Untitled poem

I never thought that strange romantic WAR Would shape my life and plan my destiny; Though in my childhood’s dreams I’ve seen his car And grisly steeds Drown my black steeds flash grimly thwart the sky. Yet now behold a vaster, mightier strife Than echoed on the plains of sounding Troy, Defeats and triumphs, death, wounds, laughter, life All mingled in a strange complex alloy. I view the panorama in a trance Of awe, yet coloured with a secret joy; For I have breathed in epic and romance, Have lived the dreams that thrilled me as a boy! How sound the ancient saying is forsooth! How weak is Fancy's gloss of Fact’s stern truth!