Two poems on the death
of two of her sons
by Vera Bax, 1888-1974
TO RICHARD, MY SON
(Killed in Action, August I7, 1942)
I hide my grief throughout the weary days,
And gather up the threads of life again,
Remembering you ever gave your praise
To those for whom fate's hardest thrust was vain.
Now, when I feel my courage flicker low,
Your spirit comes to breathe it into flame,
Until I lift my head, and smiling go,
Whispering softly your beloved name.
And yet to me it seems but yesterday
You were a child, and full of childish fears:
Then I would run to you and soothe away
The loneliness of night, and dry your tears;
But now you are the comforter, and keep,
From out the shadows, watch, lest I should weep.
TO BILLY, MY SON
(Killed in Action, May 15, 1945)
Now comes, indeed, the end of all delight,
The end of forward-looking on life's way,
The end of all desire to pierce the night
For gleam of hope, the end of all things gay;
The end of praying and, 0 God, the end
Of love that waited to be shared and told;
Now, evermore, shall life with sorrow blend;
That sorrow whose dark shape the months had fought,
And strictly kept in confines of the will;
Had held quiescent while each conscious thought
Searched far horizons where joy lingered still;
But, my beloved, fearless, gallant, true,
Here is fair end of sorrow now, for you.
These poems appear in Chaos of the Night: Women’s poetry
and verse of the Second World War, selected by Catherine Reilly,
Virago, 1984 and in various other anthologies, including The Distaff
Muse, edited by Clifford Bax and Meum Stewart, Hollis and Carter,
1949
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