One evening the sun was going down in glowing glory, turning all it
shone over into glittering gold. I was late, other duties having kept
me back; the train I had come to greet was already moving away.
In joyous crowds the young soldiers thronged the carriages; others had
been before me to deck their caps, their tunics, even their horses
and cannons, with bright violet asters of every shade. The prodigious
radiance of sunset fell over all those flowers, enhancing their beauty,
as though even the heavens were doing their utmost to render more
blessed the departure of those eager boys, who so gayly were going to
death.
Hurriedly I ran toward the moving carriages, distressed at being late.
A great shout mounted from a thousand throats as they recognized me and
a shower of flowers fell at my feet.
From their caps, their tunics, their cannons they tore away the flowers
that had been given them to shower them over their Queen, while the
usual chorus mounted to the skies: "May you become Empress--Empress of
all the Rumanians."...
And always more flowers fell over me; my arms were full; my hands could
hardly hold them; the ground was purple where I stood....
Long did I remain there after the train had disappeared. A trail of
smoke against the orange sky alone marked its passage, and all those
fading flowers at my feet.
As one looks at the incomprehensible, I gazed at those two long rails
running into the infinite, there seeming to join their separate ways,
and wondered toward what fate those youths were hurrying; wondered if
their dream would be realized; especially I wondered how many would
come back....
The sun had set, the smoke had dissolved into nothing; the voices of
my soldiers were but a remembrance ... slowly I turned my foot toward
home....