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Prose & Poetry - War Poetry of S J Robinson - The Hour of Grace (Christmas 1914)

'Xmas Truce' by S J Robinson Reproduced within this area of the site are present-day First World War poems written by S. J. Robinson.  Click here for an introduction to the poems.

The Hour of Grace (Christmas 1914)

A tree stuck out in Flanders
Adorned with candles, bows
A voice starts off the carols
A song that both sides know

And then, a gestured kindness;
A man treads o'er the ground
To offer Christmas greetings
To 'enemies' counting rounds

One Tommy, then another
Responds to Fritz's gift
Rose, went out in snowbound mud
The gloom of war to lift

A song rang out in Noman's -land
Through Flanders, France and Ypres;
Above the soldiers' laughter -
The silent song of Peace.

"Drum Fire" was an artillery barrage fired not in salvo but by each gun in succession.

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