Poem by Alan Seeger

Thirty Sonnets. 24. Coucy

The rooks aclamor when one enters here
Startle the empty towers far overhead;
Through gaping walls the summer fields appear,
Green, tan, or, poppy-mingled, tinged with red.
The courts where revel rang deep grass and moss
Cover, and tangled vines have overgrown
The gate where banners blazoned with a cross
Rolled forth to toss round Tyre and Ascalon.
Decay consumes it. The old causes fade.
And fretting for the contest many a heart
Waits their Tyrtaeus to chant on the new.
Oh, pass him by who, in this haunted shade
Musing enthralled, has only this much art,
To love the things the birds and flowers love too.

1. Thirty Sonnets. 30. At the Tomb of Napoleon before the Elections in America--November, 1912
2. Sonnet 9. Well, seeing I have no hope, then let us part
3. Thirty Sonnets. 8. Sonnet 8. Oft as by chance, a little while apart
4. Thirty Sonnets. 6. Sonnet 6. Give me the treble of thy horns and hoofs
5. Sonnet 5. Seeing you have not come with me, nor spent

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