PIERRE
I saw you starting for another war,
The emblem of adventure and of youth,
So that men trembled, saying: “He forsooth
Has gone, has gone, and shall return no more.”
And then out there, they told me you were dead,
Taken and killed; how was it that I knew,
Whatever else was true, that was not true?
And then I saw you pale upon your bed,
Scarcely two years ago, when you were sent
Back from the margin of the dim abyss;
For Death had sealed you with a warning kiss,
And let you go to meet a nobler fate:
To serve in fellowship, O fortunate:
To die in battle with your regiment.
ICARUS
Here fell the daring Icarus in his prime,
He who was brave enough to scale the skies;
And here bereft of plumes his body lies,
Leaving the valiant envious of that climb.
O rare performance of a soul sublime,
That with small loss such great advantage buys!
Happy mishap! fraught with so rich a prize,
That bids the vanquished triumph over time.
So new a path his youth did not dismay,
His wings but not his noble heart said nay;
He had the glorious sun for funeral fire;
He died upon a high adventure bent;
The sea his grave, his goal the firmament.
Great is the tomb, but greater the desire.