II + 

French Nocturne + 

(Monchy-le-Preux) + 

Long leagues on either hand the trenches spread + 

And all is still; now even this gross line + 

Drinks in the frosty silences divine + 

The pale, green moon is riding overhead. + 

The jaws of a sacked village, stark and grim; + 

Out on the ridge have swallowed up the sun, + 

And in one angry streak his blood has run + 

To left and right along the horizon dim. + 

There comes a buzzing plane: and now, it seems + 

Flies straight into the moon. Lo! where he steers + 

Across the pallid globe and surely nears + 

In that white land some harbour of dear dreams! + 

False mocking fancy! Once I too could dream, + 

Who now can only see with vulgar eye + 

That he’s no nearer to the moon than I + 

And she’s a stone that catches the sun’s beam. + 

What call have I to dream of anything? + 

I am a wolf. Back to the world again, + 

And speech of fellow-brutes that once were men + 

Our throats can bark for slaughter: cannot sing. + 