Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.
And Forbid Them NotLouise Mary Bowman
Sentry[at the Front]:Halt! Who goes there?
A Little Ghost:It is only I, kind sir—you must let me through!
Sentry:Little white thing—stop!
Where do you come from?
These are the lines of the allied armies.
Little Ghost:Sir, I’m the ghost of a dream
That the Prussians have murdered.
Once my robe was so pure, soft, shining;
Once I lived in a deep old forest;
Once they fed me with love and with music.
Now I must go to a far new country—
I and these others, my little white sisters.
Strange new soldier, give me the pass-word—
Kind sir, let us through!
Sentry:God! but this war is a queer war!
Look at ’em—starved white ghosties!—
Waitin’ for me to pass ’em
Beyond our lines!
Me! I’m hard-headed, practical—
I never had any traffic with dreams.
Why, the world’s turned dippy!
Halt, I say!
Numberless Little Ghosts[trying to pass him, wailing softly]:
We are the ghosts of dreams
That the Prussians have murdered.
Now we must go to a far new country.
Strange new soldier, give us the password—
Kind sir, let us through!
Sentry:How white and shinin’ their odd wee faces!
Well then, it’s “Christ”—can ye say it, ghosties?
All the Little Ghosts[together joyously]:
Now we can search for our far new country!
“Christ” is the password the soldier gives us.
Thank you, thank you, kind sir.
[They flock swiftly past him; their tattered filmy rags blow softly against him, and now and then small skeleton hands reach out and touch him gently.]
Sentry:Haven’t ye one that would stay for a bit with me,
Now that I’ve passed the whole lot of ye, ghosties?
Wouldn’t one stay with a dull lonely fellow
Just for the company?
First Little Ghost:I will stay with you, strange new soldier,
Where you guard the walls for the world.
[She grows suddenly tall and very beautiful with a shining robe and crown of stars.]
All the other Little Ghosts[calling joyfully and softly from far away behind the lines]:
We are the ghosts of dreams
That the Prussians have murdered.
Forbid us not, for we have the password—“Christ.”