Vera Mary Brittain

(“Died of Wounds”) Because you died, I shall not rest again, But wander ever through the lone world wide, Seeking the shadow of a dream grown vain Because you died. I shall spend brief and idle hours beside The many lesser loves that still remain, But find in none my triumph and my pride; And Disillusion's slow corroding stain Will creep upon each quest but newly tried, For every striving now shall nothing gain Because you died.

I found in you a holy place apart, Sublime endurance, God in man revealed, Where mending broken bodies slowly healed My broken heart

God said, “Men have forgotten Me: The souls that sleep shall wake again, And blinded eyes must learn to see.” So since redemption comes through pain He smote the earth with chastening rod, And brought destruction's lurid reign; But where His desolation trod The people in their agony Despairing cried, “There is no God.”