I Saw the Vision of Armies

I saw the vision of armies

And I saw, as in noiseless dreams, hundreds of battle flags

Borne through the smoke of the battles

And pierced with missiles, I saw themAnd carried, hither and yon through the smoke, and torn and bloody

And at last but a few shreds of the flags left on the staffs

And all in silence

And the staffs all splintered and brokenI saw battle corpses, myriads of them

And the white skeletons of young men, I saw them

I saw the debris and debris of all dead soldiers

But I saw they were not as was thoughtThey themselves were fully at rest, they suffered not

The living remained and suffered, the mother suffered

And the wife and the child, and the musing comrade suffered

And the armies that remained suffered