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TITLE: THE RED FLOWER
AUTHOR: HENRY VAN DYKE
EBOOK: E00775 (O'Briens Book Cellar)

THE RED FLOWER

POEMS WRITTEN IN WAR TIME

BY
HENRY VAN DYKE
D.O.L. (OXON.)

1919

PREFACE

These are verses that came to me in this dreadful war time amid the cares
and labors of a heavy task.

Two of the poems, "A Scrap of Paper" and "Stand Fast," were written in
1914 and bore the signature _Civis Americanus_--the use of my own
name at the time being impossible. Two others, "Lights Out" and "Remarks
about Kings," were read for me by Robert Underwood Johnson at the meeting
of the American Academy in Boston, November, 1915, at which I was unable
to be present.

The rest of the verses were printed after I had resigned my diplomatic post
and was free to say what I thought and felt, without reserve.

The "Interludes in Holland" are thoughts of the peaceful things that will
abide for all the world after we have won this war against war.

SYLVANORA, October 1, 1917.

CONTENTS

PREMONITION
  THE RED FLOWER (JUNE, 1914)

THE TRIAL AS BY FIRE
  A SCRAP OF PAPER
  STAND FAST
  LIGHTS OUT (1915)
  REMARKS ABOUT KINGS
  WAR-MUSIC
  MIGHT AND RIGHT
  THE PRICE OF PEACE
  STORM-MUSIC

FRANCE AND BELGIUM
  THE BELLS OP MALINES (AUGUST 17, 1914)
  THE NAME OF FRANCE
  JEANNE D'ARC RETURNS (1914-1916)

INTERLUDES IN HOLLAND
  THE HEAVENLY HILLS OF HOLLAND
  THE PROUD LADY
  FLOOD-TIDE OF FLOWERS (IN HOLLAND)

ENTER AMERICA
  AMERICAN'S PROSPERITY
  THE GLORY OF SHIPS
  MARE LIBERUM
  "LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD"
  THE OXFORD THRUSHES (FEBRUARY, 1917)
  HOMEWARD BOUND

PREMONITION

THE RED FLOWER

June 1914

In the pleasant time of Pentecost,
  By the little river Kyll,
I followed the angler's winding path
  Or waded the stream at will.
And the friendly fertile German land
  Lay round me green and still.

But all day long on the eastern bank
  Of the river cool and clear,
Where the curving track of the double rails
  Was hardly seen though near,
The endless trains of German troops
  Went rolling down to Trier.

They packed the windows with bullet heads
  And caps of hodden gray;
They laughed and sang and shouted loud
  When the trains were brought to a stay;
They waved their hands and sang again
  As they went on their iron way.

No shadow fell on the smiling land,
  No cloud arose in the sky;
I could hear the river's quiet tune
  When the trains had rattled by;
But my heart sank low with a heavy sense
  Of trouble,--I knew not why.

Then came I into a certain field
  Where the devil's paint-brush spread
'Mid the gray and green of the rolling hills
  A flaring splotch of red,
An evil omen, a bloody sign,
  And a token of many dead.

I saw in a vision the field-gray horde
  Break forth at the devil's hour,
And trample the earth into crimson mud
  In the rage of the Will to Power,--
All this I dreamed in the valley of Kyll,
  At the sign of the blood-red flower.

A SCRAP OF PAPER

"Will you go to war just for a scrap of paper?"--_Question of the
German Chancellor to the British Ambassador, August 3, 1914._

A mocking question! Britain's answer came
Swift as the light and searching as the flame.

"Yes, for a scrap of paper we will fight
Till our last breath, and God defend the right!

"A scrap of paper where a name is set
Is strong as duty's pledge and honor's debt.

"A scrap of paper holds for man and wife
The sacrament of love, the bound of life.

"A scrap of paper may be Holy Writ
With God's eternal word to hallow it.

"A scrap of paper binds us both to stand
Defenders of a neutral neighbor land.

"By God, by faith, by honor, yes! We fight
To keep our name upon that paper white."

September, 1914

STAND FAST

      Stand fast, Great Britain!
Together England, Scotland, Ireland stand
One in the faith that makes a mighty land,
True to the bond you gave and will not break
And fearless in the fight for conscience' sake!
Against Giant Robber clad in steel,
With blood of trampled Belgium on his heel,
Striding through France to strike you down at last,
      Britain, stand fast!

      Stand fast, brave land!
The Huns are thundering toward the citadel;
They prate of Culture but their path is Hell;
Their light is darkness, and the bloody sword
They wield and worship is their only Lord.
O land where reason stands secure on right,
O land where freedom is the source of light,
Against the mailed Barbarians' deadly blast,
      Britain, stand fast!

      Stand fast, dear land!
Thou island mother of a world-wide race,
Whose children speak thy tongue and love thy face,
Their hearts and hopes are with thee in the strife,
Their hands will break the sword that seeks thy life;
Fight on until the Teuton madness cease;
Fight bravely on, until the word of peace
Is spoken in the English tongue at last,
      Britain, stand fast!

September, 1914.

LIGHTS OUT

(1915)

"Lights out" along the land,
"Lights out" upon the sea.
The night must put her hiding hand
O'er peaceful towns where children sleep,
And peaceful ships that darkly creep
Across the waves, as if they were not free.

The dragons of the air,
The hell-hounds of the deep,
Lurking and prowling everywhere,
Go forth to seek their helpless prey,
Not knowing whom they maim or slay--
Mad harvesters, who care not what they reap.

Out with the tranquil lights,
Out with the lights that burn
For love and law and human rights!
Set back the clock a thousand years:
All they have gained now disappears,
And the dark ages suddenly return.

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