The Watcher

Little White Moon--Each night from Heaven you lean To watch the lonely Seas, and all the Earth between;-- O little shining Moon! What have you seen?--

What have you seen upon the fields of France, Where through the drowsy grain, the gay red poppies dance, Unheeding splintered gun or broken lance?

Deep in the green-wood, shadow-laced, and still, What is it you have found, by fern-bed and by rill? What by each hollow--and each little hill?--

When o'er the sky the driven smoke-clouds flee, And through a dusky veil look down fearfully-- What do you find adrift upon the sea?

In the great mountains where the four winds blow,-- Where the King's cavalry, and his foot-soldiers go-- What have you seen beneath the shifting snow?

Little white Moon! So old,--so strangely bright-- How could you still shine on, unless you knew some night Here in the world you watch, all would be right!