay.</div> <SPAN class="pagenum" name="Page_45" title="45"> </SPAN> <div class="line">An eastern wind blows chill and raw,</div> <div class="line indent2">Cheerless and black the waters lie,</div> <div class="line">And as I gaze athwart the haze,</div> <div class="line indent2">I see the night patrol go by.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="line">Creeping shadows blur the gloom,</div> <div class="line indent2">Thicken and darken, pass and fade;</div> <div class="line">Again and yet again they loom,</div> <div class="line indent2">One ruby spark above each shade&mdash;</div> <div class="line">Twelve ships in all! They glide so near,</div> <div class="line indent2">One hears the wave the fore-foot curled,</div> <div class="line">And yet to those upon the pier</div> <div class="line indent2">They seem some other sterner world.</div> </div> <div class="stanza"> <div class="line">The coon-song whimpers to a wail,</div> <div class="line indent2">The treble laughter sinks and dies,</div> <div class="line">The lovers cluster on the rail,</div> <div class="line indent2">With whispered words and straining eyes.</div> <SPAN class="pagenum" name="Page_46" title="46"> </SPAN> <div class="line">One hush of awe, and then once more</div> <div class="line indent2">The vision fades for them and me,</div> <div class="line">And there is laughter on the shore,</div> <div class="line indent2">And silent duty on the sea.</div> </div></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />