PagineEveryone Sang
by Siegfried Sassoon
From The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon (1919)
Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark green fields; on; on; and out of sight.
Everyone's voice was suddenly lifted,
And beauty came like the setting sun.
My heart was shaken with tears and horror
Drifted away ... O but every one
Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.
April, 1919.
This poem is in the public domain. Source text: Project Gutenberg.