I hear now the clarion call
That, ringing forth against the night,
Heralds loud the speechless pall
And chills the air with hoary blight.

I see now the pulsing march
Of evil forms against the sky,
Beneath their heels the land turns parched,
Above their heads the beggars fly.

I feel now the steady tread
Of men upon a field of war,
Who wend their way among the dead
And flow as waves upon the shore.

I know now the pounding fear
Of hearts and heads resolved to rush
Before the bullets bounding near
Have time to seize them in their crush.

My blood is fled into the soil,
My heart is ebbed, an unborn tide,
The earth makes pledge to end my toil –
I pass my bones to its underside.