Flashed like a lamp at night
In sluggish sleepers' eyes;
Out of the east where mornings rise
Came like the morning into ashen skies
With the east's subtle fire and surprise,
And stern beyond his knowledge brought
A message other than he thought:
"Lo! an edict here from the throne of fate,
Whose banners are lifted and armies wait;
The fight moves on at the front, it says,