Armies in the Fire

Source

Source: Project Gutenberg #136 Source URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/136 Public domain basis: Public-domain English poems by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885). Coverage: Complete individual poem extracted from parent edition a-childs-garden-of-verses at bytes 37048-37859; checksum c4df40f91b2ff7222ab6a8cccc8672897a491ee9142acb870872d1245cf53599.

# Armies in the Fire

Armies in the Fire

The lamps now glitter down the street; Faintly sound the falling feet; And the blue even slowly falls About the garden trees and walls.

Now in the falling of the gloom The red fire paints the empty room: And warmly on the roof it looks, And flickers on the back of books.

Armies march by tower and spire Of cities blazing, in the fire;-- Till as I gaze with staring eyes, The armies fade, the lustre dies.

Then once again the glow returns; Again the phantom city burns; And down the red-hot valley, lo! The phantom armies marching go!

Blinking embers, tell me true Where are those armies marching to, And what the burning city is That crumbles in your furnaces!

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