Mount shifted-like ghouls
Risen in the dark sky's eminence
Where, there, soaring souls
Of a centre crown circumference
From out the waning moon
And of the warm nights of June --
(When the solace of the days to me
Were that of false Destiny),
Whereas I, too, worn the ring of Albatross
From pass unmitigated loss
Of a pulchritudinous lover
Whom the saintly cherubs uncover
The lacy-lilac flower of yore
Which lies, a warrior's life, no more.
Oh, quaff thy drugs in never regretting
For war as this that's worth forgetting;
Whether holy angels in these skies
Or daunted demons in disguise
As revenants, stern and severe,
Silently fume the censer here
Where the fallen brave flown to Avalon
From the dreaded dirge of Babylon
Lies fully somewhere within
As a chrysalis, a beautiful kin,
Oh somewhere within,
Somewhere within
Lies fully within
The lacy-lilac flower of yore
Which lies, a warrior's life, no more.
(c)2011 Poetry Foundation