Transcript of Canadian Battlefields and Other Poems
Preface of Canadian Battlefields and Other Poems. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox .org. Read by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. Canadian Battlefields and Other Poems by Lieutenant Colonel J .R. Wilkinson. In submitting Canadian Battlefields and Other Poems to a discerning public, I realize it may be marred by many errors. The harp may not always be in tune. Some chords may jar upon the faciduous ear. Rhythm and harmony may not always present that mysterious appeal to the soul that approves and proves the worth of all. Yet with all, I feel that some thoughts and emotions of patriotism, love of home, the song of nature, the mystery of creation, and the impenetrable depths of infinitude may be found and approved. The subtle voice of nature, the voices of love, home and country, have ever appealed to me and impelled me to sing my humble song. And thus, in doubt and uncertainty, I cast it out on the world. The reading, critical public, asking that the pure white veil of charity may conceal its rough edges and inequalities. Seek but to benefit thy fellow man. Let smiles not frowns his rugged path assail. Better with blinded eyes his faults to scan. Then let the sin of wrong and scorn prevail. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. What shall I sing, I prithee, oh Muse, For song burns my bosom today, And it flows o 'er me like a wave o 'er the sea, A dream -wrought subtle melody, Shalt be of the wondrous present, this scientific restless age, Or call from the field the centuries yield, rich gems from history's page. Shall it be of stern war and the cause, for which millions of men are slain, And heroic days with glory ablaze, dear freedom and honour to gain, Shall I sing of the stars of heaven, that forever their orbits keep, Beautiful serene stars of heaven, gemming the eternal deep. Shall it be of the grand old ocean, and its bright isles far away, With life all free as the unbound sea, a subtle and golden day. Shall I tell of the glory of sunset, and the twilight soft on the lee, The murmuring winds through foliage and vines, and the moon that silvers the sea. Shall it be a lay of the seasons, that fade like a dream away, The spring so fair and the perfumed air, and the songsters that trill so gay, And the summer roved in splendour, serene as a spirit dream, Her throbs and sighs and cerulean skies, would I make my soul's bright theme. Shall it be of the autumns fading, and the winds that sob and sigh, And the leaves of gold drifting fold on fold, and the flowers that droop and die, The birds that trill us a last farewell, tenderly, sorefully sweet, Saddening the heart doomed ever to part, and