If you should go to La Bassée
Or Bethune, grey and bare,
You'll hear the sweetest bells that play
A faint and chiming air;
And belfries in each little town
Sing out the hour and mark it down.
If you should go to La Bassée
Or walk the Bethune street
You'll see the lorries pass that way
And hear the tramp of feet;
And where the road with trees is lined
You'll watch the long battalions wind.
But all the clocks that mark the time
Are months and years too slow,
And all the bells that ring and chime
Strike hours of long ago,
And all the belfries where you pass
Lie tumbled in the dust and grass.
Yet still the long battalions wind.
Though all the men are gone,
Because one hour has stayed behind
And wanders there alone--
Yes, one heroic shining hour
Chimes on from every fallen tower.
MRS. A. P. TROTTER.
Aug. 27, 1919.