Robert Nichols Poems

Was there love once? I have forgotten her.
Was there grief once? Grief yet is mine.
Other loves I have, men rough, but men who stir
More grief, more joy, than love of thee and thine.
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1.
Noon

It is midday; the deep trench glares….
A buzz and blaze of flies….
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The beating of the guns grows louder.
'Not long, boys, now.'
My heart burns whiter, fearfuller, prouder;
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For the last time, maybe, upon the knoll
I stand. The eve is golden, languid, sad.
Day like a tragic actor plays his role
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Nearer and ever nearer...
My body, tired but tense,
Hovers 'twixt vague pleasure
And tremulous confidence.
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Before, before he was aware
The 'Verey' light had risen… on the air
in hung glistering..
And he could not stay his hand
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I must remember now how once I woke
To find the harsh lamplight stream upon her bed,
The ceiling tremble in its giddy smoke,
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In a far field, away from England, lies
A boy I friended with a care like love;
All day the wide earth aches, the keen wind cries,
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O Nightingale my heart
How sad thou art!
How heavy is thy wing,
Desperately whirrëd that thy throat may fling
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The battery grides and jingles,
Mile succeeds to mile;
Shaking the noonday sunshine
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