by John Masefield (1878 - 1967)
Here the legion halted, here the ranks...
Language: English
Here the legion halted, here the ranks were broken, And the men fell out to gather wood; And the green wood smoked, and bitter words were spoken, And the trumpets called to food. And the sentry on the rampart saw the distance dying To the smoke of distance blue and far, And heard the curlew calling and the own replying As the night came cold with one star; And thought of home beyond, over moorland, over marshes, Over hills, over the sea, across the plains, across the pass, By a bright sea trodden by the ships of Tarshis, The farm, with cicadea in the grass. And thought as I: "Perhaps, I may be done with living To-morrow, when we fight. I shall see those souls no more. O beloved souls, be beloved in forgiving The deeds and words that make me sore."
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Authorship:
- by John Masefield (1878 - 1967), no title, appears in Lollingdon Downs and Other Poems, first published 1917 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "The halt of the legion", 1919. [voice and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-30
Line count: 16
Word count: 142