We drove down the road Like two bats out of Hell, And before us the gates At the rail crossing fell. But we crashed through the splinters And over the tracks, And the train whistled madly And screamed at our backs. And we rode on in silence With never a word, And only the wind And the motor were heard. For a lad lay a-dying That both of us knew, And over the hills To his bedside we flew. He was dead when we got there, And somehow I know At that curve on the hill With the valley below, Where the crossing is laid, And that monster of steel, Not my hand, but his Was guiding the wheel. _DIRGE FOR THE SQUALUS_ We did not raise a submarine From the ocean’s fathomed bed, But twenty-six brave sailor lads And all of them were dead. We left them not beneath the sea; We brought them sadly home, To dedicate anew to Death, Who nevermore shall roam. Then, trumpeter, be firm your lip, What though the tears may fall, For muffled drums in velvet beat Beneath your trumpet’s call. And there are hearts in other lads That swell with sorrow, too. It need not matter that those hearts Are not in navy blue. And they who have escaped that tomb Beneath the restless wave, How deeply reverent they hold The gift the dead men gave. For twenty-six on them bestowed The utmost they could give, When twenty-six accepted death That thirty-three might live. The passage doorway dogged and tight, On either side two groups of men. In one compartment, mad with fright, The thirty-three who’ll live again. And on the other, maddened, too, The water rising swiftly, high, The twenty-six who looked and knew They were the ones who had to die. Then let some fitting tribute stand When we from here are fled, The living consecrated By the consecrated dead! _ECHO CANYON_ We ride to Echo Canyon, He rides with me tonight, No moon above to guide us, The stars alone are bright. The wind is in the sagebrush; Somewhere a coyote calls; The studded sky is briefly lit As a flaming starlet falls. We draw the rein together, He trembles as I pass To turn the horses free to graze In the wild September grass. And now I stretch beside him Where he lies upon the ground, And in all this lovely wilderness We two alone are found. _FRAGMENT_ He wandered through the darkened streets of night, His massive cape a-blown with every wind. He passed the strumpets flirting near the lamps, And bowed to one--the one most infamous. Then down familiar avenues he strolled, And met, as he was sure to meet them there, The lads who knew these lanes where men were bold.