by Vera Brittain
(France, 1917) As we came down from Amiens, And they went up the line, They waved their careless hands to us, And cheered the Red Cross sign. And often I have wondered since, Repicturing that train, How… Read the rest
Category: Vera Brittain
To My Brother
by Vera Brittain
(In memory of July 1st, 1916) Your battle-wounds are scars upon my heart, Received when in that grand and tragic “show” You played your part Two years ago, And silver in the summer morning sun I see… Read the rest
To Them
by Vera Brittain
I hear your voices in the whispering trees, I see your footprints on each grassy track, Your laughter echoes gaily down the breeze— But you will not come back. The twilight skies are tender with your smile,… Read the rest
Looking Westward
by Vera Brittain
“For a while the quiet body Lies with feet toward the Morn.” Hymn 499, A. & M. When I am dead, lay me not looking East, But towards the verge where daylight sinks to rest, For my… Read the rest
Oxford Revisited
by Vera Brittain
There’s a gleam of sun on the grey old street Where we used to walk in the Oxford days, And dream that the world lay beneath our feet In the dawn of a summer morning. Now the… Read the rest
Sic Transit
by Vera Brittain
(V.R., Died of Wounds, 2nd London General Hospital Chelsea, June 9th, 1917) I am so tired. The dying sun incarnadines the West, And every window with its gold is fired, And all I loved the best Is… Read the rest
That Which Remaineth
by Vera Brittain
(In Memory of Captain E. H. Brittain, M.C.) Only the thought of a merry smile, The wistful dreaming of sad brown eyes— A brave young warrior, face aglow With the light of a lofty enterprise. Only the… Read the rest
The Sisters Buried at Lemnos
by Vera Brittain
(“Fidelis ad Extremum”) O golden Isle set in the deep blue Ocean, With purple shadows flitting o’er thy crest, I kneel to thee in reverent devotion Of some who on thy bosom lie at rest! Seldom they… Read the rest
In Memoriam: G.R.Y.T.
by Vera Brittain
(Killed in Action, April 23rd, 1917) I spoke with you but seldom, yet there lay Some nameless glamour in your written word, And thoughts of you rose often—longings stirred By dear remembrance of the sad blue-grey That… Read the rest