A Prayer For Peace Poem by Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley

Nearer the eagles swoop in darkening rings,
Death scents his awful quarry from afar,
While men in millions march to bloody war
Hateless, unhated, at the word of Kings:
But somewhere hid beneath His secret wings
The sons of God, before a juster bar,
Plead in His name who bore the cross and scar
For Love that sees clear-eyed what war-lust brings.

Plead on ye seers with love-enlightened eyes,
Hold up your hands to where the angels gaze
With deep compassion on our human strife;
Prayer moves the world with power beyond amaze,
And they who look beyond this mortal life
Know Peace on earth in Heaven hath great allies.