Call Back Our Dead / Frederick George Scott

 
Call Back Our Dead

Call back our Dead — the fateful feud is o'er;
    Call back our Dead; we need them here today.
    We need them in their freshness and their play,
Their valiant manhood ripened by the war.
Our hearts stand open; open, too, the door
    Of that still chamber where the shadow lay
    Since death's grim message came. No other ray
But their bright presence can the light restore.

Call back our Dead, they die each day we live —
    Deep in our hearts they die the whole day long.
        Call back our Dead, the welcoming hearth is bright,
All that this life can give them, we will give.
    Tell them God's angels sing again their song
        And Peace hangs out her star upon the night.

--
Frederick George Scott (1861-1944)
November 11, 1925
from Selected Poems, 1933

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the European Union]

Frederick George Scott biography