RED POPPIES IN THE CORN

I've seen them in the morning light,

When white mists drifted by:

I've seen them in the dusk o' night

Glow 'gainst the starry sky.

The slender waving blossoms red,

Mid yellow fields forlorn:

A glory on the scene they shed,

Red Poppies in the Corn.

I've seen them, too, those blossoms red,

Show 'gainst the trench lines' screen,

A crimson stream that waved and spread

Thro' all the brown and green:

I've seen them dyed a deeper hue

Than ever nature gave,

Shell-torn from slopes on which they grew,

To cover many a grave.

Bright blossoms fair by nature set

Along the dusty ways,

You cheered us, in the battle's fret,

Thro' long and weary days:

You gave us hope: if fate be kind,

We'll see that longed-for morn,

When home again we march and find

Red Poppies in the Corn.

W. CAMPBELL GALBRAITH

_By permission of the Author_