John Galsworthy: Valley of the Shadow

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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts

British writers on peace and war

John Galsworthy: Selections on war

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John Galsworthy
Valley of the Shadow

God, I am travelling out to death’s sea,
I, who exulted in sunshine and laughter,
Thought not of dying – death is such waste of me!
Grant me one comfort: Leave not the hereafter
Of mankind to war, as though I had died not
I, who in battle, my comrade’s arm linking,
Shouted and sang – life in my pulses hot
Throbbing and dancing! Let not my sinking
In dark be for naught, my death a vain thing!
God, let me know it the end of man’s fever!
Make my last breath a bugle call, carrying
Peace o’er the valleys and cold hills, for ever!